Klassen, Helen Bohn (1928-1969)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1969 Mar 20 p. 3

Birth date: 1928

text of obituary:

Oaklawn Director's Wife Killed by Assailant

Elkhart, Ind. — Funeral services were conducted in the Chapel of the Sermon on the Mount at Mennonite Biblical Seminary here Monday forenoon for Mrs. Helen Klassen, 41, who died at the hands of an assailant at her home near Elkhart on Friday, March 14.

Mrs. Klassen was the wife of Dr. Otto Klassen, medical director of Oaklawn Psychiatric Center here, who was on a business trip to Bluffton, Ohio at the time of the tragedy. She suffered a number of gunshot wounds.

Elkhart County police were questioning a 23-year-old Elkhart man in connection with the murder after he was apprehended on Friday evening.

It is believed the fatal attack took place about noon. The tragedy was discovered by one of the Klassen daughters upon her return home from school about 3:30 p.m. The home is located on Route 4 at the south edge of the city.

Mrs. Klassen, the former Helen Bohn, was a member of the Hively Avenue Mennonite Church. Besides her husband she leaves four daughters, Ruth, Frieda, Beth and Susie, all of the home; her parents, Rev. and Mrs. Ernest Bohn of Goshen; three sisters, Mrs. Carlyle Groves of North Newton, Kan., Mrs. Harold Hartman of Elkhart, and Mrs. Wesley Unruh of Athens, Ohio; and three brothers, Rev. Stanley Bohn of Bluffton, Ohio, Alden of Elkhart, and John of Ithaca, N. Y.

The memorial service was conducted by Rev. David L. Habegger and Rev. A. E. Kreider.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1969 Mar 28 p. 10

text of obituary:

Search Continues For Man Who took Life of Mrs. Klassen

County and state police officers at Elkhart, ind. are continuing their investigation of the brutal killing of Mrs. Helen Klassen, wife of Dr. Otto H. Klassen, but at last report had made little progress in efforts to identify the killer.

Mrs. Klassen, mother of four daughters, was criminally assaulted and shot while alone at her home on March 14. Dr. Klassen is medical director of Oaklawn Psychiatric Center in Elkhart.

Hours after the slaying a 23-year-old man who is a patient of Dr. Klassen was taken into custody for questioning. Later, he was taken to Norman Beatty Hospital for a 15-day observation period. However, there was no tangible evidence at the time to connect him with the murder.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1969 May 15 p. 12

text of obituary:

Nature Study Facility Memorial to Alumna

Bluffton, O. — A memorial project in the form of a nature study facility is being planned at Bluffton College in honor of Mrs. Helen Bohn Klassen, who was murdered in her home in Elkhart, Ind., March 14.

Mrs. Klassen was the wife of Dr. Otto Klassen and both graduated from Bluffton College in the class of 1949. Dr. Klassen is associated with the Woodlawn Psychiatric Center in Elkhart.

Funds for a memorial gift will be used to build an observation tower on the Swiss Farm. The tower would be a teaching facility in that students would be able to survey the trails, lake and countryside before embarking on nature hikes.

Persons wishing to share in the project may make donations to the "Helen Klassen Tower Fund" in care of Bluffton College. Those interested in contributing labor when the tower is constructed this summer also may contact college officials.

Mrs. Klassen was a biology major while in college and lived on the college farm, now the Swiss Farm, when her father was a member of the faculty.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1974 Nov 14 p. 7

text of obituary:

Dedicate Memorial At Bluffton, O. Nature Preserve

Bluffton, Ohio. — The Helen Bohn Klassen Observation Tower at the Swinging Bridge Nature Preserve of Bluffton College was dedicated on Sunday, Oct. 17.

The 12-foot tower was dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Klassen, a 1949 graduate of Bluffton. Rev. Stanley Bohn of Bluffton, her brother, spoke at the service.

Other family members attending were Rev. and Mrs. E. J. Bohn, the parents, Dr. and Mrs. Otto Klassen and daughters, Beth and Sue, Alden Bohn and family, and Mr. and Mrs. Harold (Kate) Hartman, all of Elkhart, Ind.; Mrs. John P. Klassen of the Mennonite Memorial Home, Bluffton; Mr. and Mrs. Paul Klassen of Wadsworth, and Dr. and Mrs. Oliver (Anita) Luginbuhl of Pandora.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1974 Nov 28 p. 6

text of obituary:

Memorial to Bluffton Graduate

A nature observation tower at the Swinging Bridge Nature Preserve of Bluffton College (Ohio) was dedicated recently to the memory of Helen Bohn Klassen, a 1949 graduate of the college. The 12-foot tower overlooks the lake and nature center. Participating in the occasion were Rev. Stanley Bohn of Bluffton, Dr. Otto Klassen of Elkhart, Ind., Benjamin Sprunger, Bluffton president, the Bluffton College Chorale directed by Earl Lehman, and relatives and friends.

The Mennonite obituary: 1969 Apr 8 p. 241