Dr. David Ewert

Our Father, David Ewert, was born in 1922, in Alexanderhof, a village in the colony of Memrik, in the Ukraine. He was born at the height of the famine that followed the Revolution, civil war, and anarchy. His parents, David and Margaret Ewert, feared that their newborn child might not survive, since they were without food. In their humble piety they promised God, that if He would sustain David's life, they would offer him for service in God's kingdom.

Because the outlook for a better life in the Ukraine was rather bleak, Dad's parents applied for exit visas, hoping to emmigrate to Canada. In 1926 they received the necessary documents including medical clearance, and they left for Riga, Latvia, from where they sailed first to England and from there to Quebec City, with their two sons and an infant daughter. (Three more children were born in Canada). It was winter when they arrived and they knew no one in Canada, couldn't speak English, and had no money, only a huge transportation debt.

They detrained in Herbert, Saskatchewan, where kind people in Main Centre took the family in for the winter. In spring the family moved to a farm in Rush Lake where grandpa worked for a farmer from early spring until the completion of the harvest. Since there were no jobs available they decided to move to Risor, Ontario, where immigrants were promised jobs in the forest industry. For two years the family lived in almost complete isolation in a log house in the forest. By then the parents realized that without roads, or church or school, this was not the place where they wanted their children to grow up. They decided then to move to western Canada hoping to acquire a farm.

They had received word that the CPR had farms for sale in Linden, Alberta, and so the family lived in an abandoned farm house while grandpa worked for a farmer. But their hopes for a farm did not materialize and they moved to Grassy Lake, where the family lived in a granary, and grandpa again worked for farmers in the community. In the spring of 1930 grandpa received word that several CPR irrigation farms were for sale in Coaldale, and this is where our Dad and his siblings grew up.

Through the godly life of his parents, and the teaching received in the Mennonite Brethren Church, our Dad committed his life to the Lord in his early teens and some time later he was baptized in the Coaldale Church. At 16 our Dad enrolled in the local Bible school and for five years attended Bible school in Alberta and Manitoba. In 1944 Dad married Lena Hamm of La Glace, northern Alberta, whom he got to know in Bible school. Shortly after the wedding Dad began his teaching ministry, first in La Glace, then Hepburn, and then his home church called him to be the principal of the Coaldale Bible School. The Coaldale church also ordained him for the gospel ministry.

Besides teaching and preaching, Dad continued to further his education, receiving degrees from the University of British Columbia, Central Baptist Seminary in Toronto, Wheaton Graduate School, Illinois, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, and McGill University, Montreal. All this was done while the family grew to five children.

In 1953 Dad was invited to join the faculty of the Mennonite Brethren Bible College in Winnipeg. He was appreciated by his students for his carefully crafted lectures, his punctuality, his clarity of thought, and his wry humor. Although the classroom was his first love, he also served as Registrar, as Academic Dean, and for six years as President. For ten years he edited the college journal "The Voice".

Throughout his long teaching career Dad was always deeply involved in the life of the church. He preached frequently in churches across the land, and participated in numerous Bible conferences. He also served on several Conference boards. He was moderator of the Manitoba, as well as the Canadian MB Conference, and chaired the Board of Faith and Life. Dad played a significant role in the revision of the MB Confession of Faith in 1975 and again in 1999.

In 1972, after the three older children had married, our parents moved to Harrisonburg, Virginia, to work together with Myron Augsburger and George Brunk, at the Eastern Mennonite Seminary. Three years later, when the Canadian and American MB Churches decided to establish the MB Seminary in Fresno, Dad was asked to become Professor of New Testament at our seminary. Altogether our parents spent twelve years in the United Sates. After his retirement, the seminary honored Dad by conferring on him a Doctor of Divinity.

While on the faculty of MBBC in Winnipeg, Dad was repeatedly invited to teach in summer and inter-sessions in seminaries of other denominations. He taught at Regent College, Vancouver, Tyndale Seminary, Toronto, several Baptist seminaries, Christian and Missionary Alliance Seminary, Regina, and Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, and at ACTS, in Langley.

Also, while still in Winnipeg, he began his overseas ministries. He served in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the former USSR. Besides teaching in educational institutions at the Bienenberg, Switzerland, and at the Bible Seminary in Bonn, he preached in churches across Europe and participated in ministers' courses.

Earlier he taught at Union Biblical Seminary, India, and preached in MB churches in India. On several occasions he flew to South America to teach in Paraguay and Brazil. After retirement Mom and Dad went to Africa, where Dad taught at a seminary in Nairobi, with short teaching stints in Somalia and Zambia.

After his 80th birthday Dad preached and taught locally. Also, he continued to write books and for 17 years contributed regularly to the Mennonitische Rundschau and other publications. Throughout his life Dad enjoyed good health and in 2009 our parents celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. Dad gave much of the credit for what he had been able to do as servant of the church to his loving and courageous wife, our mother. On April 23, 2010, the Lord took him home. "Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord. Yes, says the Spirit, they will rest from their labors, for their deeds will follow them." (Rev. 14:13) As children we sorrow but not without hope and we thank God for the spiritual legacy our father left us.

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EWERT, David

David Ewert passed on to be with Christ in his heavenly kingdom on April 23, 2010. He was born in the Ukraine in 1922 and came to Canada with his parents in 1926. In 1929 the Ewerts settled on an irrigation farm in Coaldale, Alberta. David received his public school education in the Readymade country school, and then pursued his theological studies in several different schools. He graduated from the University of British Colombia (B.A.), Wheaton Graduate School (M.A.), Central Baptist Seminary, Toronto (B.D.), Lutheran Seminary, St. Paul (M.Th.), McGill University (Ph.D.), and M.B. Biblical Seminary (Doctor of Divinity, Honorary). He dedicated his life to the teaching ministry and the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In 1944 David married Lena Hamm. In 2009 they celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. David and Lena have been members of the Bakerview M. B. Church since 1990 when they moved to the Fraser Valley to retire.

Dr. Ewert had a teaching career that stretched over some 65 years. For 7 years he taught in Bible schools; for 25 years at the Mennonite Brethren Bible College in Winnipeg; for 3 years at Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Harrisonburg, Virginia; and 9 years at the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary in Fresno, California. He served as visiting professor in colleges across Canada. Also, he served abroad in South American, India, Africa, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Russia. He is also the author of more than twenty books. Throughout his teaching career he was deeply involved in the life of the churches in his denomination. However, his ministry also took him to churches and schools of other denominations both at home and abroad. Multitudes of students remember with deep gratitude his well-prepared lectures and his expository sermons.

He leaves to mourn his loving wife, Lena (nee Hamm) and their children and spouses: Eleanor (Ray) Martens, Marianne (Bob) Worcester, Ernest (Brenda), Grace, and Doreen; twelve grandchildren: Angie (Russ), Jonathan (Ruzayda), Jacquie (Danny), Tana (Brian), Matthew (Melanie), David, Robyn (Billy), Amy (Nick), Stephanie, Samuel (Celina), Benjamin, Andrew; and four great-grandchildren: Nathan, Danielle, Mia, and Niko. He also leaves behind four siblings: Margaret (Roland), Abe (Chris), Elizabeth (Allen), and Henry (Doreen).

In David’s memory, donations may be made to the Mennonite Central Committee or Columbia Bible College.

Arrangements under the direction of Woodlawn Funeral Home, Abbotsford, BC.