Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian from the Editor’S Desk Saskatchewan by Victoria Neufeldt Mennonite Historian
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ASKATCHEWAN M E N N O N I T E HISTORIAN SOfficial periodical of the Mennonite Historical Society of Saskatchewn, Inc. Volume XVI No. 2, June 2009 Park Valley Church: A Short but INSIDE Park Valley Church history p. 1 Important History MHSS Annual General 8 The following account was put together by the editors from informa- Meeting, with the tion provided by Peter Funk and Jake Bergen and information found Bergthaler Church story in the MHSS archives. — Ed. New MHSS board members 12 This is the story of a little church in a remote rural community. “Glenbush Years,” by Dick Epp 13 It’s a short history, but one that illustrates notable faith, courage, MHSS in Sask. Hansard 15 inventiveness and commitment. Katie Sawatzky, Centenarian 16 The story of Park Valley church begins in the 1920s, when Men- Saskatoon Mennonite 17 nonites began to move north into the Lake Four school dis- Street Names trict from the Great Deer area, which lies just southeast of Rev.J.J. Nickel in Aberdeen 18 Redberry Lake. Lake Four is about 25 kilometres southeast of church Big River, very near the southwestern corner of Prince Albert Cemeteries Web Site Report 19 National Park. In the 1920s, these northern settlers were still Cemeteries Project: 20 homesteading. Help Wanted Family names of early homesteaders were Thiessen, Giesbrecht, Victor Wiebe’s Retirement 21 Bueckert, Reimer, Unruh, and Veer. Later, people named New collections for archives 21 “Mostly about Books” 22 Mennonite Encyc Online 23 Bethel Mennonite Mission: the original log church. Photo courtesy of Peter Funk. continued on page 4 2 Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian From the Editor’s Desk Saskatchewan By Victoria Neufeldt Mennonite Historian Volume XV No. 2 June 2009 Published three times a year by the Mennonite Historical Society of Saskatchewan (MHSS). Editor: Victoria Neufeldt Story Scout & Contributing Editor: Verner Friesen Advisory Committee: Esther Patkau, Jake Buhler Pictures editor: Helen Fast Typist: Hilda Voth Proofreaders: Ernie Baergen, Verner Friesen The two main articles in this issue are the story of Park Valley church and the account of MHSS’s Columns: annual general meeting, with its special presen- Victor Wiebe: Book Page and Archives Page tations on the Bergthaler church. The presenta- (contact info: 934-8125 [email protected]) tions on the Bergthaler church included historical Rosemary Slater: Genealogy Page accounts that are important for us all to know. The (contact info: 955-3759 [email protected]) story of Park Valley is an inspirational one, in spite of its sad ending. The people who persevered in sus- Distribution: Verner Friesen taining that rural church community over a good number of years in difficult circumstances are won- Readers are invited to submit news items, stories, derful examples of faith expressed in works. articles, photographs, church histories, etc. to [email protected] or to the MHSS address below. MHSS’s annual meeting was my first, and an inter- esting and educational experience it was. I was only MHSS Office and Archives: able to attend on the Saturday, but it certainly was 110 La Ronge Road, Room 900 worth the trip out. Not least among the things I Saskatoon, SK S7K 7H8 took away from the event was what you might call Membership: $25 a year. Donations welcome. an introductory appreciation for the Valley Chris- Archive hours: tian Academy, which I had not visited before. It is a Monday: 1:30–4 p.m. broad and imposing edifice out there on the Prairie, Wednesday: 1:30–4 p.m.; 7–9 p.m. and the amount of activity taking place on a Satur- day morning, besides our own event, was wonderful to see. (I had entered by the wrong door and so got a look at more than I would have otherwise!) As always, I urge members to let me know what you would like to read in this journal. I welcome com- ments, quibbles, and suggestions, all with a view to making this as good a journal as it can be. A happy summer to all. June 2009 Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian 3 MHSS Board of Directors, 2009 MHSS President’s Corner Jake Buhler, President 836 Main Street By Jake Buhler Saskatoon, SK S7H 0K3 Tel.: 244-1392 [email protected] George Dirks, Vice President Box 235, Hepburn, SK S0K 1Z0 Tel: 947-2158 [email protected] Vera Falk, Secretary/MC Sask Archivist Box 251, Dundurn, SK S0K 1K0 Tel: 492-4731 Fax: 492-4731 Elmer Regier, Treasurer 142 Haight Street Saskatoon, SK S7H 4V9 Tel: 373-0606 [email protected] Kathy Boldt, Archives Box 152, RR #4, Saskatoon, SK S7K 3J7 Tel: 239-4742 Margaret Ewert Box 127, Drake, SK S0K 0H0 Johann Driedger (1859-1920) was a most remark- Tel: 363-2077 [email protected] able person for his time. Born in Chortiza, Rus- sia, he travelled with his parents to Manitoba at the Verner Friesen age of 15. He became a Schult (overseer) in the vil- 641–120 LaRonge Road lage of Blumenfeld before moving to Saskatchewan Saskatoon, SK S7K 7Z9 in 1904. He settled onto the farm where Ben and Tel: 382-2970 [email protected] Wilf Buhler now operate a dairy. It would be five Erna Neufeld years before he was excommunicated by an Old Col- 512 – 351 Saguenay Drive ony Mennonite Ältester for driving a car, running a Saskatoon, SK S7K 5T4 store, and operating a post office at Clark’s Crossing. Tel: 975-0554 [email protected] He even bought 350 lots in Saskatoon that included Henry Penner the area where Mount Royal Mennonite Church is Box 625, Hague, SK S0K 1X0 located. He lost them all when the boom in Saska- Tel: 225-4568 toon came to an end. This volatile entrepreneur was not easily kept out of the Church and made many Victor G. Wiebe, Archivist attempts to become reunited with it. The papers and 11 Kindrachuk Cres., Saskatoon, SK S7K 6J1 some one hundred letters of Johann Driedger have Tel: 934-8125 [email protected] been donated to our Mennonite Historical Society Other Positions by Leo, Otto, and Irvin Driedger, grandchildren of Cemeteries Project — Helen Fast, coordinator Johann. They are a valuable addition and provide Tel: 242-5448 [email protected] a rare insight into a clash between an entrepreneur Cemeteries Project web site — Al Mierau, webmaster and his Ältester. [email protected] MHSS web site — Ruth Marlene Friesen, webmaster June 2009 4 Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian Park Valley continued from page 1 Peter Funk writes, “In the mid forties, through the Hildebrandt, Bergen, and Zacharias came from the influence of the newly formed Saskatchewan Men- Rosthern and Osler area. nonite Youth Organization and the Bible schools, young people began to respond to the challenge of Beyond the family names of some of the early set- ministry in remote areas. Ella Heppner of Wald- tlers, little is now remembered of the beginnings of heim, a graduate of the Swift Current Bible Insti- Bethel Mennonite Mission, now generally referred tute, responded to the call to serve the Bethel Mis- to as Park Valley Mennonite Church. sion at Lake Four. Also, young Christian public However, we have enough information from two school teachers were making themselves available former pastors, Peter Funk (who served from 1959- to teach in what were then remote northern areas. 1963) and Cornelius Boldt (1963-1970), and a for- Leona Heppner, Ella’s sister, joined Ella at Lake mer resident of the area, Jake Bergen, to put together Four and taught in the public school there. When a short history, enough to give a good picture of the Ella left her position at Lake Four, Dick Thiessen birth and death of a small rural church, which dem- from Waldheim served in ministry there.” onstrates how hard it must have been to maintain a Sometime in the fifties or the late forties, the Lake viable church community in such relatively remote Four store and post office closed, so the mailing areas as this. address and identity of the Bethel Mission Church changed to Park Valley, the school district south of the Lake Four school district. Day of ordination of Peter Funk; from left, H.H. Penner; Cornelius P. Funk, Peter Funk’s father; The Park Valley Mission church in 1959, shortly before this Peter and Justine Funk; Peter G. Sawatzky, pastor original log building was replaced with a new building. of Mayfair Mennonite Church. At that time, the ministry of the Bethel Menno- The first church building was a log structure erected nite Mission was supported by Saskatchewan Men- about 1942. A two-acre parcel of land was donated nonite Youth Organization, Canadian Mennonite by Henry M. Thiessen in the northeast corner of his Conference Home Mission, and Mayfair Mennonite farm for a church and cemetery. The people called Church in Saskatoon. their church Bethel Mission, after the Bethel Men- nonite Church of Great Deer, where the first settlers On the Victoria Day weekend in 1959, Peter and had come from. Jake Bergen writes that the first Justine Funk, members of Mayfair Mennonite leader was Jacob G. Giesbrecht, grandfather of Jake’s Church in Saskatoon, were ordained at this church. wife, Maria. Another early leader was Dick Thies- The ordination service took place in the community sen. There were also many visiting speakers. Jacob hall, beside the Lake Four school. G. Giesbrecht’s son, Jacob Giesbrecht Jr, served as Peter Funk describes the community as a mixed one. pastor in later years, with help from others. There was a fairly large group of Norwegian families, June 2009 Saskatchewan Mennonite Historian 5 he writes, ten German families of Mennonite back- donated a thousand board feet of new lumber; a gift ground, a few German families of Lutheran back- of $500 from the SMYO provided a large truckload ground, and a few English families.