Former Central District Conference minister’s wife, Agnes “June” Wiebe, known as Mrs. Wiebe by many, died Aug. 3, 2023, in Rapid City, S.D., at the age of 92. Wiebe and her second husband, Waldo, served as Central District Conference minister couple from 1978-1990.
Wiebe was born Sept. 9, 1930, to Joseph and Susie Walter in Wolsey, S.D. She was the sixth of 10 children. When Wiebe was 10, she gave her heart to Jesus at an evangelical meeting at her church. She studied music and missions at Grace Bible Institute in Omaha, Neb., where she met her first husband, Kenneth Munger. They married on June 29, 1951, and entered the mission field in Zimbabwe in December 1952. Kenneth died in 1963.
In 1964, Wiebe earned her teaching certificate and met Pastor Waldo Wiebe, a traveling conference evangelist, at a Bible camp in Arkansas. They married on Dec. 18, 1965. Through this marriage, she inherited four daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren. June and Waldo served churches in Enid and Collinsville, Okla., for 10 years. In 1978, the Wiebes accepted the role of Central District minister couple. In 1990, the Wiebes moved to Rapid City to serve at Bible Fellowship Church (BFC), where Waldo served as associate pastor before his death in 1997 and June taught children’s church, women’s Sunday school classes and served as church secretary.
Dick Nickel, who pastored BFC from 1983-2010, says Wiebe operated with the Holy Spirit’s physical, emotional and spiritual empowerment as in Romans 8:11. He describes Wiebe as high-spirited, hospitable and willing to learn.
“I saw it not as a secretarial commitment; I saw it as a ministry commitment,” Nickel says, adding later: “I could always count on insight from her when I was dealing with people. She heard from the Lord, and that was very critical.”
Wiebe began a jail ministry in 1992 and led Bible studies in nursing homes, also ministering to hospitalized or homebound women.
“She had a tremendous influence on a lot of people,” Nickel says. “That was because of her commitment to the Lord.”
Throughout her life, Wiebe traveled to Zimbabwe, Zambia, Peru, Thailand, Haiti, Israel, Canada and Mexico serving God and faithfully ministering the Gospel. She loved to bake, garden, and praise God with hymns, but most of all, she loved sharing about the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Mrs. Wiebe was truly a teacher’s teacher,” says Bible Fellowship Church teaching pastor Daniel Fiester. “She could capture a room. When she spoke, everyone listened. She had relentless energy, teaching children’s church, visiting the sick, ministering in the jail. It was a privilege to pray with Mrs. Wiebe because we all could sense God’s presence in her life. It was evident that she spent many hours with Christ. We are very grateful for her legacy.”
Wiebe is survived by her daughters, Lucille Kliewer and Eileen (Robert) Plett; son-in-law, Gilbert (Rhoda) Friesen; siblings, Joseph (Janette) Walter, Lavonne Walter and Naomi Rempe; grandchildren, Carol (Phil), Janet (Mark), Dan (Brenda), Sheri (Hans), Tami (Mike), Gail (Jim), Pamela, Scott, Tausha, Talia (Chris), and Ty; 24 great-grandchildren; 13 great-great-grandchildren; and 51 nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husbands; parents; daughters, Arlene Friesen and Judy Bryson; son-in-law, Dean Kliewer; great-great-grandsons, Ryker and Jax Laemmlen; siblings, Edna (Joe) Stahl, Eli (Adeline) Walter, Johnnie (Rose) Walter, Joann (Albert) Epp, and Carolyn Walter; brother-in-law, David Rempe; and nieces and nephews, Lineu Vargas, Julia Ewert, Janette Friesen and James Classen.
Family received friends Friday evening, Aug. 11, 2023, and a graveside service was held Aug. 12, 2023, at the Hillsboro (Kan.) Mennonite Brethren Church cemetery.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Aug. 26 at Bible Fellowship Church, 1212 E. Fairmont Blvd, Rapid City, S.D. 57701. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Bible Fellowship Church or Multiply.
With files from the published obituaries of Waldo Wiebe and June Wiebe. Service details were updated Aug. 25.
Click here to read the full obituary: https://www.jostfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Agnes-June-Wiebe?obId=28660673
Read a 2017 CL “5 minutes with…” interview with Mrs. Wiebe here.
Janae Rempel Shafer is the Christian Leader associate editor. She joined the CL staff in September 2017 with six years of experience as a professional journalist. Shafer is an award-winning writer, having received three 2016 Kansas Press Association Awards of Excellence and an Evangelical Press Association Higher Goals award in 2022. Shafer graduated from Tabor College in 2010 with a bachelor of arts in Communications/Journalism and Biblical/Religious Studies. She and her husband, Austin, attend Ridgepoint Church in Wichita, Kansas.
