Born 25 May 1893 near Inman, Kansas, John Thiessen was the son of Jacob and Sara (Janzen) Thiessen. He attended German school, 1899-1902; public school, 1902-1908; Bethel Academy, 1912-1916; Bethel College, 1916-1919 (Alberta, Canada); the U. of Chicago, 1919-1920; McCormick Seminary, 1920-1921; Witmarsum Seminary 1929-1930 (BD); Garrett Biblical Institute, 1930; and Bluffton College, 1931 (AM). He married Elizabeth R. Wiens on 4 May 1921. Thiessen was an educational and pastoral missionary at Mauhadih and Jagdeeshpur, India, 1921-1949, and was executive secretary of the General Conference Mennonite Mission Board, 1952-1958. He was a member of the Bethel Congregation, Inman, Kansas. Thiessen was pastor of congregations at Pandora, Ohio; Henderson, Nebraska; and Newton, Goessel, and Hillsboro, Kansas. The children of John and Elizabeth Wiens Thiessen were Harold (1922-1986), Arthur ( 1923-), Eleanor Ewert (1926-1980), Muriel T. Stackley (1937-), and Dorothy Alpert (1941-). John Thiessen died 16 February 1967.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, p. 885. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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