View source for Petter, Marie Gerber (1869-1910)

[[File:MLA2003-0280.jpg|300px|thumb|right|''Petter family living in a tent cabin 

near Fonda, Oklahoma, while 

church was being built; L-R: Marie 

Petter, Rodolphe Petter, ? (standing),

Chief Mower, ?, ?, Valdo Petter, 

daughter of Mower, daughter of 

Mower, ?, ?. Source [http://www.bethelks.edu/mla/holdings/scans/ Mennonite 

Library and Archives]. Photo 2003-0280'']]     Marie Gerber Petter, was a [[General Conference Mennonite Church (GCM)|General Conference Mennonite]] (GCM) missionary among the Southern [[Cheyenne People|Cheyenne]] and Arapaho in [[Oklahoma (USA)|Oklahoma]] (Indian Territory) from 1891 to 1910.

She was born 24 October 1869 to Christian Gerber and Elisabeth Geiser, Mennonites living on the Les Veaux Farm in the [[Jura Mountains|Jura Mountains]] of [[Switzerland|Switzerland]]. In 1890 she married [[Petter, Rodolphe Charles (1865-1947)|Rodolphe Petter]], of Reformed Church background, whom she had met while he was visiting her brother. When she and Rodolphe married, he joined her church.

When S. F. Sprunger from [[Berne (Indiana, USA)|Berne, Indiana]], visited Switzerland, he persuaded the Petters to come to the [[United States of America|United States]] as the first Swiss Mennonite missionaries. The Petters toured Mennonite congregations in [[North America|North America]] and spent a year in English language study before beginning their missionary assignment in Indian Territory. They were the first missionary couple there to be assigned exclusively to reaching adults and to learning the language. Two children were born to the Petters: Olga and Valdo. Marie Gerber Petter died 31 July 1910 of tuberculosis. She is buried in the [[Cantonment Mennonite Mission (Canton, Oklahoma, USA)|Cantonment]], Oklahoma.
= Bibliography =
Barrett, Lois. <em>The Vision and the Reality: The Story of Home Missions in the General Conference Mennonite Church</em>. Newton, KS: Faith and Life, 1983: index.

Petter, Rodolphe. "Some Reminiscences of Past Years in My Mission Service Among the Cheyenne." <em>Mennonite</em> 51, no. 44 (10 November 1936): 16 (also printed as a separate pamphlet).
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