MWR : On ‘Titanic’ centennial, missionary’s life remembered

Last updated March 27.

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April 2, 2012 issue

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On ‘Titanic’ centennial, missionary’s life remembered

By Sheldon C. Good Mennonite World Review

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HARLEYSVILLE, Pa. — When Annie Clemmer Funk, a Mennonite missionary to India, learned her mother was very ill in Pennsylvania, she quickly packed her bags and caught a train to Bombay. From there she traveled to England, where she learned a coal strike had delayed her ship’s voyage to the U.S.

Funk prepares to ride her bicycle to the girls’ school she started in India in 1908. — Photo provided

So she paid a few extra gold pieces for a spot on the Titanic, which set sail two days later.

Funk was one of 1,517 people who died in the “unsinkable” ocean liner’s disaster on April 15, 1912. Just three days earlier she had celebrated her 38th birthday aboard the Titanic.

To mark the centennial of Funk’s death in one of history’s most famous tragedies at sea, filmmaker Jay Ruth is producing a 35-minute video that tells the story of Funk’s faith and witness and describes the nature of Mennonite mission at the time.

A DVD will be available, and two premiere showings are planned. The first will be at 7:30 p.m. April 29 at Zion Mennonite Church in Souderton. The second will be at 7:30 p.m. May 6 at Hereford Mennonite Church in Bally, Funk’s home congregation.

The film, sponsored by Mennonite Historians of Eastern Pennsylvania, is a production of Jay Ruth’s Branch Valley Productions in Lederach.

A native of Butter Valley in southeastern Pennsylvania, Funk was the first Mennonite woman from Pennsylvania to serve as a missionary in India. Fragments of her story have been known for years, but the film is the first larger project of its kind.

“Here’s a young woman who grew up in rural Pennsylvania, and somehow she was drawn from there to the other side of the world, and then her life ended in this worldwide drama,” said historian John L. Ruth, a consultant for the film. “As a memorably dedicated Christian, she has not been forgotten in India and North America as a hero of our faith family.”

Using momentum from the blockbuster 1997 film Titanic, Charlotte Strouse of Zion Mennonite helped Funk’s story became even more widely known. Strouse recalled Funk’s life more than 100 times in a one-person re-enactment.

Before going to India, Funk took a teachers’ course at West Chester State Normal School, which later became West Chester University. She trained for Christian service at D.L. Moody’s Northfield (Mass.) Seminary for Ladies, then served in Chattanooga, Tenn., and with the Young Women’s Christian Association in Paterson, N.J.

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Comments

How would one be able to purchase this DVD? This woman was a cousin of my grandfather's and I would be very interested in obtaining a copy of this. I couldn't find contact information for Jay Ruth or his company on the web.

- Connie (Funk) Shelley (mar 22 at 12:36 p.m.)
Branch Valley Productions 701 Cross Road Lederach, PA 19450 Phone: (215) 256-6701 Jay Ruth, Prinicpal

- Debra Bender (mar 22 at 5:47 p.m.)
Some years ago, a brief article about Annie Funk was published for all Mennonite Brethren churches by the MB Historical Commission. It is posted at the Commission's website (go to mbhistory "dot" org, and then look under "profiles").

- Andrew Dyck (mar 23 at 1:34 a.m.)
I want to believe the story that Annie Funk gave up her place on the lifeboat to a mother with a small child. Unfortunately, there is no primary evidence to support that story. There are no reports from eyewitnesses. We do not have the names of the mother and child allegedly saved. Wouldn't that mother have attempted to contact and thank Annie Funk's family or friends?

- James Juhnke (mar 26 at 4:04 p.m.)
WE READ ABOUT ANNIE FUNKS STORY IN OUR LOCAL COMMUNIST PARTY LED DAILY NEWS PAPER CALLED "DESHABHIMANI" ON SATURDAY,14TH APRIL 2012. WE INDIANS NEVER THOUGHT WE HAVE PASSENGER FROM INDIA IN 'TITANIC' MAY HER SOL REST IN PEACE......

- VINOD (apr 14 at 11:50 p.m.)
On the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the S.S. Titanic, I was informed at a family function, that, Annie Clemmer Funk, was a distant relative. I thought, wow, how honored am i to have had someone in my Family on the Titanic. Then, i thought again, oh, how sad, to have had a Family member on the Titanic. I then started reading articles that i could find about this amazing woman and all the struggles and obstacles that she had to endure along the way in her short life. She had been Blessed and I'm sure that for all that have come into contact with her had also been Blessed as well.

- Anna Marie Clemmer (apr 22 at 3:34 p.m.)
To Connie Funk Shelley and Anna Marie Clemmer: It was a thrill for me to find two relatives commenting, as I myself am also a relative of Annie Funk. She was a cousin to my grandmother, Hannah Mae Bechtel. I have enjoyed reading all I can about Annie and have been amazed to find all that I have in common with her: I am a graduate of Philadelphia Biblican University (formerly PCB) where I majored in Christian Education. My brother is a missionary. And evidently, Annie was a pianist, like myself. It is amazing to me that with all the Titanic documentaries I've watched, I've never seen Annie's story mentioned. I will be glad to meet up with Annie in heaven one day. Anyway, just wanted to give you two a shout!

- Eileen Straub (aug 15 at 4:06 p.m.)

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