Hege, Christian (1878-1971)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1971 Feb 25 p. 10

Birth date: 1878 May 10

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1971 Mar 11 p. 10

text of obituary:

Retired Minister, 92, Dies at Paso Robles

Paso Robles, Calif. — Rev. Christian Hege, retired minister whose long service included 24 years as pastor of the First Mennonite Church here, died Feb. 12 at the age of 92. The funeral was held at the local church on Feb. 16.

Born May 10, 1878 near Heilbronnin Wuerttemberg, Germany, he was ordained as a traveling minister by his father, Rev. Jacob Hege of Estrella, Calif. in 1903, and as elder by Rev. H. A. Bachmann in 1912 at Freeman, S. D.

He served as a traveling minister for one year in the Western District and for six months in the Pacific District (General Conference Mennonite Church). He held pastorates at the Swiss Mennonite congregation of Pandora and Bluffton, Ohio, 1904-1909; taught in the parochial school at Henderson, Neb., 1910; served as pastor of the Salem Mennonite Church at Freeman, S. D. 1911-1919, at which time he also was chairman of the Northern District Conference for two terms; and as pastor of the First Mennonite Church at Paso Robles, 1920-1944, when he resigned because of ill health. (His father helped organize the Paso Robles Church in 1903 and served it for a number of years.)

In 1904 he married Elma Leisy of Wisner, Neb. Their three children are Irvin, Hugo, and Elizabeth. His wife died in 1925. He married Elnora Leisy of Paso Robles in 1926.

He is survived by his wife Elnora of the home at 805 Oak Street, Paso Robles; two sons, Irvin of Paso Robles and Hugo of Belmont, Calif.; a daughter Elizabeth, Mrs. Frank Crafft of San Francisco; four grandchildren; and a sister, Mrs. Paula Klassen of Aberdeen, Idaho.

The Mennonite obituary: 1971 Mar 9 p. 164