View source for Loewen, Gerhard D. (1873-1959)

[[File:LoewenGerhard.jpg|300px|thumb|right|''Katharina &amp; Gerhard Loewen

Source: History of the First Mennonite Church 

Greendale BC by G.I. Peters, p. 41 '']]     Gerhard D. Loewen: minister; born 20 August 1873 in [[Chortitza Mennonite Settlement (Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine)|Chortitza]], South [[Russia|Russia]]. He was the eighth of nine children of Dietrich Loewen (9 July 1832 - 9 October 1920) and Katharina (Giesbrecht) Loewen (3 February 1834 - 14 May 1912). Gerhard married Katharina Hamm (10 June 1876 - 20 April 1963) on 6 June 1894. She was the daughter of Jacob Hamm and Anna (Loewen) Hamm. Gerhard and Katharina had three sons and three daughters: Katharina, Anna, Jacob, Dietrich, Aganetha, and Peter. Gerhard died 12 November 1959 in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada.

Gerhard was baptized in 1894 and married Katharina that same year. In 1910 they moved to Voronezk, Russia, where in 1922 he was elected to the ministry. The family migrated to [[Canada|Canada]] in 1926, settling on a farm near Yorkton, Saskatchewan. In 1931 he was called by [[Osler Mennonite Church (Osler, Saskatchewan, Canada)|Osler Mennonite Church]] to serve as a minister, where he served until 1936.

The family moved to [[British Columbia (Canada)|British Columbia]] in 1936 and Gerhard became the minister of the [[River of Life Church (Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada)|Greendale First Mennonite Church]]. He left the church at Greendale to help the newly organized Westheimer Mennoniten Gemeinde (later East Chilliwack and now [[Eden Mennonite Church (Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada)|Eden Mennonite Church]]) that had gathered for worship in East Chilliwack. By 1947 it was apparent that a division had arisen in the congregation between those who emphasized a public testimony of one's conversion experience and those who considered a specific conversion experience and public testimony of it as too personal. Loewen left with the latter group to organize the [[Chilliwack Mennonite Church (Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada)|Chilliwack First Mennonite Church]] on 18 May 1947. He retired due to illness in November 1948.
= Bibliography =
<em class="gameo_bibliography"> Der Bote.</em> (22 December 1959): 7.

<em class="gameo_bibliography"> The History of Eden Mennonite Church, Chilliwack, British Columbia 1945-1995.</em> Chilliwack, BC: Eden Mennonite Church, 1995.

<em>Jahrbuch der Konferenz der Vereinigten Mennoniten Gemeinden in British Columbien, 1951</em>. Abbotsford, BC: The Conference, 1951: 96-98.

Peters, Gerhard. <em class="gameo_bibliography">Remember Our Leaders: Conference of Mennonites in Canada 1902-1977</em>. Clearbrook, BC: The Mennonite Historical Society of British Columbia, 1982.
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