Joanne Zimmerman
Joanne Ruth (Baer) Zimmerman of Unity, aged eighty-seven years, three months, seventeen days, entered her eternal rest on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024.
Joanne was born in Cumberland County, Penn., on May 7, 1937, to Mervin and Fannie (Rife) Baer. She was the second of their five daughters, who were followed by six sons. At a young age Joanne accepted Christ as her Savior, and was baptized into the Mennonite church.
On September 29, 1956, she married Marlin Zimmerman, also of Pennsylvania, and they settled into a little trailer near the hospital where he was serving his 1-W service. Four years later they loaded all their earthly possessions and their three young daughters and headed across the country to McBride, British Columbia, to support the fledgling congregation there. Five sons and two more daughters joined the family in the sixteen years they spent in Canada. In June of 1976, they left British Columbia and settled on a farm along Oak Grove Road in Unity. They continued as members of the Unity Mennonite Church until their deaths.
On May 26, 2015, Marlin passed away of cancer. Marlin and Joanne were married for almost 59 years. Joanne continued living as a widow in their trailer on her son’s property for nine more years. Though her mobility steadily decreased, she enjoyed a very clear mind right to the end. Her faithful example and her prayers will be missed by many.
She is survived by five sons and five daughters: Dorcas (Donald) Brandt of Tolstoi, Manitoba, Susan (Dwight) Troyer of Unity, Ellen (Larry) Beachy of Unity, Nathan (Leanna) of Kewaunee, Margaret (Paul) Martin of Denmark, Robert (Mabel) of High Bridge, Phyllis (Norman) Reinford of Chana, Ill.; Gerald (Ramona) of San Andreas, Calif.; Donald (Miriam) of Unity and John (Marian) of Wautoma; ninety-one grandchildren, two hundred sixty-three great-grandchildren, four brothers: Larry, Dennis, John and Allen; and three sisters: Joyce Zimmerman, Faye Peachy and Marilyn Witmer. She was preceded in death by her husband, Marlin; her sister, Jean; two brothers: Leon and James; two sons-in-law: Larry Beachy and Dwight Troyer; two grandsons and several great-grandchildren.
Calling hours will be at the Unity Mennonite Church on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2 p.m.-4 p.m. and 6 p.m.-8 p.m. A funeral service will be held at the Green Grove Fellowship Center on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, at 10 a.m. Interment will follow in the Unity Mennonite Church cemetery.
The Maurina-Schilling Funeral Home in Colby is entrusted with the arrangements.
Paid obituary 157417
