Murder in Old Altona: Part 2 – Mennonite Heritage Archives

Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives: Episode 30

This photo from page 26 of The Red River Valley Echo, December 20th, 1967 edition, shows survivor Susanna Loewen (Rempel) holding the bullet removed from her arm and the damaged sleeve from the dress she wore the day of the shooting. She is joined by Helena Funk (Kehler) who, the paper notes, still has a bullet in her back at the time of the photo.
Ken Loewen, grandson of Susanna, continues to hold the sleeve and bullet as a memento of the shooting. Photo courtesy of Conrad Stoesz, 2025.
Susanna Loewen lived her life in the Altona area, and was noted for curling well into her old age. Here she is (centre) in an undated photo from Esther Epp-Thiessen's book Altona: The Story of a Prairie Town, page 286 (1982).

In our previous episode, host Dan Dyck tried to understand why Heinrich J. Toews would have committed the violent acts that ended in the death of a student and, ultimately, his own death months later. In this episode, Dan sits down with Ken Loewen, the grandson of shooting survivor Susanna Loewen (Rempel), and keeper of a grim memento that has been passed down in the family. Through the lives of the survivors, Dan tries to understand more about the tragic events of October 9, 1902, and its reverberations in the lives of the victims and wider community.

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Podcast Series: Tales from the Mennonite Heritage Archives
Episode 30: Murder in Old Altona: Part 2
Date: May 25, 2025
Host: Dan Dyck
Special guest: Ken Loewen
Published by The Mennonite Heritage Archives

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