Benjamin H. Klassen (11 November 1928-2 January 2004) and Anna J. (Loewen) Klassen (29 June 1926-3 January 2008): missionaries and teachers in Canada and Africa. Ben was born on 11 November 1928 to Heinrich and Anna (Unger) Klassen in Dominion City, Manitoba, Canada. Anne was born on 29 June 1926 to Jacob and Anna (Redekopp) Loewen in Deloraine, Manitoba. The couple had four children, all of whom survived childhood. Together, they spent many years serving the church in northern Manitoba, in the Belgian Congo (later Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), and later in the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan, Quebec and Ontario.

Ben Klassen was the eldest of seven children born to Heinrich and Anna (Unger) Klassen. He accepted the Christian faith at 11 years old and soon afterwards began to sense a call to mission. He was baptized on 25 August 1946 in Morden, Manitoba. After finishing high school, he studied at the Winkler Bible Institute in Winkler, Manitoba, and then the Mennonite Brethren Bible College in Winnipeg, Manitoba, before completing his teacher training at the Waterloo College in Ontario. On 20 August 1950, he married Anna (Anne) Loewen, daughter of Jacob M. and Anna (Redekopp) Loewen. She was born in Deloraine, Manitoba, the fourth of nine children. She became a Christian at the age of ten and was baptized on 16 June 1944 at the Kitchener Mennonite Brethren Church in Kitchener, Ontario. She completed her high school studies at the Winkler Collegiate Institute and then attended the Winkler Bible Institute for two years, during which time she also completed two months of teacher training at the Normal School (teacher training) in Winnipeg. Ben and Anne met while studying in Winkler. Eventually, their family grew to include four children, two sons and two daughters.

Following their marriage in 1950 at Elm Creek, Manitoba, Benjamin H. and Anna Klassen moved to northern Manitoba to teach. They soon applied to the Board of Foreign Missions of the Mennonite Brethren Church to work in Africa, and they left Canada for a year of language studies in Belgium before moving on to the Belgian Congo in 1954. The Klassens served in the schools of Kipungu and Kikwit over almost two decades, with the exception of several years of political instability.

After their return to Canada, Ben and Anne spent the years from 1975 to 1977 in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, where Ben also served as the pastor of the church for a year. The next stage for Benjamin and Anne Klassen was to move to Quebec, where they became involved in church work and teaching. They moved to the area of Saint-Thérèse and began to work in church planting, a task they continued for the next 14 years. Ben also taught and later served as president at the Institute Biblique Laval (later ETEM) beginning in 1977. Meanwhile, Anne taught in schools, spent much of her time in prayer, and also served in the church in various capacities.

When health problems made the work in Quebec difficult, Ben and Anne Klassen moved to St. Catharines, Ontario and became involved in the church there. Ben also raised money for Ugandan orphans by building and selling furniture. Ben died of complications related to diabetes on 2 January 2004, with the funeral in the St. Catharines Church. Anne died of a heart attack on 3 January 2008 after several months of illness.

Benjamin H. and Anne Klassen were dedicated mission workers and teachers who made important contributions to the work of the church in Canada and Africa. Throughout their years of service, they showed great faithfulness to their calling.

Bibliography

Author(s)	Susan Huebert
Date Published	March_2014

Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches. “Meadow Lake M B Church.” http://www.mbconf.ca/home/products_and_services/resources/published_genealogies/mb_provincial_conferences_and_church_congregation_records/saskatchewan_archives/meadow_lake_mennonite_brethren_church_archives/.

GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 4.19 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2005: 417530.

GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 4.19 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2005: 216279.

GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 4.19 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2005: 417555.

GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 4.19 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2005: 535017.

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.

Obituary. “Anne Klassen.” http://www.federationgenealogie.qc.ca/avisdeces/avis/pdf?id=344715.

Obituary. “Benjamin Klassen.” http://www.federationgenealogie.qc.ca/avisdeces/avis/pdf?id=45922.

Obituary. “Benjamin Klassen.” Mennonite Brethren Herald (19 March 2004): 29.

Penner, Peter. No Longer at Arms Length. Winnipeg: Kindred Press, 1977: 68, 107, 110-111.

Roberts, Megan E. “Two Veteran Missionaries to Congo and Quebec Pass Away.” Mennonite Brethren Herald. 43(6 February 2004) http://www.mbherald.com/43/02/news-2.en.html.

Théorêt, Jean Raymond and Éric Wingender. "École de Théologie Évangélique de Montréal (Montréal, Québec, Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. December 2004. Web. 18 Mar 2014. http://gameo.org/index.php?title=%C3%89cole_de_Th%C3%A9ologie_%C3%89vang%C3%A9lique_de_Montr%C3%A9al_(Montr%C3%A9al,_Qu%C3%A9bec,_Canada)&oldid=92107.

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Huebert, Susan. "Klassen, Benjamin H. "Ben" (1924-2004)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. March_2014. Web. 23 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Klassen,_Benjamin_H._%22Ben%22_(1924-2004)&oldid=116607.

APA style

Huebert, Susan. (March_2014). Klassen, Benjamin H. "Ben" (1924-2004). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Klassen,_Benjamin_H._%22Ben%22_(1924-2004)&oldid=116607.

Klassen, Benjamin H. "Ben" (1924-2004)

Bibliography

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