Ressler, Lina Zook (1869-1948)
Lina Zook Ressler, editor, city mission worker, teacher, missionary in India, wife and mother, was a remarkable Mennonite woman. She was born 26 September 1869, the oldest of the seven children of David and Magdalena (Blough) Zook and was nurtured in the Oak Grove Mennonite congregation near Smithville, Ohio. She worked at the Gospel Mission (Home Mission, Mennonite Church) in Chicago, 1896-1900, and attended church meetings as a speaker. She taught at Elkhart Institute, 1901-1903. In 1903 she married Jacob A. Ressler, and they served as Mennonite missionaries in India for five years. Due to her poor health, they returned to the United States in 1908. By 1911, they were in Scottdale, Pennsylvania, where Lina assisted her husband, who was editor of the Words of Cheer. Lina also edited Beams of Light from 1937 to 1946. She wrote many articles, coedited a book, and compiled four volumes of poems and stories for children. She is lovingly remembered as "Aunt Lina" to a generation of Mennonite readers. She died 17 August 1948 in Scottdale, Pennsylvania. She was buried in the Scottdale cemetery.
Bibliography
Hostetler, John A. God Uses Ink. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1958: 142.
Klingelsmith, Sharon. "Women in the Mennonite Church, 1900-1930." Mennonite Quarterly Review 54 (1980): 163-207, at 172, 179-80 et passim.
Lapp, John Allen. The Mennonite Church in India, 1897-1962, Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History, vol. 14. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1972: 69, 134.
Oyer, Emma. What God Hath Wrought in a Half Century at the Mennonite Home Mission. Elkhart: MBM, 1949: 10, 14.
"Ressler, Lina." Gospel Herald 41 (21 September 1948). Reproduced in MennObits. "Gospel Herald Obituary - September 1948." Accessed 27 May 2006. <http://www.mcusa-archives.org/MennObits/48/sep1948.html>
Rich, Elaine Sommers. Mennonite Women: A Story of God's Faithfulness, 1683-1983. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1983: 130-36.
Schlabach, Theron F. Gospel Versus Gospel. Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1980: 65-68.
| Author(s) | Emma Sommers Richards |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1989 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Richards, Emma Sommers. "Ressler, Lina Zook (1869-1948)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1989. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Ressler,_Lina_Zook_(1869-1948)&oldid=143438.
APA style
Richards, Emma Sommers. (1989). Ressler, Lina Zook (1869-1948). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Ressler,_Lina_Zook_(1869-1948)&oldid=143438.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, pp. 767-768. All rights reserved.
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