Anthony R. Epp
Obituary
Anthony R. Epp of North Newton died on Monday (June 6, 2011)
at Newton Medical Center at the age of 69.
Son of Daniel J. Epp and Frieda Wiens Epp, Anthony was born
on Aug. 10, 1941, in Toccoa, Ga., where he spent the first five years of his
life. After several years in Henderson, Neb., he grew up in North Newton. He
graduated from Bethel College, obtained a master's degree in English from the
University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. in French from the University of Colorado.
Following his marriage to Dianne N. Waltner in 1964, they spent three years in
the MCC Teachers Abroad Program, teaching in the Republique of Congo.
Anthony's professional career as a professor of French and
German spanned 35 years at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Neb. In
addition to French and German, he taught an introductory Liberal Arts Seminar
for incoming students. His students were a constant joy to him, and
relationships forged in the classroom extended into retirement.
Baptized at the Bethel College Mennonite Church in North
Newton during his teenage years, he returned his membership to that church when
he and Dianne moved from Lincoln to Kidron Bethel Retirement Village in 2010.
As always, the youth of the church were his particular passion. During his
years in Lincoln, he was a vital member of the Antelope Park Church of the
Brethren, teaching Sunday School and serving as church moderator, deacon and in
numerous other capacities. In both congregations, he participated in the
choirs, as music in many ways permeated his life.
Family ties provided the cornerstone of his life, and his
loss is keenly felt by that family: his wife, Dianne; son, Alain-René Epp
Weaver and his wife, Sonia, and their children, Sam and Kate; daughter, Rachel
Epp Buller and her husband, Tim, and their children, Daniel, Daisy and Lucy;
two sisters, Becky Bartel and her husband, Larry, and Janet VanDyke and her
husband, Richard; sister-in-law, Winona Senner and her husband, Les; along with
his aunt, Martha Koehn, and cousins, nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Daniel J. Epp and
Frieda Wiens Epp.
A celebration of life service will be conducted later in
summer. Memorials may be sent to Bethel College, 300 E. 27th St., North Newton,
KS 67117; Nebraska Wesleyan University, 50th and St. Paul, Lincoln, NE 67114;
or Mennonite Central Committee, 21 S. 12th St., P.O. Box 500, Akron, PA
17501-0500.
