David Henry Neumann was born on March 12, 1916, in a newly constructed cow barn in Gruenfeld, Barnaul Colony, Asiatic Siberia, where his mother was living with her parents at the time.  He was child number five in a family of 16 children, and named after his great great grandfather who had died 100 years prior to his birth.  David always appreciated his name.

     Among David’s childhood memories, education was at a primary level only, where instruction was all in German, and it was his impression that the Mennonite population knew very little of the Russian language.  It was also David’s impression that spiritual emphasis was not a priority in their village.  The nearest MB Church was about three miles away and he recalled only once that he attended with his parents.   He did, however, attend Sunday school occasionally on Sunday afternoons. He was 10 years of age when his family emigrated to Canada.

      In Canada, at the age of 12, David found himself a responsible member of the family and his work days began.  In later life, he realized he had been a hard working member of society from that time on, never having been unemployed, never in trouble with the law, never in jail, never drunk, with a good half century of productive activity.

     During the winter of 1935 David travelled to BC to attend his brother Henry’s wedding.  During a watch-night service on December 31, [while unbeknownst to him his mother was on her face praying for him back in Gem, Alberta] he made a life-changing decision to turn his life over to Christ.  It gained content, meaning and direction.  Above all, it gained quality, not overnight, not in the twinkling of an eye, but in a process which extended over the years.  He was baptized that fall in Gem, and spent several winters studying and teaching in the Winkler Bible School, where he developed his gift for preaching.  He was soon given many opportunities to exercise that gift.

      Beginning in 1941, David served as a conscientious objector over a period of time.  In between assignments, he went to Vancouver to look for work.  He was soon recruited to teach Sunday School on Lulu Island [Richmond], as was Martha Ruth Harder, from Borden, Saskatchewan; she had come to B.C. to be close to her sister, dying of cancer.  From their first meeting, David recalled that she was tall, slim, and beautiful wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a black dress.  Their friendship quickly developed into love.  They were married on September 26, 1942.  He writes, “To sum it up, I met Martha on the corner of 49th and Fraser, proposed to her on the corner of Hastings and Main, and married her on the corner of 25th and Prince Edward!”

     In 1943 David applied to the ‘Selective Service Board’ to be released from C.O. Camp in Campbell River, where he had been serving since his wedding, [with Martha back in Vancouver], in order to help his father farm in Gem, Alberta.  He was called into the office in Vancouver and given a tongue-lashing.  The conscientious objectors were not popular with the authorities.  The officer in charge told him, among other things, that he was a nuisance to the country and should be sent back to Russia, etc., etc.,  and then told him he was free to go back to the farm, provided that he would pay $15 per month to the Red Cross.  This he did to the end of the war.

      In the spring of 1945, David bought a 200-acre irrigation farm in South Gem for $3,500, and after farming it for two years, sold it for $4,000.   It was during the time in Gem that Carol and Dennis were born.

     David began to preach at the age of 20.  The voice of the church to him was the voice of God.  When the pastor would ask him to bring a message, that was the same as God asking him to bring a message.  Hence, he never took an invitation from a church to come and preach lightly.  He said that he often practised on the horses as the fields were being plowed, “…they definitely heard the full gospel message!”  On May 11, 1947, he and Martha were ordained to the ministry in the Mennonite Brethren Church of Gem, Alberta.

    David had a burning desire to seek further education, so he and Martha sold their farm, and with their two children, headed for Tabor College in Hillsboro Kansas.  When asked why he would go back to school at such a late date, he replied that he was always behind in other things as well.  He was a grade 5 drop-out at age 15, took grade 9 at age 23, never did take grade 6, 7, and 8, was 26 when he got married, and back to college at age 31.  He got his first pair of running shoes at 40, and learned how to cook porridge at 66!  He graduated from this institution in only two years with a Bachelor of Arts.  Originally, David had strong apprehensions about his ability to do college work, so he told Martha, “you pray and I’ll work”.  She prayed as if he wasn’t working, and he worked as if she wasn’t praying.  A year and a summer after graduating from Tabor, David graduated with highest honours, with a Master of Arts in History from the University of Kansas. On the morning of his final exam in American Foreign Policy at the University of Kansas, Delores was born in Hillsboro.  He then drove 140 miles, wrote the exam, and got a straight A.

    Later he also earned teaching credentials in both Ontario and B.C.  David was invited to come to Ontario in 1950, where for the following ten years he served as principal of Eden Christian College in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  The last addition to the family, Allan, was born there. In 1960, the family moved to Abbotsford, B.C., David having been invited to teach at the Mennonite Educational Institute.  David’s main goal in his 19 years of Christian High School teaching was always the spiritual well-being of his students.  But he also enjoyed the cultural pursuits at MEI –  the music, literary performances, and all major dramas.  Friday and Saturday nights were basketball nights…some of his most enjoyable evenings.   He later left MEI to pursue a teaching assignment in the Abbotsford School District, teaching there until his retirement, after which he also taught at Trinity Western University and at the Mennonite Brethren Bible Institute.

    Through all their married life, Martha was David’s greatest supporter. To quote her sisters, “if David was happy she was happy”!  She had a dry sense of humour and also loved a good joke.  Martha was quite a hit with David’s father who appreciated her one-liners.  David was known to say that he could gauge how his sermons were going by the look on her face in the audience! 

     Martha, herself, was very active in women’s church work providing leadership to ‘sewing circles’ and other endeavours.  She loved to sing, and had an excellent low alto voice.  She often sang with her sisters Agnes and Selma, in quartets and in choirs, and even sang a duet with Agnes at her own wedding.  She had a reputation for being a person who did not complain, who was loyal to her family and prayed for them regularly.   In the home, Martha often served as a gracious hostess for visiting dignitaries, preachers, etc.    In fact, David always said that they could never have a boarder, because they would go broke.  Martha would serve plenty of food and her famous words were ‘finish it!’

    David was involved in church work throughout his life as a youth leader, preacher, church moderator, and conference board member. Following his retirement from teaching, he served as interim pastor in the Broadway Mennonite Brethren Church in Chilliwack, BC, and later as interim pastor in Traunstein, Germany. He was instrumental in establishing the Bakerview Mennonite Brethren Church in 1965, and served as its first moderator and assistant pastor for the next seven years. He was honored by the Bakerview MB Church in October 2000 for his dedicated leadership in the founding and development of this church. He was previously honored by Eden Christian College for his effective ministry at that school for ten years.

     The family remembers David for his love of life and a father who always had time for his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  He was very involved in all their lives.  Because he had his summers free, annual camping trips were a must.  Many summer days were spent at the beach. David was an avid swimmer, able to swim out into Lake Ontario and come back two hours later.  He also loved water skiing, highlighted by he and his four children skiing slalom together behind Uncle Jake’s boat.  Well-enjoyed were the two tenting trips taken from Ontario to B.C.  Watching sports on TV were among his pastimes, even to the extent of renting a TV in the early days to watch the NHL playoffs – creating many great memories!

     Besides his teaching and preaching, David Neumann was widely known for his humour, his passion for golf, [discovered in 1955 when he told Martha, “This is what I am going to do for the rest of my life for recreation”], and his expertise in playing chess.  Having a degree in history, he was always interested in world events, and would have liked to travel to Israel.  He and Martha enjoyed many side trips in Europe while they were working in Germany.  Winters were spent in Indio, California during their retirement years.  David was an avid reader, but seldom read novels.

    On February 14, 1993, David suffered his first stroke.  He kept a positive attitude no matter what difficulties presented themselves.  On September 9, 2000, at the age of 86, Martha passed away. In the last year, following her passing, David’s formula for coping was, “don’t argue with God”, and secondly, “don’t feel sorry for yourself even though it hurts”.  On April 10, 2001, at the age of 85, David suffered a massive stroke from which he never recovered.

     David and Martha’s direct descendants number 27 (2023).