Preservings $20 No. 25, December, 2005 - Home at Plett Foundation

Tribute to Delbert Plett at the viewing service
Tuesday, November 9, 2004, Blumenort EMC Church
John J. Friesen, Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Family, friends and community. We mourn
today the loss of someone who died far too young.
Delbert Plett was a dear friend. A number of
weeks ago, he called and said he was planning his
funeral. Would I be willing to make some comments
about his work and interests? I was sad to
hear him make this request, and wished deeply he
could continue to write for many more years. But
yes, of course, I would be honoured to be involved
as he requested. Little did I realize how soon this
day would come.
A week ago, Monday morning, I phoned Delbert.
I was going to Steinbach, and asked whether
we could meet, maybe even go for lunch. He said
his health would not allow him to go out for lunch,
but maybe I could come over and he would stir
up some soup. Realizing he was weak, I offered
to see him in the afternoon, and not during a meal
time. When I later came to the door, he had been
taken to the hospital.
Delbert and I spoke many times, in person
and by phone, about issues related to Mennonite
history. Often he asked me to write an article, or
a book review, or to share his vision for another
book. He would fax the outline, and our discussion
ensued. Or he would share an article, and
ask for my opinion of the tone and content. More
often than not, I replied that I liked what he said,
but could he change the tone a little. I thought it
would communicate better. He heard me out, but
said that with his style he was making a point. His
articles indeed were clear and focused. I know
many of you have similar stories about phone
calls and meetings with Delbert. He had the capacity
to work on numerous issues simultaneously,
and to connect with many people, all the while
keeping up with his law practice and real estate
development.
What was dear to Delbert’s heart and soul?
What were his interests and contributions? Maybe
above all, he gave voice to those who he felt had
become voiceless. He began with his own tradition,
the Kleine Gemeinde, which he thought had
been treated unfairly by Mennonite historians.
He set about to correct that. He published book
after book of articles, letters, memoirs, diaries,
sermons, family histories, and social histories
until the Kleine Gemeinde became the best documented
Russian Mennonite group. After he had
told the Kleine Gemeinde story, he turned to other
groups who he felt had not been given adequate
voice: Old Colony, Chortitzer, Sommerfelder,
Reinlaender, and Hutterites. He believed passionately
that each group’s stories needed to be told,
its contributions acknowledged, and its vision for
being Christian respected.
Delbert had the ability to inspire people, and
drew many into writing and research. He helped
interest people in their family history, in the history
of their church group, and encouraged them to
look again at the Anabaptist biblical faith heritage.
He wanted his readers to catch a vision - not only
learn more about their history. He wanted people
to recognize and claim the richness of their own
spiritual heritage.
He gave voice to many women. He published
articles about women and by women. I
remember the series of articles in Preservings
on burial customs. A whole issue of Preservings
was devoted to Kleine Gemeinde matriarchs. He
had women write about wedding traditions. He
was inclusive.
Delbert was generous. He sent his books to
many people free of charge. For example, the
two recent publications, Old Colony Mennonites
in Canada and Diese Steine, were distributed in
large numbers to various communities in Canada,
Mexico, and beyond. Often these were gifts,
sometimes he asked for donations. Basically, he
was interested in getting the message out.
Delbert was a missionary. He had a vision for
being Christian, and was tireless in promoting
A Tribute To Delbert Plett
Henry Shapansky, British Columbia
it. His vision was primarily shaped by Harold
S. Bender’s Anabaptist Vision, and included a
biblical faith built around community, discipleship,
and peace.
He was critical of some aspects of the evangelical
and pietist movements. His responses to the
letters to the editor in the Preservings were often
biting. And yet, when I spoke to him about this, I
also felt a different spirit. He wanted the conservatives’
faith and life to be respected as biblical and
fully within the Anabaptist Mennonite heritage.
He opposed any attempt to narrow the gospel so
that it denigrated or excluded the faith of a large
portion of the Anabaptist Mennonite family.
Did he have weaknesses? Of course! We all
do. He was so consumed with his projects that he
had little time for family, social relationships, and
church life. There were moments when he lamented
this, but he felt the projects were too important
to leave undone. About regular church involvement,
he said we can’t all do everything, and he
would leave church work to the rest of us.
I believe Delbert has left a profound legacy
– one that has enriched us all, and one that will
continue to enrich through his writings. He had
a vision for the Christian faith that is biblically
based, that is grounded in Christ and expressed
in daily living, that is inclusive and respectful of
others, and that is non-resistant and does not bow
to nationalisms and war.
Menno Simons famous statement sums up
Delbert Plett’s vision well:
True evangelical faith cannot lie dormant.
It clothes the naked,
It comforts the sorrowful,
It shelters the destitute,
It serves those that harm it,
It builds up that which is wounded.
Delbert, we will miss you. I’d love to have
soup with you again.
My very dear friend, colleague, and a major
Mennonite historian of our time, Delbert Plett,
passed away in November, 2004. The immense
contribution made by Delbert to Mennonite history,
and to Mennonite family history, will, as
is so often regrettably the case, be more fully
appreciated by future generations than by his
contemporaries. He had a complete and accurate
overview of the entire history of the Mennonites
which gave him the facility of grasping and
retaining details of that history that was truly
astounding. His published work was astonishingly
detailed and accurate, an achievement that will
not be surpassed.
A proper tribute to Delbert would, of necessity,
involve a severe condemnation of the Mennonite
academic world of contemporary North America.
By academic world, I mean those connected to
Mennonite institutions purporting to promote
cultural, historical or educational endeavours,
not necessarily restricted to colleges and the like,
supported by or mainly serving the Mennonite
community. This academic world has continued
in the footsteps of the 19th century historian and
educators, such as P.M. Friesen, Franz Isaac, D.H.
Epp, producing little work that is new, original
or insightful. That this group continues to repeat
the myths and judgments of the earlier historians
is bad enough, were it not that untruths, misrepresentations,
mistranslations, and suppression of
historical facts under the auspices of this body are
continued to this day. I am reminded of the story
of an editor of Der Bote who had come across
new information and data on the activities of some
Mennonites in Russia during the 1920s. He consulted
with an eminent Mennonite historian, who
advised the editor to suppress the information on
the grounds that currently living family members
might be offended.
Why this state of affairs should remain so appears
to be somewhat based on economic grounds.
Many promoters and financial supporters of such
institutions are themselves descendants of the
“Progressive/Orloff’ school of thought, which
includes most of the historians and educators of
19th century Russia, and the Mennonite Brethren
in general. The relationship between pietistical
movements, such as the Templers and the
Brethren, and the desire for and/or acquisition of
personal wealth and social status, is an interesting
topic in itself, as is the domination of institutions
Preservings No. 25, December 2005 -