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Jantzen, Aron (1911-2004)
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2004 Mar 15 p. 7
Birth date: 1911
text of obituary:
By Angela Rempel
Mennonite Mission Network
ALHAMBRA, Calif. — Aron Jantzen, a missionary in India who served in roles ranging from evangelism to hospital administration, died Feb. 13. He was 93.
Jantzen — from a family in which six of 10 siblings became overseas missionaries — served in India between 1938 and 1974 with the General Conference Mennonite Church
Born near Paso Robles, he graduated from the Bible Institute of Los Angeles in 1931 and attended the University of California at Los Angeles. He married Kathryn Louthan in 1937.
Their first mission assignment, from 1938 to 1945, was as village evangelists in Korba while India was still under British rule.
During a furlough from 1945 to 1947, the Jantzens completed bachelor's degrees at Pasadena College.
From 1963 to 1968, Jantzen and his family lived in Newton, Kan., where he served as the first candidate secretary for the GC mission board.
Back in India, they again worked at the Bethesda hospital for several years. Their last assignment in India was at Sewa Bhawan Hospital in Jagdeeshpur, where he served as the business manager until 1974.
He maintained a lifelong interest in the needs of people suffering with leprosy, becoming a representative in California for the American Leprosy Mission during his retirement. Also in retirement, the Jantzens served on a committee to develop the institute of Hindu Studies at the U.S. Center for World Missions in Pasadena. He remained a consultant until 1985.
They were charter members of Pasadena Mennonite Church in 1986. A year later they moved to Attherton [sic Atherton] Baptist Home in Alhambra, serving as chaplains.
Jantzen was preceded in death by his wife, Kathryn, in 1988. He is survived by his second wife, Betty Griffith Jantzen; a daughter, Cynthia Belden, and her husband, Glen, of Monrovia; three grandchildren, and one step-great-grandson; two brothers, Richard of Austin, Texas, and Lubin of Hesston, Kan.; and one sister, Anna Jantzen of Stockton, Calif.
He was preceded in death by three brothers, Albert, Oswald and John; and three sisters, Mary Schultz, Minna Jantzen and Ruth Roth.
