© Mennonite Heritage Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Last updated March 27, 2007)

  • Rempel, David H., 1869-1962


    Retrieval numbers: Volumes 557, 580, 3456, 4310, 4790; Photograph Collection 634:1

    Title: David H. Rempel Fonds
    Dates: 1876-1982 , predominant 1910-1962
    Extent: 32 cm of textual material
    Extent: 2 artifacts
    Extent: 1 photograph
    Repository: Mennonite Heritage Centre Archives

    Historical note

    David H. Rempel was born on May 16, 1869, in Michaelsburg, Fürstenland, in southern Russia, to Heinrich and Justina (Klassen) Rempel. He attended the Zentralschule and was one of the first six students from his community to take the teacher's exam. He became the teacher and principal of the Neu-Osterwick school. In 1889, he also became an Aeltester in the Chortitzer Mennonite Church, and he was ordained in 1901. He married Sara Dyck on September 12, 1893. They had 10 children, six of whom survived childhood: Sara, Anna, David, Justina, Margareta, and Johann. The family also adopted Sara's nephew, Dietrich Jacob Dyck, who was orphaned during the revolution. David, Sara and their adult children immigrated to Canada in 1923. David and Sara settled on a farm at Hochfeld, Saskatchewan, near Hague, and joined the Rosenorter Gemeinde with which David served as a minister for churches in the Hague and Rosthern districts. Sara died in October 1930, and David was married to Helene (Wiens) Willms in 1932. She died in 1946, and David married Anna Giesbrecht on September 7, 1950, who then died in 1959. David spent his last years in the nursing home at the Rosthern Youth Farm and died on January 28, 1962.

    Scope and content note

    This fonds consists of sermons, notebooks, other writings, correspondence and family records. Most of the materials are handwritten originals, and some of the writings were created by David's children. The collection also contains a table cloth and a samovar that were brought from Russia.

    Index terms

    Subject terms

  • Rempel, David H., 1869-1962

    Creators

  • Rempel, David H., 1869-1962

    Adjunct descriptive data

    Finding aids

    Inventory file list available

    Notes

    Language

    Primarily German with some Russian and English

    Arrangement

    Description completed by Joanne Moyer in March 2007.

    Restrictions on access

    None to access

    Immediate source of acquisition

    Materials were donated by David's children and grandchildren.

    • Inventory File List

    Volume 557
    1. Correspondence from David H. Rempel to his children, handwritten in German, 1930-1961.
    2. Notebook of poems, pen-and-ink sketches, names and addresses, 27 December, 1923. Note: contents missing.
    3. Notebook of jottings by D. H. Rempel in German, 2 February, 1960, to 21 December, 1961.
    4. D. H. Rempel’s “Gebet” (prayers), “Traurede” (funeral sermon) for daughter Anna, etc., 1905-1947.
    5. Correspondence to D. H. Rempel and others in German, 1924-1961.
    6. Notebook entitled, “Eine Sammlung von 22 russische geistlichen Liedern mit Noten,” by D. H. Rempel, containing Russian songs, 1958; loose sheets of music in Russian; and notebook entitled, “Notezbuch von Katja Willms, 1915,” belonging to a member of the Peter Willms family, husband of D. H. Rempel’s daughter, Anna.
    7. D. H. Rempel’s obituary, handwritten and typewritten in German, 1962.

      Note: a photograph from this box has been removed to the photograph collection. The photograph depicted David H. Rempel, principal of the Neu-Osterwick school, with his students and fellow teachers, 1903-1904.

    Volume 580
    1. Sermon notebook, 1916.
    2. Sermon notebook, 1916-1917.
    3. Sermon notebook, 1917.
    4. Sermon notebook, 1917-1918.
    5. Sermon notebook, 1918.
    6. Sermon notebook, 1919-1920.
    7. Sermon notebook, 1921.
    8. Sermon notebook, 1922.
    9. Sermon notebook, 1925-1927.
    10. Sermon notebook, 1945-1946.
    11. Sermon notebook, 1945.
    12. Sermon notebook, 1949-1950.
    13. Sermon notebook, 1950.
    14. Sermon file, 1901-1909.
    15. Sermon file, 1910-1919.
    16. Sermon file, 1920-1933.
    17. Sermon file, 1930-1939.
    18. Sermon file, 1940-1949.
    19. Sermon file, 1950-1959.
    Volume 3456
    Acc. # 87-228
    1. School certificates and report cards in Russian, 1888-1892.
    2. Notebooks containing recitations, poems, etc. in German, 1876-1883, 1982.
    3. Travel diaries: “Reisebericht von Russland bis Lechfeld,” and “Tagebuch Lechfeld,” in German, Russian and English, 1923-1925.
    4. Osterwick Reunion Material, including programs and correspondence in German, 1945.
    5. Rempel biographical material, including obituaries and correspondence, and text of Brahms’ German Requiem in English and German, ca. 1959.
    6. Rempel genealogical and family records with memorabilia including correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, cards, and various writings by David, his children and others, in German, Russian and English, 18-- -1982.
    7. “Zur Jahrhundert des Dorfes Neu-Osterwick, jetzt Pawlowka, anno 1912,” nach D. H. Rempel und von D. H. Epp, article from Der Bote (two copies), 1967.
    8. Sermon schedules, 1938, 1960-1961.
    9. List of emigrant Mennonite young people ages 12-20 in Lechfeld, Germany, 1923.
    10. A biographical sketch and description of David’s sermon collection from his daughter Sara, in English, 1965; and a letter from the Province of Saskatchewan regarding clergy registration, 192-?.
    Volume 4310
    1. Finances, 1962.
    2. Correspondence, a family record of Jacob Janzen, and David H. Rempel funeral card, in German, Russian and English, 1910-1976.
    3. Notebooks containing Bible study and teaching notes, 1932-1938.
    4. Familienbuch containing family records, 1911-1960.
    5. Notebooks: “Andacht auf dem Schiff: Briefe in Lechfeld” and “Auf der Bibelkonferenz Eigenheim,” and some miscellaneous notes, in English, 1923-1924, 1954-1958.
    6. Sermons, 1943-1955.
    7. Sermons, 1914-1961.
    8. Lechfeld Tagebuch and other papers, photocopied, in German, 1922-1929. Accession Number 95-112.
    Volume 4790
    Acc. # 99-083
    Table cloth and explanatory note in English, likely written by Elsie Rempel Wiebe.