Bernard John Thiessen (1920 - 2015)
Obituary
Bernard John Thiessen was born on May
22, 1920 in Newton. He was the second of six children of John and
Helen (Harder) Thiessen.
He attended school in and around
Whitewater, at Brainerd Elementary, Hesston Academy High School, and
Whitewater High School. Upon his confession of faith he was baptized
and became a member of the Emmaus Mennonite Church at Whitewater. In
1949 he graduated from Grace Bible Institute in Omaha, Nebraska. He
married Ruby Siebert on June 16, 1949. Together they graduated from
Goshen College in Indiana.
Answering God's call to foreign
missions they left for Japan in October 1952 with the General
Conference Mennonite Overseas Mission. There they served as
missionaries for the next 33 years, retiring in 1985. In retirement
they settled in Henderson, Nebraska for 24 years becoming members of
the Bethesda Mennonite Church. In 2008 they were invited by family to
move to Greenville, South Carolina to be closer to children and
grandchildren.
Bernard passed peacefully into the
presence of the Lord on Thursday (May 7, 2015) with his wife at his
side.
Surviving are his wife, Ruby,
Greenville; children: Beth (Robert) Schmidt , Greenville; Royce
(Nancy) Thiessen, Morristown, Tennessee; Ron (Beth Ann) Thiessen,
Weatherford, Oklahoma, and one sister, Lydia Klaassen, Mt. Hope.
Grandchildren include: Melissa (Rocco) Adrian, Charleston, South
Carolina; Rob Schmidt, Greenville; Keri (Jake) Culbertson, Columbia,
South Carolina; Ryan (Sandra) Thiessen, Knoxville, Tennessee; Anoria
Thiessen, Morristown; Zachary Thiessen, Los Angeles; Julianne
Thiessen, Weatherford; also included are two great granddaughters and
a number of nieces and nephews.
Proceeding him in death are his
parents, two brothers, Gilbert (Marian Thimmes) Vancouver,
Washington; Harold Thiessen, Whitewater; sisters Dorothy (John Pratt)
Wichita; and Susan Thiessen, Whitewater; and brother-in-law, Waldo
(Lydia) Klaassen, Whitewater.
Published in The Kansan from June 10 to
June 13, 2015
