Anita Marie Penner

Anita Marie Boeckner Penner was born on April 15, 1928 to Aaron and Gertrude Holdeman Boeckner at Moundridge, KS.  She went beyond these hills to her heavenly home on May 20, 2019, at the age of 91.

Anita was the second of 13 children and grew up on the family farm in the Moundridge area, receiving her education at the French School.  She gave her heart and life to her dear Savior the summer she was twelve.  She was baptized into the church and throughout the many challenges of life, she remained committed to God and His quiet ways right till the moment she left us.  She died as she lived, always ready to go Home!!  Her last audible words were “I’m ready to go Home”.

Mom worked at Mercy Hospital as a nurse aide as well as cooking there, she also worked in different homes for a couple weeks at a time.  On May 13, 1951 Mom married our dad, Clifford Penner, starting a new chapter of her life, moving far up north to Greenland, MB.  Four sons were born to them there.  In October 1961, they moved to St. Mary’s, Ontario.  Two daughters and another son joined the family.  In our growing up years she took splendid care of her family.  We remember her love of flowers and gardening.  It grew abundantly in the North Country.  We shelled bushels of peas every summer.  Large gardens of vegetables and huge plants of rhubarb, beautiful flower beds were all a part of our life due to the busy hands and feet of our mother.

She was a rather quiet person by nature and her devotion to God has always been a defining part of who she was.  She quietly filled her place everywhere she has lived.  She hasn’t made big waves in her life but her faithfulness has made gentle ripples of love and security for all those that knew her.

In September 1975, they moved to Browns, AL beginning the congregation known as Faunsdale.  Dad and Mom lived there until 1987, when they moved to El Campo, Texas, where for six years they shared many joys and blessings with that congregation.

Our parents then entered many church related missionary opportunities, first with CDR at Homestead, FL, then for twenty five months with General Missions in the Philippines.  The Filipino brethren became very dear to them, and they often referred to that time as the highlight of their lives.  They returned from there to Alabama in 1995.  They enjoyed many blessings at the church mission in Birmingham, AL and other places.

In 2009, Dad and Mom moved to the Oakwood Retirement community in Brooksville, MS.  Mom lived there for five years after Dad’s death in 2014.  She spent 9 1/2 wonderful years with her Oakwood family whom she loved dearly.  She quilted many miles of thread with her very dear friends along with countless crocheted doilies among other beautiful items.

Mom lived a very healthy life until she was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis which made her very susceptible to pneumonia.  This led to a peaceful quiet ending of her life in the early morning hours of May 20, 2019.  She was lovingly cared for by the staff of Oakwood Manor, to whom we are so grateful and love so much.

She is survived by her children:  Clint (Chris) Penner, Harvest, AL, Lowell (Jackie) Penner, Granton, ON, Wilmer (Bonnie) Penner, Uniontown, AL, Merlin (Cissy) Penner, Edgefield, SC, Nadine (Arlo) Becker, Princeton, CA, Ruth (Les) Thiessen, Neilburg, Sask., Murray (Tracy) Penner, Modoc, SC.  Twenty one grandchildren, twenty eight great grandchildren.  She also leaves behind seven sisters, Leona Dyck, Moundridge, KS, Lela (Ken) Litwiller, Barron, WI, Mae (Chester) Johnson, Brooksville, MS, Vada Schmidt, Brooksville, MS, JoAnn (Andy) Powell, DeRidder, LA, Rose (Paul) Toews, St. Mary’s, ON,

Lois (Fred) Decker, Dumas, AR.  Three brothers Gerald (Thelma) Boeckner, Walnut Hill, FL, Weldon (Lois) Boeckner, Moundridge, KS, Dennis (Eileen) Boeckner, DeRidder, LA.  Predeceased by her loving husband Clifford, two grandsons, her parents, one brother and one sister.