Hope College: Western Theological Seminary: Joint Archives of Holland: Edwin and Elizabeth (Renskers) Koeppe

Edwin Koeppe: Hope Class of 1914; Western Theological Seminary Class of 1919. Licensed and ordained a minister by the Reformed Church in America in 1919. Served as a missionary to China from 1919 to 1951 with wife, Elizabeth (Renksers) Koeppe. Elizabeth (Renskers) Koeppe: Hope Preparatory School class of 1917; attended Hope College (1917-1919); served with her husband, Edwin Koeppe, as missionaries in Amoy, South Fukien province, China (1919-1951); served as housemother of Columbia Cottage (Hope College) 1956-1963. Collection contains biographical information, personal correspondence, business correspondence with the Board of Foreign Missions, financial information of the Amoy Mission.

Edwin Koeppe was born December 24, 1888, in Oostburg, Wisconsin. He was a graduate of Cedar Grove Academy. After grammar school he attended Hope College and graduated with a B.A. in 1914. He then attended and graduated from Western Theological Seminary and was licensed and ordained a minister by the Reformed Church in America (RCA) in 1919. Later that same year, he served as a missionary to China (South Fukien Province) from 1919 to 1951 with fellow Hope College student, and later wife, Elizabeth (Renksers) Koeppe. After returning to the United States and settling in Holland, Michigan, Koeppe became a field secretary for the RCA’s Board of Foreign Missions until his retirement in 1955.

Edwin Koeppe passed away at Holland Memorial Hospital on December 18, 1956, after a long illness. His body was interred at Cedar Grove, Wisconsin.

Elizabeth Renskers was born in Cedar Grove, Wisconsin, on November 19, 1895. She was educated in public and private schools in Wisconsin, and at Hope Preparatory School in Holland, Michigan. She attended Hope College from 1917 to 1919. She married Edwin Koeppe, fellow Hope College student, in 1919, after finishing her sophomore year. Both served as missionaries in Amoy, South Fukien province, China, from 1919 to 1951, when they were deported. They returned to Holland where Edwin took up his work with the Board of Foreign Missions.

After Edwin’s death, Elizabeth Koeppe served Hope College in the capacity of housemother of Columbia Cottage, retiring in 1963. She moved to Wisconsin in 1975, and died there in 1976.

Arranged alphabetically by topic, the collection includes biographical information on both, correspondence with the Board of Foreign Missions, personal letters from Edwin and Elizabeth to family in the United States (1917-1942), financial reports concerning the Amoy Mission (1950-1953), and a missionary passenger list from the S.S. Conte Verde.

Accession No.:	W88-0064.1
Provenance:	Edwin and Elizabeth Koeppe
Donor:	Steve De Young
Processed by:	Geoffrey D. Reynolds, October 1999