John L. Ropp

John L. Ropp
September 29, 1921 - August 27, 2009
Kalona, Iowa
Visitation: 2-8 p.m. August 29, 2009 at Fairview Conservative Mennonite Church
Funeral Service: 3:00 p.m. August 30, 2009 at Fairview Conservative Mennonite Church
Interment: , at Carlsbad Cemetery, Carlsbad, New Mexico
John L. Ropp, was born September 29, 1921, near Kalona, the son of Sol C. and Vesta(Yoder) Ropp. He was a graduate of the Eastern Mennonite College. He was married on December 21, 1949, to Violet Martin in Kitchener Ontario. They lived in Nashwauk, MN and worked as church planters over 13 years. In 1963 they moved to Kalona, Iowa where he was a pastor at the Fairview Conservative Mennonite Church as well as a rural mail carrier and carpenter, he and Violet moved to Carlsbad, NM in 1989 where they enjoyed exploring New Mexico. In 2008 John returned to Kalona. He was a member of the Fairview Mennonite Church in Kalona, Iowa and the Carlsbad Mennonite Church in Carlsbad, New Mexico. He enjoyed golfing and fishing. John died on Thursday, August 27, 2009, at the Pleasantview Home in Kalona, at the age of 87 years. He is survived by his children: Leland Ropp of Brighton, Michigan, Lowell Ropp of Woodstock, Georgia and Ruth Ann Ropp of Carlsbad, New Mexico; 6 brothers Leroy and Emil of Kalona, Wesley of Harrisonburg, Virginia, Morris of Bemidji, Minnesota, Paul of Sarasota, Florida and Herman of Harrisonburg, Virginia; four sisters: Cleora Yoder of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Anna Mae Miller of Kalona, Iowa, Cora Miller of London, Ohio and Norma Nisly of Kalona, Iowa. He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife Violet. Funeral Services will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 30, 2009, at the Fairview Conservative Mennonite Church in rural Kalona. Rev. John Hershberger, Rev. David L. Yoder, and Rev. Don Swartzentruber will officiate. Burial will be at a later date in the Carlsbad Cemetery in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Visitation will be held from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. on Saturday at the Fairview Conservative Mennonite Church. The Yoder-Powell Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.