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Reimer, Peter J.B., 1902-1988

  • CA-MHC-2016
  • Person
  • 1902-1988

Teacher, minister, historian.
Peter J.B. Reimer was a man of influence in numerous circles. In his 85 years, PJB, as he liked to be called, was an inspiring educator actively sharing his love of learning with his students; a thoughtful, conscientious, and caring servant of God in his ministerial and community work; an especially knowledgeable historian, keen to share information about the past to enable an appreciation of the present; a most prolific and reflective writer of articles and letters; and an enthusiastic traveller. Above all, he was devoted to his family.
Peter was born in Steinbach, Manitoba on October 18, 1902 to Johann Reimer (1848-1918) and Aganetha Barkman (1863-1938). Peter had a fervent desire to learn from an early age. In 1909, Peter started school in Steinbach when all lessons were in German. He described school and learning to read as “the most wonderful thing of my life.” When the Steinbach School became a public school in 1911, Peter attended a private school in the village that, by 1912, offered both English and German. After Grade 7, Peter received his parents’ and their Mennonite church bishop’s permission to enroll in Grade 8 in the public school but was unable to complete the year when his father died; he himself became quite ill. In 1919, he began Grade 9 at the new Steinbach High School and completed Grade 10 in 1921. Principal H.H. Ewert invited him to attend MCI (Mennonite Collegiate Institute) in Gretna for Grade 11, a year he thoroughly enjoyed.
In the fall of 1922, Reimer began teaching as a Permit Teacher in the multi-grade, one-room school in Chortitz (now Randolph), but his scholarly interests drew him to the University of Manitoba’s Normal School in Winnipeg for teacher training the following year. Over the next two decades, for 14 summers he enrolled in summer-school courses and graduated from the University of Manitoba with a BA in 1948. By 1953, he had completed his formal academic education when he obtained his Permanent Collegiate Certificate and his Vice-Principal Certificate.
In 1926, Peter married Elisabeth Kehler, whom he had met when he was a teacher in Mitchell; together they raised their three daughters and two sons. Elisabeth passed away in 1946. Peter then married Marie Brandt, who survived him. It is evident that he loved and was proud of his children.
After a year at Normal School (1923-1924), PJB Reimer taught in rural schools near Steinbach for 9 years: in Mitchell, Prairie Rose (Linden), and Randolph again. From 1935 to 1948, he taught at the Steinbach Junior High School, mostly Grade 7. After a short break, he taught at Greenbank School in Rosenort from 1949 to 1952. Then, for 14½ years, he was a high-school teacher at the Grunthal Collegiate until he retired in 1967. He and his wife relocated to Rosenort, where he was asked to teach for one more year, for a total of 44 years. During his years as an educator, he enjoyed teaching history, religion, and the German language, which he cherished and promoted, wrote a play in Low-German, and became quite involved in teachers’ societies, beginning in 1926 and serving as a member of the executive for many years.
Peter J.B. Reimer also felt called to the ministry. His work as a minister began in 1944 when he was elected and ordained in the Kleine Gemeinde Church in Steinbach, later named the Evangelical Mennonite Church and now known as the Evangelical Mennonite Conference (EMC). He began his work in the church years earlier as a choir director and youth-group leader; in 1926, he was chosen to be a Sunday school teacher and later served as superintendent. He also initiated Bible study in the church, and thus became known for his progressive innovations. Reimer was the first well-educated minister of the EMC and well-skilled in both German and English. He later served as minister in Rosenort and often received requests to bring his sermons to other churches, as well as to be speaker at countless funerals, weddings, anniversary celebrations, and other occasions. A gifted speaker, he relied only on brief notes, if any, for his sermons, speeches, and talks. As well, he visited Conscientious Objectors during the war years, and worked with other community members to establish an inter-denominational Bible school and a personal care home in Steinbach, and the Eden Mental Health Centre in Winkler.
Taking a break from teaching in 1948, he worked with MCC among the Mennonites in the Chihuahua region of Mexico for a year, where friendships developed and continued through correspondence for years.
Travelling was another interest for PJB. His first trip was with friends to Colorado in 1924, and he visited the USA numerous times after that. He attended the Fifth Mennonite World Conference (MWC) as his conference’s first delegate in 1952, as well as the Sixth and Seventh. His tour to the USSR and Poland in 1971 with his sons was significant to him, as were his travels to the Netherlands and his missions tour around the world in 1969. The articles he wrote about his travels appeared in several community newspapers such as the Steinbach Post, the Scratching River Post, and the Carillon.
As a writer, Reimer was prolific. He wrote for several community-newspaper columns, often about his travels, Mennonites in Canada and Mexico, church history, sometimes about himself and his family, for speeches he delivered at special occasions and events or as tributes at funeral services, and countless letters—all in both German and English. He also filled dozens of notebooks as he journaled from 1948 until just 4 days before he died in 1988.
PJB once wrote that he loved to teach history, German, and religion. An amateur but well-informed historian, many of the articles he wrote and speeches or talks he delivered brought significant people and events of the past to the attention of fellow-Mennonites and Manitobans. His talent for writing and his interest in history were evident early. When Peter was in Grade 6, he wrote an essay on Canadian history that won the Bronze Medal; it was published in an American boys’ paper, The Lone Scout. Reimer was among the founders of the Mennonite Village Museum in Steinbach and the Manitoba Mennonite Historical Society; both organizations benefitted immensely from his tireless work and support. He felt honoured when he was awarded the Medal of Merit by the Manitoba Historical Society in 1970, as well as an oak plaque from the Mennonite Media Society in 1984.
PJB Reimer passed away on January 11, 1988, in Hawaii where he had been visiting his daughter and her family. He was survived by his devoted wife Marie; two sons, Al and Syd, and their spouses; three daughters, Louise, Nita, and Charlotte, and their spouses; 18 grandchildren; and innumerable friends, extended family, and former students. He was laid to rest in the Rosenort cemetery.

For a more comprehensive biography, see Upholding the Old, Embracing the New: The Life of P.J.B. Reimer – Teacher, Minister, and Mennonite Historian, written by Diane Hildebrand, Steinbach, and commissioned by Sydney Reimer and Al Reimer, 2014.
For a brief autobiography, see pp. 413-414 in Furrows in the Valley: A Centennial Project of the RM of Morris, 1980-1980. Ed. Lenore Eidse. Compiled by the History Book Committee, (1980), available online at https://www.rmofmorris.ca/wp-content/uploads/ FurrowsInTheValley401-450.pdf.
PJB Reimer’s obituary was printed in EMC’s The Messenger, p. 10, February 5, 1988.
It is also online at https://www.kehler.ca/rev-peter-j-b-reimer-1902-1988/.

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