Hugo B. Reimer
Hugo Bernhard Reimer, 89, of North Newton died Thursday
(July 23, 2009) at Kidron Bethel Health Care in North Newton.
He was born May 23, 1920, on his family's farm east of
Inman, to Heinrich ('Henry') F. and Katharina ('Katie') B. (Baergen) Reimer,
the fourth of 10 children who lived past infancy.
He grew up in rural Inman, where his parents farmed. Hugo
graduated from Inman High School in 1940, and entered Bethel College in North
Newton the next fall. After his first two years of college, he was drafted
during World War II; declaring himself a conscientious objector, he entered
Civilian Public Service. During the next four years, he served in CPS camps in
Weeping Willow, Neb.; Fort Collins, Colo.; Lapine, Ore.; and Norristown, Pa.,
working on surveying crews, as a tool sharpener and an orderly in a psychiatric
hospital. Following his alternative service, he returned to school, graduating
from Bethel College in 1948 with a major in music education and a minor in
industrial arts. In 1955, he earned a master of music education degree from The
University of Wichita.
Hugo married Norma Mae Tieszen on Aug. 10, 1948, in Marion,
S.D. For several years, both Hugo and Norma taught school in Hanston and Chase,
where they were living when their three children were born. The family then
made their residence in Wichita for about 28 years before Hugo and Norma moved
to North Newton in anticipation of retirement. Hugo taught in public schools
for 36 years, primarily in some area of industrial arts, but occasionally in
music as well. He was active in the Kansas Mennonite Men's Chorus, serving as a
regional rehearsal director. He melded his vocational interests in a secondary
career as a piano tuner, apprenticing with Alvin Franz in the mid-1960s. He was
a registered tuner-technician with the Piano Technicians Guild, and enjoyed
attending many of their national conventions; he also was active in the local
PTG chapter and the Lion's Club.
He was baptized in June 1937 by J. E. Kaufman in the Inman
(Kansas) Mennonite Church. He was a long-time member of the Lorraine Avenue
Mennonite Church during his residence in Wichita, where he served at various
times as choir director and deacon. He was a member of the Bethel College
Mennonite Church in North Newton since 1986, where he continued to be active in
music concerns.
Hugo's first wife, Norma, died in 1998, shortly before their
50th wedding anniversary. Several years later, he encountered Ruth Sutter
Rediger at a CPS reunion; they were married on Feb. 18, 2001, by Hugo's son,
following a Sunday service at Bethel College Mennonite Church. In June 2004,
Hugo and Ruth moved from their residence into an apartment at Kidron Bethel
Village in North Newton. Ruth moved into a memory care unit in Goessel in the
summer of 2007. Shortly thereafter, Hugo's own health declined as he was
diagnosed with congestive heart failure, followed by a stroke this last spring.
Hugo was 89 when he died at noon Thursday at Kidron Bethel
Health Care in North Newton.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife,
Norma Mae Tieszen Reimer, his infant son, Ralph Hugh Reimer, his brother,
Harry, and his sisters, Emma Schierling and Ruth Wiens.
Survivors include: wife Ruth Sutter Rediger Reimer of
Bethesda Home in Goessel; daughter, Roberta Rae, her husband Phil Schmidt of
Henderson, Neb., and their children Grant (and Jami) of Henderson, Neb.; Halie
(and Aaron Smith) of Wichita; and Trevor of Lincoln, Neb.; son, Raymond Hubert,
his wife, Rosie Epp, of Sioux Falls, S.D., and their children, Rachel of
Wichita and Renee of Sioux Falls, S.D.; two great-grandchildren, Austin Schmidt
and Asher Smith; three brothers: Paul and John of Inman, and Ernest of
Hutchinson; three sisters, Gertrude Sigler of Derby, Sally Regier of Colwich
and Mildred Rogers of Wichita; three step-children; multiple step-grandchildren
and great-grandchildren, and many other extended family members and friends.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Petersen
Family Funeral Home in Newton, when family will receive friends.
Burial service will be at 3:30 p.m. Monday at the
Huffnungsau Mennonite Church Cemetery in rural Inman. Memorial service will be
at 7 p.m. Monday at Bethel College Mennonite Church in North Newton. Memorials
may be sent to the Bethel College music department, or to the Bethel College
Mennonite Church organ fund.
