Schroeder, David Jasper (1913-2010)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2010 Jun 7 p. 9

Birth date: 1913 Aug 28

text of obituary:

DAVID J. SCHROEDER

David Jasper Schroeder, 96, died May 12, 2010, at Heartland Haven, Inman, Kan., less than five miles from his birthplace. He was born on Aug. 28, 1913, to David H and Mary (Neufeldt) Schroeder in rural McPherson County.

He was a successful and innovative farmer in the Buhler area. In the mid-1940s, he and his brother Milo formed Schroeder Brothers Dirt Contracting, beginning with a mobile crane and caterpillar. The Schroeder Brothers name was well known throughout central Kansas, from digging basements and sewer lines for hundreds of homes and businesses. All of the dirt work for numerous nearby churches, parsonages, clinics and college buildings was donated “in the name of God.”

He married Hilda Schmidt of the Walton community on June 11, 1939. She preceded him in death on April 20, 1963.

He was active as a member of Buhler Mennonite Brethren Church, serving on the board of trustees and the building committee as well as singing in the male chorus. He was a member of the Central Christian High School board of directors and actively supported both Tabor and Bethel colleges. He was also a founding member of the drainage district, responsible for reclaiming several hundred acres of wetlands in the Turkey Creek watershed.

He married Emma Loewen on Sept. 4, 1964. Together they restored the elegant old house on Fourth and Main streets in Buhler and retired to town. For five years they operated the Nine Gables Bed and Breakfast. They traveled the world together, frequently with their children and grandchildren.

Survivors include two children, Duane Schroeder and his wife, Lois, of Orinda, Calif., and Katy Marshall and her husband, Harley, of Moundridge; a sister, Gladys Ashworth of Fresno, Calif.; a brother, Milo Schroeder of Buhler; five grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Hilda; by his second wife, Emma, on Jan. 8, 2010; by two sisters, Tiena Toews and Irma Siemens; and by a brother, Ernest Schroeder.