Janzen, Marie J. Regier (Franz) (1897-1994)
Born 25 May 1897 near Whitewater, Kansas to John and Emilie Wiebe Regier, Marie Regier attended Bethel Academy and Bethel College (Kansas), graduating in 1926. She was a missionary to China, 1926-1940, 1948-1955. She received a masters degree from the U. of Chicago Divinity School in 1936. During World War II she was interned by the Japanese in a camp at Weihsien, Shantung, China (1943-1945). Further mission work included Bible teaching in the Mennonite colonies in Paraguay (1950-1953), and in Taiwan (1954-1962). She helped at the Woodlawn Mennonite Church in Chicago, 1962-1965. She received the Outstanding Alumni Award from Bethel College in 1967. Later in life she married R. E. Franz (1969-1973) and B. H. Janzen (1976-). In retirement she resided in Newton, Kansas and was a member of the Bethel College Mennonite Church. She died in 1994.
For a woman of her time Marie was exceptional for her theological training, social activism, and her exuberant love of life. With pencil sketches and as a writer she documented her mission and concentration camp experiences. She wrote insightful analyses of mission policy and church life. In later life after her involvement in the United States civil rights movement of the 1960s she intensified her efforts for justice by writing letters to newspapers, church periodicals, and government leaders.
Bibliography
Cummings, Mary Lou. Full circle : stories of Mennonite women. Newton, Kan. : Faith and Life Press, c1978.
Gilkey, Langdon Brown. Shantung Compound. New York: Harper and Row, 1966. Includes sketches of concentration camp activities drawn by Marie J. Regier.
Juhnke, James C. A People of Mission: A History of General Conference Mennonite Overseas Missions. Newton, KS: Faith and Life, 1979: 59, 61, 131;
Regier, Marie J. But Mother (New York: Samuel French, 1940), a one-act play about Marie's youth and home life;
Regier, Marie J. "The Cloud That Hung over my Second Term in China." Unpublished Manuscript, at Mennonite Library and Archives, Bethel College (North Newton, Kansas, USA) : MS-54, box 2, folder 29.
Regier, Marie J. "Cultural Interpretation in a Local Community in China." MA thesis, U. of Chicago Divinity School, 1936. copy at MLA, MS-54, box 3, folder 30.
Regier, Marie J. "Mennonite Teaching and Practice in a Chinese Community." BC thesis, Chicago Theological Seminary, 1950.
| Author(s) | Sara Regier |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 1987 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Regier, Sara. "Janzen, Marie J. Regier (Franz) (1897-1994)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1987. Web. 16 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Janzen,_Marie_J._Regier_(Franz)_(1897-1994)&oldid=121165.
APA style
Regier, Sara. (1987). Janzen, Marie J. Regier (Franz) (1897-1994). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 16 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Janzen,_Marie_J._Regier_(Franz)_(1897-1994)&oldid=121165.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, pp. 463-464. All rights reserved.
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