Janzen, Marie J. Regier Frantz (1897-1994)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1994 Dec 15 Dec p. 10

Birth date: 1897

text of obituary:

Longtime GC Mission Worker Dies at 97 in N. Newton, Kan.

NORTH NEWTON, Kan. — Marie J. Regier Frantz Janzen, a General Conference Mennonite Church missionary for 34 years, died Dec. 12. She was 97.

She began her missionary career in China in 1926, serving until 1932. She returned to China in 1940, but her work was interrupted by the war. The Japanese at first held her under house arrest, and then she was taken to a prison camp for more than two years.

In the camp she gained weight on food rations that caused others to lose weight — an indication of how scarce the food had been under house arrest.

"She never dwelt on this reality," wrote her sister, Minna Regier of Evanston, Ill. "She just told of interesting occurrences in those days.

"Marie had a deep and abiding love for the Oriental people. And the loved her back."

She served in China until 1949, when the Communist government barred missionaries from the country. She continued her mission work in Paraguay from 1950 to 1953, Taiwan from 1955 to 1962 and Chicago from 1963 to 1967.

She returned to the Newton area after her retirement. In 1969, at age 71, she married Peter Frantz. He died in 1973. In 1976 she married B. H. Janzen of North Newton, who survives.

Also surviving are two sisters, Minna Regier of Evanston, Ill., and Margaret Regier of North Newton. She was preceded in death by two brothers, Alfred and Hans.

Services were held Dec. 14 at Bethel College Mennonite Church in North Newton. Burial was at the Emmaus Mennonite Church Cemetery, rural Whitewater.