Waldner, Jacob (d. 1971)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1971 Nov 18 p. 2

Birth date:

text of obituary:

Death Claims Two Ministers in Manitoba Hutterite Colonies

Ministers of two Hutterite colonies in Manitoba were unexpectedly called away in death recently, one through an accident, it is reported by Paul S. Gross, Hutterite minister and scholar of Espanola, Wash.

At the Arden colony near Riverside, Man. the last week in October, Min. Isaac Gross was doing some plumbing in a 12-foot-deep trench when the walls caved in and buried him alive. His son, Ike, standing near the ditch, had called a warning, but the dirt caved in just as Min. Gross stood up and looked at him. The body was recovered a half hour later.

The middle of October, the congregation of the Waldheim Colony (formerly a Mennonite settlement) had gathered for the evening service and waited for their assistant minister, Jacob Waldner, to arrive. When he did not come, someone was sent to call him. He was found dead in his house, the victim of a heart attack. He was lying on the floor, with his books still in his arms.

Both colonies had made plans to divide and form daughter colonies.