Buschman, Frank (1911-1989) and Clara Lohrenz Buschman (1912-1976)

Frank Peter and Clara (Lohrenz) Buschman: missionaries to the Belgian Congo, central Africa. Frank was born 21 August 1911 in Weatherford, Oklahoma, USA, to Peter G. Buschman (1885-1969) and Maria (Kroeker) Buschman (1888-1972). He was the third of four children in the family. On 11 June 1939, he married Clara Lohrenz, daughter of Gerhard W. Lohrenz (1886-1970) and Maria (Penner) Lohrenz (1889-1975) in Ebenfeld, Kansas, USA. Clara was born on 29 April 1912 in Lehigh, Kansas and was the eldest of seven children in her family. Frank and Clara had four sons, all of whom survived childhood. After Clara’s death on 26 June 1976 in Evanston, Wyoming, Frank married her sister, Linda, on 21 August 1977, in Wichita, Kansas, USA. Frank died in Wichita on 21 August 1989. 

In his early years, Frank lived in Dinuba, California, where he completed his basic education before continuing on to the Corn Bible Academy in Oklahoma and then finishing his high school at the Grant County Rural High School in Ulysses, Kansas. After he converted to Christianity at the age of 20, he was baptized on 15 July 1930 and became a member at the Mennonite Brethren Church in Ulysses, Kansas.  In 1940, he graduated from Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas, and then from Friends University in Wichita in 1945. In 1939, Frank married Clara Lohrenz. Following her conversion at the age of 12, she was baptized and became a member of the Ebenfeld Mennonite Brethren Church in Hillsboro, Kansas. She studied at Tabor College in Hillsboro and Fort Hays State College in Fort Hays, Kansas, as well as receiving her teaching qualifications at Emporia State Teachers’ College in Hillsboro. She taught for two years at a public school and four years at Tabor College. The couple had four sons, one of whom was born in the Belgian Congo and another in Belgium.

Clara and Frank were ordained in Ulysses, Kansas on 3 September 1944 for service in Africa with the Mennonite Brethren Board of Foreign Missions and left for the Belgian Congo on 28 December 1945. They served in Kafumba, where Frank worked as the station administrator, Bible school principal and teacher, treasurer of the mission, and maintenance supervisor of the compound. Clara worked as a teacher in Lusemvu and also helped with basic medical work, as there were no hospital facilities nearby. During the years that Frank and Clara worked in the Belgian Congo, they served in evangelism, church building, Bible school teaching, and translation. Eventually, the Kafumba station grew to 55 buildings, including a primary school, a teacher training school, a Bible school, a printing press, a hospital, and a clinic. 

In 1958, Frank and Clara returned to live in the United States, where Frank taught languages at a college in Kansas before retiring in 1977. Clara died in 1976 and in 1977 Frank married Clara’s younger sister, Linda. They served in Zaïre (formerly the Belgian Congo) with Christian Service from 1980 to 1982. They returned to the United States, where Frank died in 1989. Linda died in Wichita on 13 September 1993.

Frank and Clara Buschman were dedicated mission workers whose service continued with Frank’s second wife, Linda. Through their work in the Belgian Congo and Zaïre, they not only helped the local people but also provided an example of service for future generations to follow.

Bibliography

GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 4.19 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2005: #414187.

GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 4.19 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2005: #414188.

Missionary Album of Missionaries Serving under the Board of Foreign Mission of the Mennonite Brethren Conference, Inc. July, 1951. Hillsboro, Kansas: The Board of Foreign Missions, 1951.

Missionary Album of Missionaries Serving under the Board of Foreign Mission of the Mennonite Brethren Conference, Inc. October, 1954. Hillsboro, Kansas: The Board of Foreign Missions, 1954.

Author(s)	Susan Huebert
Date Published	2012

Cite This Article

MLA style

Huebert, Susan. "Buschman, Frank (1911-1989) and Clara Lohrenz Buschman (1912-1976)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 2012. Web. 19 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Buschman,_Frank_(1911-1989)_and_Clara_Lohrenz_Buschman_(1912-1976)&oldid=79493.

APA style

Huebert, Susan. (2012). Buschman, Frank (1911-1989) and Clara Lohrenz Buschman (1912-1976). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 19 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Buschman,_Frank_(1911-1989)_and_Clara_Lohrenz_Buschman_(1912-1976)&oldid=79493.

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