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Friesen, John A. (1915-2009)
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2009 Apr 6 p. 3
Birth date: 1915 Nov 30
text of obituary:
By Mennonite Mission Network staff
GOSHEN, Ind. — Even as a mission administrator in charge of a leprosy hospital in India, John A. Friesen was a pastor at heart, remembered for his love for the beggars and lepers of his village and for the growth of the church.
John A. Friesen, in the center of a three-generation family legacy of service in India, died march 20 at Courtyard Healthcare. He was 93.
Friesen and his wife, Genevieve, served in India with Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities from 1938 to 1981, with short periods of deputation, family medical care and refreshment in the United States.
As an India-born worker whose native language was Hindi, his primary concern was Mennonite church-panting in India.
"We remember him with affection and honor," said Amy Jiwanlal of the Mennonite Church in India. "He became a part of the sick, poor, weak [and] old people around him and talked, ate and sat with them to fulfill the Lord's command, and this is how he told them that Jesus loved them."
Son Stan Friesen recalled his father spending nearly every evening and Sunday praying with and blessing the sickest of the leprosy patients, many of whom were in pain from reactions to the medicine given for their leprosy.
P. K. Singh, secretary of the Mennonite Church in India, said Indian Mennonites mourn Friesen's passing and remember his artistic and musical talent and his faith.
"He was keen in evangelism, preaching to patients as well as to others," Singh said.
Friesen was born Nov. 30, 1915, in Jamgaon, India, to Peter Abram and Helena (Hiebert) Friesen. His mother died in India when he was very young; two of his sisters also died in childhood in India. Friesen was raised by his stepmother, Florence (Cooprider) Friesen. He married Genevieve Yoder on June 3, 1939, in Topeka, Ind., and they sailed for India in October of that year. She died June 12, 2002.
Gifted in artistic ability, Friesen edited the church paper and worked on literature and audiovisuals. He loved music and singing bass and encouraged indigenous music in the churches he attended. Over the years he was also charged with leprosy control and care. When the Indian church reorganized in 1971, he continued to work for Leprosy Mission of India is a pastoral role.
The Friesen family's connection to India and to mission continued. All five of the Friesens' adult sons have served overseas with a variety of Mennonite-related organizations, including Mennonite Mission Network and its predecessor agencies. Two of them, Stan and Weldon, returned to India on various assignments.
"Both Genevieve and John loved the people with whom they worked and showed an amazing ability to minster cross-culturally," Gingrich said.
Friesen was a member of College Mennonite Church in Goshen and a graduate of Hesston (Kan.) College and Goshen College. He received Goshen's Culture for Service Award in 1996.
After retirement, he and Genevieve were involved in jail ministry to teenagers in Goshen and the MBM Auxiliary, an organization that aided the predecessor agency of MMN.
He served four churches as interim pastor.
He is survived by five sons, J. Stanley Friesen and his wife, Delores, of Fresno, Calif., G. Weldon Friesen and his wife LuEtta, of Middlebury, C. Richard Friesen and his wife, Ruth Ann, of Formosa, Argentina, G. Delbert Friesen and his wife, Anna Kay, of Huntington Beach, Calif., and D. William Friesen and his wife, Kate, of Olympia, Wash.; eight grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; a half brother, Paul A. Friesen of Hesston; and a half sister, Grace Slatter of Filer, Idaho.
In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by an infant son, Carl Theodore; three sisters, Ida Schmidt, Rose and Mary (Rose and Mary died in childhood); and three brothers, Peter H., William C. and Edward Friesen.
A memorial service was held March 28 at College Mennonite Church. Burial was in Maple Grove Cemetery, Topeka.
Memorial contributions may be given to MMN for the Dhamtari Christian Hospital School of Nursing Scholarship Fund.