Koehn, John (1903-1972)

Mennonite Brethren Herald obituary: 1972 Jun 16 p.31

Birth date: 1903 Apr 02

text of obituary:

JOHN KOEHN

John Koehn was born April 2, 1903, ,in Alexanderfe'id, Sagr'adoV'ka, in souttJhem Hussia; h'is parenits were DaV'id and He,lena (-nee Fast) Koehn. He became a Chris1'ian ,in 1919 and. wa'S bapt'ized :by Rev. Jacob Janzen, jo:ining the Me.nnonite Brethren church lil'1 Orl'Off in 1924. His marriage t'O M'ar,ia Janzen August 7, 1925, was a'lso performe'd by Rev. Janzen. lin 1926 the Koehos emi'gra'ted to Canada, work'ing on va·rious farms 'in s'OutJhern Man'itotba for the tirst two Yea'rs,umli'l molting in1:o Winnipe'g and taking -up ca,rp.entry,. He,r-e they ijoinedt/;1e North K+ldo:nan M'B chur-e'h and enjoyed 'Jinany times of blessing; Mr. Koehn wa'Sordalined to the deacona,1 mlinistry he're in 1942. In May 'Of 1946 the famlily move,d to Yarrow, B.C., where they bought a berry farm; il'1 additi'on, Mr. K'Oehn con~inued in his free t~me wirth his first 'love, carpentry. In 1969 'he retired, and moved to Glearbro'ok. His dea'conal mi'ri'ist-ry was cont-i'I'1'ued in !both the Yarrow and C'learbro'Ok churches; he continued to display a ·deep cOl'1cern 'for, and intere5't in, t1he sp·iritu·al 'welfare of his .fe'III·'Ow beHevers. His three o'ldest sons have als'O oormm'irtted themselves ~o the ·dea·co.nal ministry. On Apri'l 7, 1972, he hac;J a severe stroke Which le,ft him speechless and rendered h'i'Snight sid'e para'lyzed. He died ·on Ap'riil t8M the age·'Of 69 years, ·Ieaving to mourn his w;ife Mary, six s'ons and three da!U:!!jlhtters (rDaiV'id and B'et'ty Koehn, Yarrow; John a'nd Kay Koehn, V(j'l'1ICOlu1 ve:r; ,Arom al'ld Frie,da Koe,hn, Vancouver; Peter and Mary Ka:etbi/.er" VanG'O'wver; He·len and Vern Ha1zla'ff, W!innipe'g; Jake and A'gnes Schmidt, Winnipeg; Mber-t and Rutlh Koehn RiCllil'ffi'ond; Waldemar and Doreen, Riohm~nd; He.rb, Vancouver), 19 :grandchi'ldren, two brothers (Dav'i'd Koe'An, Vancou·ver; Perter Koe'An, Yarrow), and maoy relati'vesa·ndfriel'1ds.