Fadenrecht, George H. (1915-2007)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2007 May 7 p. 9

Birth date: 1915 Feb 27

text of obituary:

GEORGE H. FADENRECHT

George H. Fadenrecht, 92, of Ellensburg, Wash., died March 22, 2007. He was born Feb. 27, 1915, to Rudolph E. and Lena Friesen Fadenrecht on a farm in Joes, Colo.

At age 10 his family moved to Hepburn, Sask. His mother died when he was 14. After eighth grade he began full-time work on the farm.

After six years of farming he began at Hepburn High School as a 21-year-old freshman. After high school he attended Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kan., and received a teaching certificate. He then taught at Rosehill School, a one-room country school.

On Aug. 15, 1941, he was assigned to Civilian Public Service Camp #5 near Colorado Springs, where he worked in soil conservation. He was then transferred to the Colorado Psychopathic Hospital in Denver, where he helped care for the mentally ill. While working there he met Florence Blocher, a student nurse from the Mennonite School of Nursing in La Junta. They were married May 26, 1944, at Prairie Street Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Ind.

They moved to Hillsboro, where he received a degree in child psychology.

He did graduate studies at the University of Kansas, University of Colorado and University of Michigan. He taught two years at Bluffton (Ohio) University, then worked at Kansas State University in the library department.

They moved to Ellensburg, Wash., in 1964, where he was dean of libraries at Central Washington University. He retired from CWU on Jan. 1, 1982.

When he was 19 he accepted Christ as his Savior, was baptized and joined the Mennonite Brethren church in Hepburn. Throughout his adulthood he taught Sunday school in two Baptist and two Presybterian churches. He served as a deacon in two Baptist churches and as an elder in the Presbyterian church.

Survivors include four children, Nancy Grant and her husband, Clyde, of Everett, Janice Mirro and her husband, David, of Ellensburg, Beverly Badger and her husband, William, of Honeoye, N.Y., and James Fadenrecht and his wife, Dana, of Everett; a brother, Leander Fadenrecht of Gresham, Ore.; 13 grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

He was preceded in death by his wife of almost 60 years, Florence; three brothers, Jake, Edward and Herman Fadenrecht; and two sisters, Sarah Fadenrecht Willems and Lottie Fadenrecht.

Memorial services were held at First Presbyterian Church of Ellensburg. Burial was in the IOOF cemetery.