[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 156 (Saturday, November 8, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2257-E2258]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         TRIBUTE TO ERIE SAUDER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, November 7, 1997

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I take this opportunity to remark upon the 
passing of an extraordinary man of my district. Erie Sauder of 
Archbold, OH died June 29, 1997 at the age of 92 years.
  Erie Sauder was a visionary, an entrepreneur, and a deeply spiritual 
man. A living legend in his own community of Archbold, he

[[Page E2258]]

was well known among the larger community as well. In fact, even the 
world knew of him, through his company's products. Mr. Sauder was the 
founder and chairman of the board of Sauder Woodworking. The world's 
largest manufacturer of ready-to-assemble furniture, Sauder Woodworking 
employs 3,000 Archbold area residents. Along with two subsidiaries of 
the company and Mr. Sauder's signature piece, Sauder Farm and Craft 
Village, his enterprises are the lifeblood of the community. Sauder 
Farm and Craft Village is a living history of northwest Ohio, a 
recreation of a pioneer village which brings to life the day-to-day 
activity of its residents. The village also includes an auditorium, 
restaurant, and inn, and over two million people visit it each year to 
get a glimpse of an understanding of life in the 19th century.
  A man of faith and deep moral conviction, Erie Sauder was a scholar 
of the Scriptures and Mennonite Church history. He was an active 
congregant in four churches, most recently the Pine Grove Mennonite 
Church. His work with the church led him to become a founding member of 
the Mennonite Economic Development Association. Through this 
organization, he made 18 trips to Paraguay, directing a development 
project which put to work thousands of indigent Paraguayans. Mr. Sauder 
looked upon that project as his most satisfactory achievement. His 
spirituality and civic-mindedness is evident in the other boards on 
which he served: Sunshine Children's Home--for profoundly disabled 
children; Ohio Mission Board; Oaklawn Center; Farmers and Merchants 
State Bank; Goshen College and Defiance College.
  A grounded man who never forgot his roots, Erie Sauder received much 
recognition in his later years. He was honored as Archbold's Citizen of 
the year in 1969 and the State of Ohio's Senior Citizen of the Year in 
1986. He was inducted into the Northwest Ohio Area Office on Aging's 
Hall of Honor in 1986. He received the Ohio Designer Craftsmen Award in 
1987 and the Governor's Award in 1992.
  He has also been recognized by the Maumee Valley Girl Scout Council 
and the Ohio 4-H Foundation for his generous support of the 
organizations' programs.
  A man of considerable fortune who grew up poor on a Fulton County 
farm, Erie Sauder's charity was legendary. In addition to his 
contributions to the Sauder Farm and Craft Village, his business, and 
many other programs, his obituary notes that his good deeds ``ranged 
from donating an organ to his church to donating $1 million toward the 
construction of Archbold's new library.'' His community truly felt his 
presence and he treated everyone in it as his friend.
  Erie Sauder survived his first wife, Leona, their daughter, his 
sister Mabel and brother Leo. He leaves to this life his wife Orlyss, 
his sons Delmar, Maynard, and Myrl, stepdaughter Elaine, sisters 
Lucretia and Herma, nine grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. 
May they find comfort in his memory and in the lasting legacy he left 
in the form of his entrepreneurship and in living his faith.