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Featured Article: "Wall, David (1927-2019)" (Read full article) David Wall, 1960. Photo: Courtesy of Randy Klaassen. David Wall: businessman; born 15 December 1927 on a farm near Graysville, Manitoba to Frank and Katharine (Schellenberg) Wall. David was the youngest of three children, brother Jack and sister Agnes. In 1950 he married Lillian Schmidt. They had one daughter; Sharon. After Lillian’s death he married Helen Durksen in 1965. They had a son; Richard. David died 2 November, 2019 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. In October of 1925 Frank and Katharine Wall departed the Mennonite Colony of Molotschna, and sailed with the SS Montnairn to Quebec City, Canada. The family settled on a farm near Graysville. In April of 1936 the family moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario where they were active with the Niagara United Mennonite Church. Two years later father Frank died of a brain tumor. With insurance money Katharine was able to purchase a five acre fruit farm. With bother Jack dealing with asthma much of the farm work was left to David. David was able to attend Rosthern Junior College, in Saskatchewan. In 1950 he was baptized at Niagara United Mennonite Church, and later that year he married Lillian. With commitment to Christ and each other, David and Lillian considered becoming missionaries to South Africa. A doctor recommended not going overseas as Lillian had a heart valve issue. Instead they committed themselves to financially support other mission workers. In 1953 David Wall and Elmer Penner began a partnership of “Penner and Wall Electric,” doing electrical contracting in the Niagara Region. In 1956 David sold his half share of the electrical business, and used the funds in May 1957 to establish a “Home Appliance Store” in Virgil, Ontario. Around this time they joined the English speaking congregation in St. Catharines, Grace Mennonite Church, where David taught Sunday School and was a leader with the youth group. With Lillian’s heart issues, in 1961 David took up the role of Director of the local Heart and Stroke Foundation. For a number of years he and volunteers had top distinction of community donations on a per capita basis. In 1964 Lillian died during a heart surgery. A year later David married Helen Durksen, a teacher at Virgil Public School, and who was Sharon’s Grade 1 teacher. Hearing the role of Silver Lake Mennonite Camp in faith testimonies of youth David became a fundraiser in support of the camp. Originally to raise funds for a cabin, David organized his hunting friends to host a “Silver Lake Smorgasbord Dinner.” Along with traditional Mennonite foods the group also prepared dishes of wild game, ingredients of which were donated by various volunteers. Over the years dinners were rotated between Niagara Mennonite Churches. The final Smorg was held in 2011, and had raised more than $320,000 in support of Silver Lake. As the appliance business evolved David transitioned to furniture, and in May 1967 officially opened “Wall’s Furniture Store in Virgil.”

Our Mission The Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online provides reliable, freely-available English-language information on Anabaptist-related congregations, denominations, conferences, institutions and significant individuals, as well as historical and theological topics. Secular subject articles from an Anabaptist perspective and full-text source documents are also included. US $ Cdn $ Donations If you would like to make a donation to help sustain GAMEO in its mission to provide reliable information about the whole spectrum of Anabaptists we'd be glad for your help! Clicking on one of the images to the right will take you to the Mennonite World Conference donation page for credit cards in either U.S. or Canadian currency. Go to the bottom of the page to donate to "Other" and fill in "GAMEO" as the project to be supported. The volunteers who help GAMEO continue to exist thank you for your support! Corrections and Suggestions If you have specific corrections to articles or suggestions that should be added to the encyclopedia send them to the GAMEO's email address at admin@gameo.org. As a volunteer organization we are unable to respond to questions on Mennonite history or genealogical questions of any kind. For questions of that type, please contact a local genealogical society, or check with a Mennonite historical library or archives. About Us To learn more about GAMEO, click the link. See at YouTube video about GAMEO produced by Mennonite World Conference at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDfwQecdM70. Other Mennonite Encyclopedias GAMEO works together with the editors of other Mennonite encyclopedias to make their content available in the English language. These encyclopedias include: Lexikon der Mennoniten in Paraguay Mennonitisches Lexikon (MennLex) Mennonite Historical Agencies As a volunteer organization, we are unable to respond to questions on Mennonite history or genealogical questions of any kind. For questions of that type, please contact a local genealogical society, or check with a Mennonite historical library or archives. For a list of Mennonite historical society or archives near you, please consult the Directory of North American Mennonite Historical Agencies. Like us on Facebook

GAMEO falls under the umbrella of the Mennonite World Conference Faith and Life Commission. Members of the Management Board include: Mennonite Historical Society of Canada, Mennonite Church USA Archives, Mennonite Brethren Historical Commission, Mennonite Central Committee, Mennonite World Conference, Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism, and the D. F. Plett Historical Research Foundation.