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Toews, David (1870-1947)
Christlicher Bundesbote obituary: 1947 Mar 18 p. 12
Birth date: 1870
text of obituary:
1860 [sic 1870] — David Toews — 1947
Von Benjamin Ewert
So ist es denn geschehen! — Aeltester David Toews ist gestorben und begraben. — So ganz unerwartet ist ja diese Nachricht nicht gekommen, da es bekannt war, daß er seit einiger Zeit leidend war und in letzter Zeit besonders schwer leidend war. Immerhin war es doch eine Trauernachricht, wie ja jeder Todesfall es ist, für die lieben Angehörigen, Verwandten und Freunde: in diesem Falle in besonderer Weise. War doch der liebe Dahingeschiedene eine leitende und einflußreiche Persönlichkeit in verschiedenen Beziehungen, Unternehmungen und Betätigungen; nicht nur in seiner Gemeinde, sondern in der ganzen mennonitischen Gemeinschaft in Canada und den Vereinigten Staaten. Tätig gewesen als Lehrer, Prediger, Aeltester, Konferenzleiter, Vorsteher der Akademie zu Rosthern, Glied der Innern Missionsbehörde der Allgemeinen Konferenz der Mennoniten von Nordamerika, Vorsitzer der Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization, und durch dieselbe so hervorragendes geleistet in der Immigrationsgeschichte der Mennoniten von Rußland von 1923 und später, und liebende Fürsorge in geistlicher und irdischer Beziehung getragen hat. Und so soll denn auch seiner und seiner vielseitigen Betätigung noch lange in liebenvoller und dankbarer Erinnerung bleiben.
Auch meine liebe Frau und ich wünschen unser inniges Beileid zu bekunden. Kommt Bruder Töws doch auch von Kansas, von wo auch wir beide kommen, und also schon von Kansas her bekannt sind. Wo wir auch zusammen in Halstead die Mennonitische Fortbildungsschule besucht und absolviert haben; und nun seit etwas über 50 Jahren hier in Canada gemeinsam tätig gewesen sind. Auch bin ich beinahe gleichen Alters mit ihm. Er ist 10 Monate alter als ich. Somit unsere besondere Teilnahme.
Verschiedene Worte Schrift und Liederverse können (und werden auch von andern) Bruder Toews als Nachruf gewidmet werden. Ich würde folgende anführen wollen: Jakobi 1, 12: “Selig ist der Mann, der die Anfechtung erduldet; denn nachdem er bewähret ist, wird er die Krone des Lebens empfangen, welche Gott verheißen hat, denen, die ihn liebhaben.” — Ferner 1. Petri 5, 4: “So werdet ihre, wenn erscheinen wird der Erzhirte, die unverwelkliche Krone der Ehren empfangen.” Auch dürften die Worte aus 2. Timotheus 4, 7 – 8 für Bruder Töws zutreffend sein: “Ich habe einen guten Kampf gekämpft; ich habe den Lauf vollendet; ich habe Glauben gehalten; hinfort ist mir beigelegt die Krone der Gerechtigkeit, welche mir der Herr an jenem Tage, der gerechte Richter, geben wird; nicht mir aber allein, sondern auch allen, die seine Erscheinung liebhaben.”
Möchte dieses auch von uns gesagt werden können! Und möchte der liebe Heiland auch zu seiner Zeit zu dem lieben Dahingeschiedenen und zu uns und zu vielen andern sagen können: “Ei, du frommer und getreuer Knecht, du bist über wenigem getreu gewesen, ich will dich über viel setzen; gehe ein zu deines Herren Freude!” (Matth. 25, 21)
Benjamin Ewert.
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1947 Mar 6 p. 1
text of obituary:
Former Chairman of Colonization Board Taken By Death
ELDER DAVID TOEWS HAD LEADING PART IN REFUGEE MOVEMNT IN 1930'S
Word has been received here of the passing of Elder David Toews, for many years chairman of the Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization, at his home in Rosthern, Sask., on Tuesday, Feb. 25 after a long illness. Funeral services were held Feb. 28 at the Rosenort Mennonite church where he had served as minister and elder for about 45 years.
Elder Toews was widely known for his work in connection with the Mennonite Board of colonization, having taken a leading part in the movement of Russian Mennonite refugees to Canada in the eary [sic] 1920's. He had served as the Board's chairman from 1922 until ill health forced his retirement, and from 1925 to 1928 was chairman of the Canadian Mennonite Land Settlement Board.
In addition to his colonization work, Elder Toews was also well-known for his service to Mennonite schools and conference bodies. He served as principal of the German-English Academy, Rosthern, from 1905 to 1920, later becoming chairman of the board of directors for that institution. For a number of years he was chairman of the Canadian Mennonite General conference, and from 1911 until about a year ago had served on the Home mission Board of the General Conference of Mennonites of N. A.
Born in Russia on Feb. 9, 1870, he received his elementary schooling there and after coming to America, studied at the Halstead Seminary and at several Winnipeg schools. His wife, the former Margarete Friesen, preceded him in July of 1941. A number of children survive.
The Mennonite obituary: 1947 Mar 4 p. 15
BISHOP DAVID TOEWS PASSES
The following telegram from J. J. Thiessen came to Walter H. Dyck at General Conference Headquarters on February 26: "Bishop David Toews passed away Tuesday Night Funeral Friday”
The Mennonite obituary: 1947 Mar 18 p. 2
1870 - David Toews - 1947
(The following is the funeral sermon (slightly abridged) for the late Bishop David Toews of Rosthern, Saskatchewan, as given by Rev. J. J. Thiessen, Chairman of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada.)
“And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?” II Sam. 3:38.
Bereaved friends: We are gathered here to pay respect to a deceased father, brother, and friend. We are all aware of the heavy responsibilities which were shouldered upon him. With his departure from the field of his activities a noticeable gap, which is hard to close, has developed, even though five successors are continuing the different branches of his work.
I have been asked by the bereaved family to officiate at this moment. I am afraid that I will be unable to do justice to it.
Our text is taken from the Old Testament. Were we to read the complete story, then the text would not be suitable, but taking this verse separately it expresses what each one of us actually feels or should feel: “Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?”
Rev. David Toews would have refused being called “a prince and a great man”, and yet we are justified in doing so, because of the many duties and obligations which the Lord had placed upon him and the gigantic amount of work that he accomplished.
In the following, I would like to state some of his work that justly places him in the category of “prince and a great man.” Due to lack of time, I cannot in detail describe his life, but, I hope and trust that one day the historian will impartially, justly and objectively record his life’s work and give him his deserved place as a great leader of our church.
And yet, this recognition of his achievements, by man, is not the most important, rather, that his work finds recognition and meets with the approval of our Lord, who will thus be able to say: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”
If one studies the lives of great men in both the Old and the New Testaments, such as Abraham, Isaac, Moses, John, Peter, Paul and others, we find, that their greatness was not a sudden development but they gradually grew in the school of God.
Rev. Toews too has been led by God to greatness through deep experiences, successes, disappointments, joys and sorrows, finally becoming: a Christian teacher, pious father, minister of the Gospel, Bishop of the church, Conference leader, Chairman of the Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization, our spokesman to the government, delegate to the Mennonite World Conferences, etc.
As a young boy, he, with his parents migrated to central Asia and from there to the United States. These movements caused many hardships and disappointments. The young lad could not fully realize the significance of this movement; however, he felt some great motive was behind all this. At the age of fourteen, David Toews and parents arrived at Newton, Kansas, where their new home was established. Though diligently aiding his parents in their new venture, he had a great urge to study. This he managed to do and eventually he became a school teacher. It soon became evident that the Lord had destined him to serve his people in Canada. He taught in different schools both in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. As a teacher he was liked by students and parents. His teaching abilities have been characterized in words such as these. “He can hardly be too highly recommended.” or “He has proved himself a very efficient teacher inside and outside the school and I think, everybody is sorry he is leaving.” While in Saskatchewan he married and established his own home. During the years of his work he became deeply convinced that to prepare properly leaders for our church, a school for this purpose would have to be opened. Under his guidance such a school was founded at Rosthern. He became principal of this school holding this position for fifteen years, 1905-1920, and he remained the chairman of the board of directors until recently.
In 1901 he was called to the ministry. The church, recognizing his abilities as a leader, ordained him as Bishop of the Rosenort Church in 1913. An enormous amount of work was his lot in this new position, which he ably fulfilled, becoming a blessing to many. This great task was possible because he was a man of faith and a diligent worker.
Besides his routine church work he exercised the duties of moderator for twenty-six years. Throughout this period he continually led his congregations on to a higher spiritual level and urged them to a more active participation in the home and foreign mission fields.
He served as a member in the Home Mission Board of the General Conference of North America for thirty-five years. During this period he did much for the smaller scattered groups, supplying them with travelling ministers and giving material aid. In the cities of Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Vancouver, girls' homes and churches were established. Also through his influence, dozens of churches were built in the poorer country districts, receiving assistance from the Home Mission Board.
With his tolerance and tactfulness he gained and maintained the confidence of the various branches of our church. This was especially valuable as the movement of approximately twenty thousand Mennonites from Russia, during the years 1923-1930, was undertaken, because in nearly every branch there was some opposition to this venture and could be successfully carried out only by the support of the larger branches. He with brethren negotiated the terms and signed a contract with the Canadian Pacific Railway Company for bringing across the immigrants on a credit basis amounting to $1,767,378.68. He strongly felt his moral obligations, and it was his deep desire to have this transportation debt liquidated before his death. By the grace of our God, the willingness of the immigrants to pay, and the co-operation of the C.P.R. this task was completed in 1946. With great joy he received this news and was moved to tears. I shall never forget that moment, at first it seemed as though he doubted the news but when I insisted that the debt was paid and his name had been redeemed, the tears streamed down his cheeks, and we gave glory and honour to God.
In summing up all that has been said of his duties placed on him by the Lord and the Church, we are justified in calling him “a prince and a great man.”
After his retirement, he lost interest in life and longed for his eternal home. He was especially lonesome because his beloved wife had departed in 1941. It was my privilege to visit him, to have fellowship, and to share with him the second mile. On one occasion when we were speaking about his departure from this world I asked him, “What is your last wish? What shall I say on your behalf to the congregations, conferences, Home Mission Board, School and Mennonite Girls’ Home?” And he replied: “Give them all my greetings and tell them to live a life that will make it possible for us to meet in Heaven.” His children did everything possible to comfort him and ease his suffering through loving care. On the twenty-fifth of this month (February) his longing was fulfilled, and he left the scene of his activities to give account of his work to Him who entrusted these many duties to him.
And so Brother Toews rests now from all his worries, his labours, his sorrows, his disappointments and the many joys of life which were given him to train him for eternity. We greatly feel the loss of this great man and yet we grant him his rest.
“Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works to follow them.”
Born February 9, 1870, Lysanderhoehe, Saratov, Russia, son of Jacob Toews and Marie Wiebe-Toews. Married Margarete Friesen, Tiefengrund, Saskatchewan, September 20, 1900. Received his education: elementary school, Russia, 1876-1883; Halstead Seminary, 1887-1890, 1892-93; Winnipeg Collegiate Institute, 1896-1897; Normal School, Winnipeg, 1897- 1898. Positions: Assistant teacher, Mennonite Collegiate Institute, Gretna, Manitoba, 1893-1896; public school teacher, Burwalde, Manitoba, Tiefengrund and Eigenheim, Saskatchewan, 1898-1904; pastor of the Rosenort Church since 1901; principal of the English-German Academy, Rosthern, 1905-1920; chairman of the Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization, 1922-1946. Surviving are one son and seven daughters.
The Mennonite obituary: 1954 Aug 17 p. 502
"Faith of our fathers living still, In spite of dungeon, fire and sword.”
Who has preserved this faith? How has it been preserved? The life of Rev. David Toews shows us many of the hardships and trials which have been endured to uphold this faith.
Looking back a number of years we see the Toews' ancestral home “Weisshof” near Tiegenhagen in Marienburger Werder of West Prussia. Due to the economic difficulties such as being unable to buy land, political pressures and no military exemption the Mennonites of this area decided to leave Prussia. They received an invitation from Queen Katherine of Russia to settle there. In 1853 the new settlement "Am Trakt” near the Volga, was founded. In this group of settlers were Jacob and Maria (Wiebe) Toew's. It was here in Lysanderhoeh on February 9, 1870, that David Toew's was born.
David was one of many children and since their father was a minister, a good Christian atmosphere prevailed in the home. In school also Mr. Wilhelm Penner, a Mennonite teacher, upheld Christian principles. However, David was not unlike other children. There was a time in his life also where "you must” had more meaning than “you may.”
The quiet happy life in Russia was shortlived. When David was about ten, the majority of the settlement loaded their belongings on wagons and traveled via Saratov, Orenburg, and Kaplanberg, into the beautiful, fertile valley of Tashkent. This, too, did not last long for General Kaufman of Tashkent died. Some people then settled at Aulie-Ata. However, some accepted the leadership of Klaas Epp and founded a village in Khiva. Here they suffered greatly and in the fall of 1884 many families decided to migrate to America after nearly four years of traveling. Through these years David learned a lesson which was to help him greatly in his later life, namely: "Even though it might be difficult, it was possible to traverse a road that had to be taken."
Despite his travelings, he received his elementary education in Russia from 1876-83. After his arrival in America he once more started at the beginning to learn the English language.
During the holidays David was employed on the farm of Bernhard Regier and with the financial aid of Mr. Regier and the money he himself had earned, he attended Halstead University for four years. He finished his formal education at Winnipeg Normal School and Winnipeg Collegiate Institute.
His first attempts at teaching were at Elbing and at Newton. He received the invitation from H. H. Ewert to teach in Manitoba just as he was about to enter Bethel College in 1893. Mr. Regier prompted him to accept the position and he went to teach in Manitoba. 1898 brought him a call to Saskatchewan. In a small northern settlement, Tiefengrund, he bought a small farm and took up the position as teacher. He had a common origin with these people and was loved and honored by all. He was known for his cheerfulness and his optimism and he managed to see the silver lining in every cloud.
His attraction in Tiefengrund was not just the common origin, the school or his farm, no, there was another attraction and on September 20, 1900, he married Margarete Friesen. They had a happy family of eight children — one son and seven daughters. One of his daughters has defined their home as a "home of love and laughter.” Mrs. Toews did much to keep the home happy but Mr. Toews was a very loving and understanding father. He enjoyed fun and did many things to create laughter. One incident still fresh in the memory of the family, is the surprise they had when he appeared at dinner one day with his beard shaved off. Very, very often Mr. Toews was quiet and preoccupied.
He also had an interest in the finer things of life such as flowers, his favorite being the pansy. Often times he would stand beside a pansy bed and admire their beautiful colors. He also loved music. Besides hymns he enjoyed German folk songs and Nature lieder.
While living at Eigenheim he began his work o the German-English Academy in 1904. His work was highly successful for his students loved and honored him. Here he was principal until 1920, after which he resigned and remained on the board directors until shortly before his death.
In 1901, he was ordained as minister in the Rosenort Gemeinde in Rosthern and was elected as Elder in 1913. He had a great concern for the cultural and spiritual needs of the people. His “Hausbesucht were usually made on the coldest days in winter. He once jokingly said he found more people at home at this time, but it is thought that he himself had more time then.
He was very skilled in leading, genial, and always enthusiastic, and thus took up the responsibility as Conference secretary for seven years and as Conference chairman for twenty-six years. Rev. Toews did much traveling in his lifetime. It included trips to Ottawa, Regina, Winnipeg, Chicago, and various other trips overseas to attend the world conferences in 1930 and 1936. He was self-confident, frank, trustworthy and resolute in all his dealings. When away in his travels, his faithful wife carried on in the home. He wrote to his family regularly and upon returning home he usually had a small gift for each of them.
The Mennonite migration of 1923-30 caused many difficulties. "Toews was challenged with many tasks and in accepting them he grew in faith that where God opens a path of service. He will also give strength to follow that path.” He saw the needs of the people in Russia and helped them across the sea. When in Canada, he prepaid their railway debt (Reiseschuld) and found a place for all concerned to settle down and get started. He exercised much patience and did many favors for them. People in need were never turned from his door and all would find a sympathetic ear.
He was elected as treasurer and collector of the needed money and was confident that the money would come. He was always optimistic, cheerful and patient in all his work. His own needs were looked after least and he exercised great faith that the Lord would provide the needed funds. He was a man of great vision and daring imagination. “He ignored the hills before him and saw only the distant mountains.” Where businessmen failed, he succeeded through faith.
1938 brought a high light in Rev. Toews’ life. It was the twenty-fifth anniversary of his eldership. During this time he often quoted passages of Karl Gerok’s “Es reut mich niert.” Lines like “Mich reut kein Sehaerflein dasz am Weg der Arme” or “Wo ich gehofft—wenn man den Bruder auf der Wage wog" are very typical of his life.
The Toews’ were becoming older and in 1941, Mrs. Toews passed on to her heavenly home, leaving Rev. Toews very lonely.
Already in the ’30’s, Rev. Toews’ hearing became impaired causing him to give up various positions. At the end of the thirties, he suffered from diabetes, and underwent an operation, thus making injections necessary. After several operations in 1942-43, he seemingly improved. Then however, his health became poorer and he resigned his eldership and board position in 1946.
In 1945, he took great pleasure in attending the General Conference at North Newton, Kansas. Another source of happiness for him was that the Reiseschuld was completely liquidated.
Rev. Toews had fulfilled the work set before him. He found great comfort in Scripture readings, prayers and hymns during the time he was bedridden. His faith in the God who had so greatly helped him, increased during this time.
At the age of 77 years and sixteen days, Rev. Toews went Home on February 25, 1947. Telegrams of sympathy from Prime Minister McKenzie King and other great men were read at the funeral services. Rev. J. J. Thiessen based his funeral meditations on II Samuel 3:38, “Wisset ihr nicht dasz auf diesen Tag ein Fuerst und Groszer gefallen ist in Israel?”
Thus we see how one of our Mennonite forefathers has passed along the faith which we now strive to attain and pass along.
— Rosthern Junior College Bulletin