© Mennonite Heritage Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Last updated 11 June 2013

Historical note

David H. Rempel was born on 16 May 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. He was baptized by Aeltester Heinrich Epp of the Chortitza Mennonite Church in 1889. He was ordained as a minister 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 17 October 1950, who then died in 1959. David spent his last years in the nursing home at the Rosthern Youth Farm and died on 28 January 1962.

Scope and content note

This fonds consists of some early handwritten Christmas and New Years Wishes, some artworks (sketches done in school in Russia) school documents, notebooks of sermons and loose sermons,  presentations at events and conferences, some correspondence and family records. Most of the materials are handwritten originals. The collection also contains a table cloth and a samovar that were brought from Russia.

Index terms

Subject terms

Inventory File List

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.

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.

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-?.

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.

1. Notebook: "Homiletic"
2. Notebook: a) Sermon (July 1908) b) "Monatsgegenstand: die Kartoffel
3. Notebook: "Die Stellung der Jugend zur Gemeinde" (1931) (=young people's view toward the church)
4. Notebook: "Anstellung der Predigers" (=installation of ministers)
5. Notebook: "Referat gehalten auf der S.S. Konferenz in Hague: über S.S. Unterricht" (=re. teaching of Sunday School)
6. Notebook: Bible school notebook with student work (Eigenheim Church).
7. Notebook: "Predigerentwurf zur Predigerkonferenz in Saskatoon" (14-15 Oct. 1937) (minister's conference)
8. Notebook: "Referat: Paulus" (sermon on Apostle Paul)
9. Notebook: "Referat: Wen darf eine Gemeinde als Glied aufnehmen" (receiving someone into church membership)
10. Notebook: unidentified notebook without a cover.
11. Notebook: recipes
12. Loose sermons  (handwritten) found with these notebooks
13. Sermons: typewritten 
14. Translation of the last will and testament. -- 1932.
15. Photocopy of map of Neu-Osterwick (Russia) showing names of residents. -- 1928.  [original filed as Map 1268.]
16. Two envelopes with letters from Heinrich & Helena Rempel, USSR, dated 1948, 1957, 1961.
17. Nine colour photocopies of sketches (drawings) created by David H. Rempel ca. 1886 in Russia. (Acc. no. 13-060)
18. Loose sermons [over 200 sermons, unsorted and uncatalogued]. -- 1902-1962.