Gustav G. Rempel

Tribute to Gustav G. Rempel

Lina Rempel Artes, Gustav’s fourth daughter, wrote the following about her father and his ancestors:

In 1838, my great-grandfather, Johann Rempel (born Aug. 11, 1801) of Konigsberg (now Kaliningrad), East Prussia, moved with his three small sons to the newly founded village of Gnadenfeld, Molotschna Mennonite settlement, Ukraine. He was a widower. His wife Margareta Suderman (born Oct 31, 1905) had died in Konigsberg. His children were Aron, Johannes, Gustav and Heinrich. The infant Dietrich stayed behind in the care of relatives. Gustav, the third son, was only eight years old at the time. The children grew up in Gnadenfeld.

Gustav was taken back to Konigsberg, East Prussia to live with his uncle so that he could attend school there and thus receive a good education. When he returned 12 years later, he was a qualified teacher. These were greatly needed in the settlement. On his return he also studied Russian and took exams to qualify as a teacher of the Russian language.

He married Sara Goertz, daughter of Franx Goertz II, leading minister of the Rudnerweide Church. Their sons were: Heinrich, Dietrich, Johannes, Gustav (born Dec. 1, 1872), and Herman.

The son Gustav was my father. He lost his mother when he was only five years old and grew up without a mother. He was a very good student and became a qualified teacher like his father. Later, he also studied theology for four years in Switzerland and completed his studies successfully.

When he returned to Gnadenfeld, he married my mother, Evangelie Dirks on Sept. 24, 1900. He was offered a position as a minister on the estates Silberfeld, Ebenfeld and Bergfeld. At first they lived at Silberfeld. Then they moved to the largest estate at Silberfeld, where a beautiful house had been built for them in a small wood with a view of the wide Ukrainian steppe. There we lived until October 1918.

We spent our childhood years there and I have only good memories of that time. We played in the field and wood, bathed in the little wood (Jerebez), or picked wild tulips on the steppe. Every morning when we were sitting around the breakfast table, our father read morning devotions and prayed. The readings from the devotions book and many Bible verses have stayed with me and have comforted me later in difficult situations in my life.

During World War I (1914), my father was called to serve as a stretcher bearer for almost a year until he was released due to ill health. We children hardly noticed anything of the war or the revolution of 1917 until Makhno’s marauding bands started to rob and kill in Ukraine in 1918. The estates were robbed and their owners killed. The people on the estates fled to the villages, and these were robbed and burned down too. Thus my parents lost almost everything when we had to leave Ebenfeld.

It was not easy for my father to support his large family in those turbulent times, but with God’s help he managed. However, he was often nervous and wanted peace and quiet. How often he used to say to us, “Don’t be so noisy!” We did not understand how he felt until much later.

We lived in Halbstadt from 1919 to 1923, where he was teaching in the “model” school. From 1924 to 1928 he was the teacher in Wernersdorf. Then my parents moved to Paulsheim, where he was the teacher for two years, and then night watchman on the collective farm.

My father was honest, conscientious, faithful, just, helpful, kind and devout.