Merlin and Dorothy Grove

Merlin and Dorothy Grove came from Markham, Ontario, and joined the Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions for service in Somalia. Their family moved there in 1960, and Merlin began teaching. The mission’s own history identifies his work in Mogadishu and places the attack on him while he was registering students for evening classes.

On July 16, 1962, Merlin was stabbed by an attacker. Dorothy ran toward the room when she heard the disturbance and was also wounded. Merlin died, while Dorothy was taken to hospital and recovered. The source records the attack without supplying the assailant’s name; no name is added here.

At the subsequent trial, mission staff voiced love and forgiveness. Dorothy and the couple’s three children returned to Ontario, and the photographed account records her death on November 6, 2010. Remembered within this church history, the family’s service and the response to violence continue the theme of Christian witness expressed through teaching, love, and the refusal to answer injury with hatred.