Wilbert Henry Wiebe

Wilbert Henry Wiebe, 99, went to his heavenly home on Monday, March 3, 2025, at Wheatstate Manor in Whitewater. His memorial service will be Saturday, March 8, at 4 p.m. at Emmaus Church of rural Whitewater.

Born February 18, 1926 in Newton, he was the son of Henry J. and Eliese (Regier) Wiebe. He graduated from Oklahoma Bible Academy in 1945 and continued his education at Grace College of the Bible and Wheaton Bible College. He married Dorothy Iona Unruh on August 14, 1953, in Meno, Oklahoma. He was a longtime Whitewater resident and farmer stockman, and a life-long member of Emmaus Mennonite Church.

Wilbert is survived by his children Gail (Russ) Toevs of Whitewater, Brenda (Tim) Wuthrich of Whitewater, Brad (Mary) Wiebe of Whitewater and Deanna (Calvin) Hostetler of Rocky Ford, Colorado; eleven grandchildren and twenty-one great grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents, wife, and brothers Leonard and Alfred Wiebe and sister Gertrude Roten.

Memorial contributions in Wilbert's name may be directed to the Mennonite Central Committee or Emmaus Church in support of missions.

Life Sketch

Wilbert Henry Wiebe was born February 18, 1926, the third child of Henry J. and Eliese Regier Wiebe of Whitewater, Kansas. Wilbert wrote of his early days, “I enjoyed a happy childhood with loving parents, two brothers (Alfred and Leonard) and one sister (Gertrude). We learned about hard work, thrift, trusting God and loving relationships. I came to appreciate God’s creation as I walked two miles to grade school in Brainerd. My sister whistled to the birds in the hedgerows and they followed us sometimes. I was an ornery kid and got lots of spankings. The last one was when I was 12 or 13 years old. I was back-talking once too often.”

”School lasted eight months followed by six weeks of Bible school in the morning and German school in the afternoon. I enjoyed school but summer was more fun. As we grew older, summer meant hard work on the farm. Sunday was the best day of the week. Saturday evening found us taking a bath and studying our Sunday School lesson. In the morning our family went to Sunday School and church. In the evening we went visiting or had company.”

“In about 1935, hordes of grasshoppers descended from the sky and covered every living plant. They stripped the row crops and killed all of our trees. Then in fourth grade, one day we had such a dust storm that it got dark at 2 p.m. We lit kerosene lamps and placed wet cloths over our nose and mouth so we could breathe. That night my dad came in late, black with dust. He had been in the field destroying our (poor) wheat crop in order to hold the soil from blowing away. We had very little income that year. We made it through the winter on one pet goat and rabbits. Our hogs, eggs and cream were sold to pay bills. That following Christmas our parents apologized to us kids because there were no Christmas presents. We did have a beautiful Christmas tree with real candles, and a plate of nuts and an orange for each of us. We read the Christmas story and prayed, thanking God for His gift to us. There was lots of love for each other.”

One of Wilbert’s stand-out memories was when he was in the sixth grade. He recounted, “My teacher, Mildred Zuercher, gave me a toy cap pistol for Christmas. When we got home that evening, the cat and the dog each had a good scare. After two days my dad explained to me that real pistols were made to kill people, and killing people was always wrong. He then smashed the pistol with a hammer and promised me something in its place. I loved that pistol but I started to understand what we were taught in Sunday School, that to take a human life is always wrong, even in war. Thanks, Dad.”

Regarding his salvation experience, Wilbert wrote, “I don’t remember when I became a Christian, but when I was 12 or 13, I met the Lord behind the barn. It seemed like God was right there with me, forgiving me and accepting me as His child. This was the beginning of a lifetime of communicating with the Lord. I was baptized at age 16 by Reverend J. C. Kaufman after spending two years in catechism class. Giving our testimony in those days consisted of answering three questions in front of the congregation. Questions and answers were memorized. That day I made a commitment to follow Christ.”

“After baptism we became members of the youth group. One of the highlights for me...was attending Emmaus parties and playing swinging games (a type of square dance). We got acquainted with young people from neighboring Mennonite churches playing swinging games at weddings, silver weddings and joint get-togethers. We didn’t have sports because Emmaus kids had to come home after school to work. Many kids didn’t finish high school. Most boys didn’t own cars till they got married.” In 1940, Wilbert was sent to Oklahoma Bible Academy in Meno, Oklahoma for two years and then finished high school by correspondence. While in Meno, Dorothy’s parents invited him to Sunday dinner along with several other OBA students. Dorothy was in the 7th grade then.

War clouds were looming by 1940 and Wilbert remembered “dreaming about the battlefield; it scared me terribly. When I turned 18…I registered for the draft…as a conscientious objector because I believed it was wrong to kill. We were very thankful to our country for granting us the privilege of exemption from military service. I failed the physical exam because I was too short, and was placed on a farm south of Potwin with a farm deferment. After my 18 months of service as a farm worker, I returned to the home farm to help my dad and brother Alfred,” and then attended Grace Bible Institute for one year and Wheaton College for a year and a half.

Wilbert said he was a born farmer. As a boy his tractors and trucks were old roller skates. He spent time pushing in the clutch on the McCormick-Deering 10-20 tractor so he could start driving it. Shocking wheat was okay, if he could drive the car home across the field at noon or in the evening. In the summer of 1952, his dad asked him to stay home from college and farm. In November he and Leonard went on a double date. Leonard arranged Wilbert’s date with Dorothy, who was studying at Bethel College. They continued dating and were married a year later on August 14, 1953 in Meno. But this newly married farmer stepped back into farming at a difficult time. Wilbert wrote, “For the next three years we raised no milo, corn or beans because the crops dried up. I worked on the turnpike 11 hours per day and six days per week to pay farm bills. Those were tough years but the Lord took care of us.” Dorothy helped on the farm driving tractor and truck in addition to caring for the four children God would soon bless them with, and they also welcomed four foster daughters into their home in the coming years. Feeding cattle and growing wheat were Wilbert’s favorite things. He kept abreast of markets, farm news and the latest farming methods. He was one of the first to practice no-till farming. His goal was to leave the land in better shape than he found it. He carried a constant concern for the ecology of the earth.

Wilbert gave time to teaching all four of his children to operate tractors and trucks. Each summer, his children, visiting cousins, community young people and later his grandchildren were hired for the sweaty, itchy job of hoeing out shatter cane in milo fields. There was always watermelon at break time.

In addition to twice-a-year trips to Oklahoma to see Dorothy’s family, Wilbert and Dorothy took their children on a number of trips, including trips to both the east and west coasts. They planned these trips to be educational, seeking opportunities to meet people different from us, in addition to seeing the sights. For their 25th anniversary, they went on a Farm Journal Tour to Europe, and after the tour, they went on their own to northwest Poland, formerly West Prussia, to see the places where Wilbert’s ancestors came from. They made annual trips to see Deanna and Calvin in Rocky Ford, Colorado, and take in the Colorado MCC Sale, and they were also adventurous enough to make two trips to the small village in Burkina Faso, West Africa, where Gail and Russ lived and worked.

Wilbert’s interest in South Wiebe history started partly because he lived and farmed on the place that his immigrant father and grandfather nurtured on the Kansas prairie. He helped plan the annual Wiebe picnic for many years, bringing historical displays and information. He also scheduled annual church roller skating parties for over 40 years. Family celebration gatherings found Wilbert planning for fun and playing with the grand children, including many hide and chase games with Grandpa covered in a bed sheet, or crawling on all fours like a tiger.

Wilbert enjoyed serving in church. He and Dorothy served as youth sponsors, and he served as peace representative, Sunday School teacher, on the Relief Committee, and in Mennonite fashion helped clean up after floods and tornadoes. He was involved in several business ventures and served on the boards of Whitewater Mill, the Circle E Feedlot, the Production Credit Association, Bethel College and Wheat State Manor.

On January 8, 2016, Dorothy passed away following a short illness. In the nine years since her passing, Wilbert gracefully made many adjustments, looking forward increasingly to his heavenly home with Jesus. He was granted that desire on March 3rd at Wheat State Manor.