[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5282-5283]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF EDNA YODER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Kansas (Mr. Yoder) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. YODER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to honor the 
life and legacy of a Kansas pioneer woman. Last week I joined my family 
in Yoder, Kansas, to celebrate the life and legacy of my grandma, Edna 
Yoder, who recently passed at the age of 105 years old.
  I was very close to my grandma, as many of us are to our 
grandparents. She was a sweet and kind woman who could tell a good 
story, never met a stranger, and had an infectious laugh. I spent much 
of my childhood listening to her hum church hymns while cooking a 
country meal or quilting another masterpiece.
  As one of 14 children, born in 1911, she grew up in another era, 
attending school in a one-room schoolhouse, a time without cell phones 
or television or even electricity and the other modern conveniences we 
take for granted today. Yet somehow she survived and had a remarkable 
life. She saw hard times from the Dust Bowl to the Great Depression to 
countless world events over the past century.
  When she was born, women didn't have the right to vote in America; 
but even well past turning 100 years old, she was voting in local 
elections, even for President of the United States. She saw a lot of 
Presidents come and go--19, as a matter of fact.
  She saw America progress from a country really still recovering from 
the deep wounds of our Civil War to the world's most indispensable, 
vital, and vibrant nation. She saw us defeat Hitler in Nazi Germany. 
She saw us bring freedom and peace around the globe to men, women, and 
children who had never experienced it before.
  She was born less than 10 years after Orville and Wilbur Wright took 
off on their first flight at Kitty Hawk, and yet she would watch Neil 
Armstrong set foot on the Moon while she was just in her fifties. But 
as the world changed around her, she quietly lived her entire life near 
Yoder, Kansas, where she raised her children on the same farm that I 
grew up on.
  She worked tirelessly on that farm, milking cows at dawn and bringing 
in the Kansas wheat harvest in the hot sun. She didn't ask for much: 
food on the table, a roof over her head, and a better life for her 
children and grandchildren.
  Mr. Speaker, we like to call them the Greatest Generation. She was a 
living embodiment of the values that help make America the greatest 
country in the world. She was guided every day by her faith in God, and 
she was truly blessed with more than a century of good health and good 
spirits in return. She loved her family and deeply believed in hard 
work and self-determination.
  She and her husband, Orie, were married for 49 years, and together 
they raised their four children and nine grandchildren, and they even 
watched one of them make it all the way from that farm in Yoder, 
Kansas, to the United States House of Representatives here in 
Washington, D.C. Family always came first for her.
  In her later years, she passed the time reading her Bible, playing in 
the bell choir, and, of course, quilting and playing lots of games. In 
fact, the last time I saw her recently, we played bingo together, and 
we wiped out the competition at her retirement home one last time. She 
was sharp into her final hours.
  She was born into a home that did not have a telephone, but in her 
final days, we were also able to communicate from Kansas to Washington 
via FaceTime so I would have a chance to speak with her.
  We recently had her services at the Yoder Mennonite Church, built 
just after she born. This was the church she was raised in, was 
baptized in, was married in, and the church in which we laid her to 
eternal rest.
  From 1911 to 2017, what a ride, what a remarkable life and 
unforgettable woman. Through it all, she stayed true

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to what was important to her and what makes America such a strong 
nation: her faith, her family, and her Kansas prairie values.
  Grandma, we were so blessed to have so many years with you. You lived 
an amazing 105 years. I think if we look closely and we listen closely, 
you gave us a roadmap for a long and happy life. As you pass on to 
eternal life, please know that you are an inspiration to all of us 
every day. May you rest in peace, Grandma.
  Mr. Speaker, may you and my colleagues in this body join me in 
keeping her in your prayers.

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