Elmer Reimer
Obituary
Elmer Isaac Reimer, our much loved
father, grandfather, great-grandfather, pastor and friend, passed
away peacefully in his son's home Sunday (March 19, 2017). He was
born in Drake, Saskatchewan, Canada, on May 18, 1922, the third of
seven sons and one daughter born to Frank and Gertrude (Boese)
Reimer.
He was preceded in death by his
parents; his wife, Catharina; and brothers Alfred, Harry, Arlie and
Leslie.
He is survived by brothers, Johnny and
Albert; sister, Betty; son, David (Marilyn); grandchildren, Kristen
(Sean) Fender and son Nathan, Gregory (Amber) and children Adrianna,
Bree and Cate, and Jeffrey (Jessica) and children Charlie, Lillian,
Anna and Elanor.
He came to faith in Christ during a
revival in their church in Dalmeny, Saskatchewan, and was baptized at
the age of 14.
The extreme drought of the 1930s forced
the family to move to Steinbach, Manitoba, to find work when Elmer
was a teenager. He worked in a body shop, lumber camp and as a
mechanic in a John Deere dealership.
He met Catharina (Tina) Peters at the
Evangelical Mennonite Brethren church in Steinbach. They were married
September 26, 1943. Their son, David, was born April 2, 1945.
Elmer felt called to the ministry and
the family moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where he enrolled at Grace Bible
Institute. Within a few years, he had served as a summer pastor in
Michigan and then left school to become the pastor of the EMB church
in Jansen, Nebraska. He served there for several years before
returning to school in Omaha.
In 1957, he moved to South Dakota to
pastor the Kingsburg Community Church for several years before
accepting the pastorate of the Carter Gospel Fellowship, a rural
church near Winner, South Dakota.
After 28 years at Carter, he and Tina
moved to Newton in 1991, and Elmer pastored the First Mennonite
Church of Burns for 12 1/2 years.
Elmer was heavily involved in
evangelistic meetings in churches throughout the Midwest and Canada,
and in youth work primarily through Bible camps. Thousands of young
people knew and loved him as 'Uncle Elmer.'
In 2004, at the age of 82, he resigned
the pastorate and took on the project of raising missionary support
for the task of translating and recording into Low German the entire
collection of J. Vernon McGee's "Thru the Bible" radio
teaching series, a five-year daily broadcast consisting of 1,297
individual half-hour programs of study from Genesis to Revelation.
He became the worldwide Low German
voice of the "Thru the Bible" series, one of more than a
hundred languages into which the program has been translated and
recorded. The Low German programs are currently being broadcast
regularly to thousands of Low German-speaking Mennonites in Mexico,
South America, Northern Germany and Canada. He also translated the
New Testament and portions of the Old Testament into Low German. His
ministry impact will continue long into the future.
After completing the translation
projects in 2010, he taught Sunday School at Grace Community Church
until December of 2015, completing 75 years of continuous ministry.
His godly spirit and faithful ministry will be greatly missed by his
family and a host of people who have known and loved him.
Visitation for Elmer will be held from
2 to 8 p.m. Friday (March 24, 2017) in the Fireside Room at Grace
Community Church. The family will greet guests from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Burial will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday
(March 25, 2017) at the Burns Countryside Cemetery in Burns. The
Memorial Service honoring Elmer will follow at 11 a.m. at Grace
Community Church.
Memorials have been established with
Grace Community Church.
Friends may sign the book online at
www.broadwaycolonialfh.com.
