Biographical Sketch

Isaac P. Regehr was born in Gnadental, South Russia in 1864. Because the Regehr’s had a large family and were poor, Isaac did not have as much education as he would have liked. He did, however, attend the Gnadenfeld High School for one year where his teacher, Herman Lenzmann, influenced him for life.

When Regehr was 17 years old, he began teaching at the Wiesenfeld School where he remained for four years. During the summer months he continued his studies so that in 1885 he began teaching in a larger school at Kleefeld. He remained there for 21 years. In 1887, he was converted and joined the Rueckenau Mennonite Brethren Church where he was ordained as a minister in 1893. Regehr married Elizabeth Letkemann in 1889. In 1906, he began teaching religion and the German language at the secondary school in Alexanderkrone where he remained until 1923. In 1926, the Regehr family immigrated to Canada after which Regehr taught at the Herbert Bible School for two and a half years. Regehr was involved in teaching, preaching, and as a director of church music for many years. He died in Herbert in January, 1930.