Unruh, Annie Enns (1900-1972)

Mennonite Brethren Herald obituary: 1972 Oct 20 p. 23

Birth date: 1900 Mar 17

text of obituary:

ANNIE UNRUH

"I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God: for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of Righteousness."

This hymn of praise from Isaiah 61 was constantly with Annie during the last months of her life, and the confidence of its assurance brought her through her sufferings and the hour of death to her eternal home, on August 31 in the Concordia Hospital, Winnipeg.

Annie Unruh was born to John and Aganetha Enns in 1900 near Winkler, Manitoba in the little village of Hoffnungsfeld. She was the second youngest of eleven children. She attended public school and High School in Winkler, completed Normal School training in Manitou and then taught in the Winkler area for seven years.

Annie accepted the Lord Jesus as her personal Saviour when she was 12. She was baptized in 1916, and was accepted into the Winkler Mennonite Brethren Church. Even before she was baptized, however, she felt a strong desire to serve the Lord on the mission field. In 1925, when Rev. A. H. Unruh, founded the Winkler Bible School, she was the first student to enroll, and completed the course in 1928. It was at the Bible School that she met A. A. Unruh, whom she married in a double wedding with Annie's sister Sarah and John Pters on October 21, 1926.

In the same year they offered themselves to the Mission Board for service in India. It was not, however, until 1936 that they were accepted as candidates for service. During this period four children were born; the fifth child, Donald, was born during their first term in India.

In December 1936 they left Canada to serve in India, where they worked for four terms until their retirement in 1967.

During this time, Annie managed not only to be a loving and attentive mother to her five children, but also to serve her Lord and the Indian people diligently and with great joy and dedication. She was a mother to many, and cared tirelessly both for their bodies and their souls. She cared for the sick, the poor and the homeless, but her central concern was for their salvation and spiritual growth. During her last years she taught at the Shamshabad Bible School but her greatest efforts were spent in teaching the Bible to Christian women in the villages, One of her Indian co-workers in the task, (Mrs. Paranjoythy) wrote in a letter received a few days before her death:

"May his strength he made perfect in your weakness. Ammagaru, it is our prayer that you must be happy inspite of bodily weakness. The labour you undertook in this world for Him will not end in vain. There is reward ready for you with the Lord, Amma, we will never forget your love. You are the ones who strengthened us physically and spiritually. You are the ones who encouraged us in ministry. The Lord will richly reward you. It is the will of the Lord that His loved ones should be with Him."

During the past few years, her health began to fail, but it was not until February that we discovered that she was seriously ill. She was at all times resigned to the more perfect will of her Lord, Failing rapidly, she was granted a brief reprieve during July and August, spent surrounded by her family in joy and thankfulness. On August 11 she underwent further treatment, which weakened her greatly, and from which she never recovered, She passed on peacefully in her sleep on August 31 , after two weeks of suffering. She left her family, not crippled because she left, but strengthened because she had gone before.

She leaves to mourn her beloved husband, Abraham A. Unruh of Winnipeg , and her children: Peggy and Walter Regehr, Kathryn Unruh, Helen and Oscar Epp, all of Winnipeg; Louise and George Block, Medicine Hat, Alta., and Donald and Magaret Unruh, Boulder, Colorado, and eleven grandchildren as well as a host of friends and relatives.