Benjamin Yoder

1930 - 2022

Benjamin Yoder

March 12, 1930 - August 11, 2022

Benjamin Yoder went home to be with the Lord on August 11, 2022 in Yucca Valley, California.



Benjamiin was born on March 12, 1930 to Benjamin S. Yoder and Deemy A. Yoder in Mayes County, Oklahoma. Their family was part of the Old Order Amish community. When he was 12, his family moved to another Amish community in Yoder, Kansas. As the yougest of 6 children, he became his mother's sole support on the farm when his father died in 1943. When his mother remarried in 1946, he left home, and the Amish way of life, to make his way in the world at the age of 16.



Benjamin's travels as a young man took him from Kansas to Florida, from Florida to Indiana, from Indiana back to Kansas, where he stayed and worked for a Mennonite family, who lead him to a personal relationship and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. This commitment became the foundation for the rest of his life.



From Kansas he moved to Amity, Oregon and then Portland, Oregon, where he attended Bethesda Bible Institute. It was while attending Bethesda he met and married his wife, Ellen Davis Yoder, on August 5, 1950.

While still students they had their first two children, Linda and Denise.



Finishing their studies, they moved in 1956 to North Hollywood, California, to care for Ellen's father until he passed in 1957. Then they moved to Lancaster, Calfornia, where their son, Benjamin J., was born.



In August 1959, they moved to Medford, Oregon, which became the Yoder home for the next 33 Years. There, two more children were born to the family, Elena and Phillip (who only lived for one day).



Benjamin was a steadfast provider for his family, even in times of recession. He worked wherever anyone had a job opening, full or part-time. His children remember vividly when he repaired the soles of his work boots with cardboard and wire, because he had worn them through, walking from job site to job site. But a break came in 1961, when MedCo opened up their plywood division. He worked there for the next 25 years, until he retired in 1986.



Benjamin was never afraid to tackle a new project. As a MedCo employee he could buy manufacturing seconds, decent timber products that had cosmetic flaws. So, with no formal training in construction, he and Ellen built a house by themselves from the ground up. He had never built a house before, so when he did not know how to do something, he would just find a book at the library on it, or pray about it and the answer would come to him! He called it "The House That God Built".



Benjamin loved to garden, as well. He especially loved the edible garden and was especially proud of his potato patch.



Benjamin was a lifelong learner. As a boy, he had just completed the 8th grade when he had to drop school to support his mother. But throughout his life, when he was not working hard physically, he had a book in his hand, soaking in knowledge. He even liked to read his children's textbooks!



The most defining thing about Benjamin, though, was not his self-taught skills or his self-sacrifice for his family: it was his steadfast love and service to the Lord. Faith was a 24/7 thing for him. At home he prayed, read the Bible, and talked with his family about God. And he made sure they were all in church every time the doors were open. At church, he served in whatever capacity was needed--from cleaning the building, to landscaping, to teaching Sunday school, to being a deacon, or elder. He also served the community, by speaking at the Medford Gospel Mission, and helping the disabled, homeless and poor.



When his beloved wife, Ellen, passed away in February 1988, he felt adrift, although he never lost his love for the Lord.



In 1992, he sold the home in Medford, and adopted a mobile lifestyle to share time with each of his children. He also began dating, and in July 1993, married Ruby Bush Yoder of Phoenix, Oregon. They lived first in Phoenix, then in 1994 moved to Bixby, Oklahoma, where they resided until they moved to Landers, California in 2003.



In January 2019, Benjamin broke his leg and his health began failing rapidly. He was admitted to Aaspen Village Care in Yucca Valley, California where he stabilized, but was unable to regain the strength to resume life as before. Benjamin's family is grateful for the intense and loving care he received there until his death.



Benjamin's wife, Ruby, went to be with the Lord in March 2020, so he is survived by his children: Linda Yoder, Denise Christensen (Steven), Ben Yoder (Supin), and Elena Cardwell (Richard). He is also survived by five grandchildren: Sherri Zucker(Jeremy), Phil Christensen (Darcie), Maranna Yoder, Julian Yoder (Cassie), and Mary Cardwell; and by five great-grandchildren: Gil Ganzer, Orion Christensen, and Isaac, Aaron, and Samantha Zucker.



A memorial service will be held at Memory Gardens Mortuary at Memory Gardens (1395 Arnold Lane) in Medford, Oregon on Friday, september 9, 2022 at 1:00 PM, for family and friends who would like to attend. Inurnment will be there, also, beside the mother of his children, Ellen Yoder.



Beloved Father, we will say good-bye for now, but look forward to the day when we will meet again at Jesus' feet!