Wideman, Edwin H. (1878-1968)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1968 Feb 29 p. 8

Birth date: 1878 May 27

text of obituary:

EDWIN H. WIDEMAN

Edwin H. Wideman, eldest son of Abraham and Anna Hembling Wideman, was born May 27, 1878, in Ontario, Canada; died Feb. 7, 1968 in McMinnville, Oregon, age 89 years, eight months, and 11 days.

When he was quite young his family moved to Iowa and in 1902 to Alberta, Canada. There he married Leah D. Brubaker on Oct. 15, 1902 and they took a homestead near Olds, Alberta.

To this union were born eight children, all of whom survive; Rachel (Mrs. Wesley Ellis,) Sheridan, Oregon; Mary (Mrs. Daniel Lauber) and Walter of Grants Pass, Oregon; Oscar, Anna (Mrs. Willard Byers) and Irene of McMinnville, Oregon; Lena (Mrs. Amos Hostetler) of Salem, Oregon; and Ethel (Mrs. Henry Birkey) of Parnell, Iowa. He is also survived by 19 grandchildren, 38 great-grandchildren, and two brothers and three sisters: Mrs. Mary Ann Roth, Mrs. Lydia Boettger, and Menno, all of Tofield, Alberta, Mrs. Martha Sitler of Camrose, Alberta, and Ivy of Camloops, B. C.

The family first moved to Hubbard, Oregon in 1912 but in a number of years returned to Alberta for a time. In 1924 they moved to Sheridan, Oregon where they made their home until after the death of his wife in 1956.

He was a member of the McMinnville Mennonite Church. Though of a quiet disposition, Dad always had a strong sense of things that were essentially right and was staunch in what he believed to be right. As he grew older he often spoke of heaven and the importance of being ready to go there. He loved music and the songs of the church.

God blessed him with many years and we, his children, remain to cherish his memory.