Penner, Peter (1925-2021)
Peter Penner: professor and author; born 7 April 1925 in Orloff, Barnaul Mennonite Settlement, Asiatic Russia, to Peter P. Penner (21 July 1895, Neu Samara Mennonite Settlement, Russia – 26 April 1956, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada) and Katharina (Wiebe) Penner (16 April 1900, Orloff, Zagradovka Mennonite Settlement, South Russia – 22 December 1984, St. Catharines, Ontario). On 9 July 1949, Peter married Justina Janzen, daughter of Abram Janzen (1900-1981) and Justina (Steingart) Janzen (1899-1991), in Vineland, Ontario. The Penners adopted two children, Robert and Ruth. Peter died 11 November 2021 in Calgary, Alberta.
In 1939 Peter was baptized into the Vineland Mennonite Brethren Church in Ontario. The church recognized his talents and accordingly, he was ordained in the Kitchener Mennonite Brethren Church in 1953.
Following several years of study at Mennonite Brethren Bible College in Winnipeg, Peter and Justine took on leadership of Lindal MB Mission, a church near Morden, Manitoba. When Peter quickly realized that he preferred teaching to pastoral work, Peter and Justina moved to Chilliwack, British Columbia, where Peter began teaching at the East Chilliwack (MB) Bible School. During this time, he served a two-year stint on the board of the West Coast Children's Mission, resulting in a publication of this organization, Reaching the Otherwise Unreached: An Historical Account of the West Coast Children's Mission in B.C.
The experience at the Bible School whetted his appetite for teaching. In preparation for his lifelong career, Peter earned a BA from the University of Western Ontario, and further, an MA and PhD from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where he specialized in the history of British colonial India (the British Raj). In 1964 he accepted a teaching position at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. In 1983 he became a Professor of History and two years later, became head of the department and continued in this role until his retirement in 1992. In recognition of his distinguished services to the university, Peter was honored as Emeritus Professor of History.
Between 1951 and 2015 Peter was a prolific contributor to numerous church and professional journals. Further, he authored eight books, one of them a study of Mennonite Brethren church growth practises, No Longer at Arms Length: Mennonite Brethren Church Planting in Canada.
After retiring in Calgary, Peter became a Rotarian, resulting in travels to Lithuania in 1997, and to his birthplace, Siberia, in 2000. It was also in Calgary that Peter and Justina joined a Presbyterian Church; this became the occasion for his writing a history of this congregation. While living in Calgary, Peter was invited to join the Yarrow (BC) Research Committee, in which role he contributed to the publication of five books on the pioneer Mennonite community in Yarrow, British Columbia.
In 2016 Peter published his autobiography, A Time to be Born: Memoir of a Canadian Mennonite, documenting a life well-lived in the service of fellow human beings.
Bibliography
"Obituary Overview: In Loving Memory, Peter Penner." 2021. Web. 26 May 2023. https://www.arbormemorial.ca/leydens-calgary/obituaries/peter-penner/74490
Penner, Peter. Reaching the Otherwise Unreached: An Historical Account of the West Coast Children’s Mission of B.C. Clearbrook, BC: West Coast Children’s Mission of British Columbia, 1959.
Penner, Peter. A Time to Be Born: Memoir of a Canadian Mennonite. Winnipeg, MB: FriesenPress, 2019.
| Author(s) | David Giesbrecht |
|---|---|
| Date Published | May 2023 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Giesbrecht, David. "Penner, Peter (1925-2021)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. May 2023. Web. 26 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Penner,_Peter_(1925-2021)&oldid=175604.
APA style
Giesbrecht, David. (May 2023). Penner, Peter (1925-2021). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 26 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Penner,_Peter_(1925-2021)&oldid=175604.
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