Irene Janzen
Irene Janzen, 87, died Sunday
(July 16, 2006). She was born May 8, 1919, near Canton. A graduate of the
Kansas University Nursing School, she worked as a registered nurse part time
when her children were small, and then as a night nurse at Bethel Deaconess
Hospital in Newton for 25 years after the sudden death of her husband Waldo in
1960. In her 60s, she served two years as a TEAM missionary nurse at the Oasis
Hospital in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. She was an active member of Newton
Bible Church as a ladies Bible study leader and mentor. She was known
throughout the church family for her singing, her prayers and her apple pies.
She also served several years with the Salida Crisis Pregnancy Center as a
prayer warrior and volunteer. Her faith and her family were the most important
things in her life. Anyone who knew her knew that she strongly believed in the
sovereign will of God over all of life's events, Romans 8:26-28 being a
favorite, of the many Bible verses that she had memorized.
Survivors include: three
sons, William (Linda) of Mesa, Ariz., Paul (Kathy) of Salida, Colo., and Tim
(Cindy) of Mulvane; three daughters, Helen (Galen) Thompson of Newton, Grace
(Norris) Friesen of Huntington, Ind., and Anna (Robin) Conwell of Franktown,
Colo.; two brothers, Herman and Gerald Schmidt; two sisters, Wilma Unruh and
Elizabeth Stretch; 14 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
Memorial service will be 4
p.m. Sunday at Salida First Baptist Church.
Memorials have been
established with the church.
