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- Obit:
Heiser.- Joseph A., son of Joseph and Barbara (Bachman) Heiser, was born in Morton, Ill., Aug. 22, 1888; died at Fisher, Ill., Jan. 1, 1977; aged 88 y. On Dec. 15, 1909, he was married to Fannie Schrock, who preceded him in death on Dec. 17, 1950. Surviving are 2 sons (Leslie and Willard), 3 daughters (Mrs. Alta Detweiler, Mrs. Mabel Teuscher, and Edna-Mrs. Alva Cender), 17 grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren. He was a bishop in the Mennonite Church and a minister of the East Bend Mennonite Church for 35 years. Private funeral services were held at the Lamb Funeral Home, Gibson City, Ill., on Jan. 3, in charge of Merle Conklin; memorial services were held at the Gibson City Bible Church on Jan. 4, in charge of Merle Conklin, Clyde Ingold, Irvin Nussbaum, and Wendall Arms; interment in East Bend Mennonite Church Cemetery.
{“When Barbara's third son, Aaron, was born on August 22, 1888, Grandfather Bachman looked at the infant and said, 'Du armes Kind! Dass du auch musst zu dieser verkruppelten Welt geboren sein' ('You poor child! That you also must be born into this crippled world')." (Mennonite Women: A Story of God's Faithfulness) After his father died, his mother called him Joseph rather than Aaron.
Joseph (J.A.) was baptized 11Jun1905 by Peter Zehr; ordained as minister at East Bend Mennonite Church on 5 Aug 1917 by the voice of the church; ordained bishop on 1 May 1921 by the same church. Active in Bible conference work and evangelistic work in many states an Canada, and served as moderator of Illinois Conference and a member of the General Mission Board of the Mennonite Church. He later left the Mennonite Church and pastored the Gibson City Bible Church.
Regarding his ordination (by lot) ––"Dad was surprised that his name was included, but he had no fear at all because Levi Birky was a real Bible student and Uncle Albert was a very genuine student of the Bible. He just shrugged his shoulders about this lot; he knew that it would either be Levi Birky or Uncle Albert. I was sitting with my mother in church on the day they cast the lot. I remember seeing my mother break down and cry, and I could not imagine what happened. It did not look to me like anything serious had happened, but she was crying. After we got home from church, they both cried. It cast quite a pall over the family. I was only three years old then, but I thought something terrible had happened. "
About 1930 J.A.’s mortgage was called on Josephine’s land which he had bought. $300 was due immediately to save it from foreclosure, but there was no money available. This matter was a topic of discussion and prayer at numerous family meals, times which included grandparents John and Mary. Growing anxious about the outcome John, evidently without the family’s knowledge, took the very unusual action of going to a neighbor and asking if he could borrow $300 for a short time. The loan was granted.
Shortly thereafter J.A. drove to Fisher and parked in front of Heiser and Ingold’s grocery store and sat in the car praying about how he was going to get the money for the payment. About that time Chris Good (father of Peter?) walked across the street and stopped to say hello. Then he asked J.A. (who at the time was pastor of the East Bent Mennonite Church), “Do you know anyone who could use $300? I have some extra cash and figured there are lots of people in bad straights because of the economic situation right now and would like to help.” Of course, J.A. told his story and received a loan for the amount he needed to stop the foreclosure. The family saw this as a direct answer to their prayers, and John returned his “backup” funds, with interest!
“Besides the gardens and orchards full of growing things, my father loved animals. He raised purebred livestock--Jersey cattle that made records of note in butterfat and as show animals. He raised several kinds of hogs when I was quite young. Buff Rock chickens were a favorite for several years; and when I was a teenager he got an incubator, and we had a small hatchery. I was more involved in the chicken business than any of the other animal projects. I felt quite responsible for the trap nesting and enjoyed following the yearly records of some of the best hens. Number 421 was the top producer; I wrote the number on her eggs so often, it still remains in my memory. With the hatchery, my father got the salesmanship for a feed business also. He vaccinated and gave medicine to all his animals, had the dealership for Onarga nursery stock, pruned and sprayed our trees, and did all our wallpapering. He and Mama would do wallpapering for friends and neighbors also. He seemed like an ordinary man to me when I was a child, but now I wonder how he did all this, besides pastoring a large church.” (From the memoirs of Edna Heiser Cender held by Kathy Cender Martin)
June 2012 - At an afternoon in Paxton with Heiser cousins, the story was told about the Murphy brothers who are buried in Beekman cemetery. They were a rough bunch and always getting into fights (drunk?). When the police were not able to handle them and settle them down they would call J. A. and he would always be able to get the job done! [5]
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