Anna Kathryn (Shenk) Eby

Memorial Service
​April 4, 2016

Obituary

Anna Kathryn (Shenk) Eby
January 27, 1941 - March 31, 2016
Anna Kathryn (Shenk) Eby, 75, of Harrisonburg, passed away on Thursday, March 31, 2016 from complications following open heart surgery. Mrs. Eby was born on January 27, 1941 in Tanzania (East Africa) and was the daughter of the late J. Clyde and Alta Rebecca (Barge) Shenk, pioneer East Africa Mennonite Missionaries. Anna Kathryn graduated from Eastern Mennonite College in 1962. Along with her husband, Omar, Anna Kathryn served as a volunteer in East Africa. She later graduated from James Madison University with a Master’s degree in Education. She worked for the Rockingham County School System as an Elementary School teacher for many years prior to her retirement. Mrs. Eby was a longtime member of Weavers Mennonite Church, and more recently a member of the Park View Mennonite Church and Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community. In the words that Anna Kathryn wrote, to introduce herself to her VMRC neighbors:

“WWII took place during my parents’ first term as pioneer missionaries in a remote part of East Africa. This meant that they did not return to the United States for almost 10 years. These were the years that three of my four brothers and I were born. In those years of being somewhat isolated from the outside world, we bonded with our African kin. My brothers and I were cherished and secure. We were sometimes home schooled, but we also experienced the rhythm of attending boarding schools for three months at a time, interspersed with three weeks at home.

“Omar and I met during summer school at EMC (1960). We were married in 1962 and together spent short teaching terms in East and Central Africa, before settling down for the long haul in the Shenandoah Valley. Two daughters, followed by a son enriched us, along with our teaching careers. Learning from my own children I embraced a developmental philosophy as I taught early childhood. Today, six grandchildren bless us. And in Omar’s words they summarized: That’s who made me. Always with the sense that under me are the Everlasting Arms of God.” ​

Children's Stories by Anna Kathryn
told at Park View Mennonite Church