Marian Hilda
Claassen Franz
WASHINGTON,
D.C. - Marian Hilda Claassen Franz of Washington, D.C. died Nov. 17 after a
two-year struggle with cancer. She was 76.
Franz was
born in Newton on Oct. 12, 1930, to Ernest G. Claassen and Justine Wiebe
Claassen of Whitewater.
In 1954, she
received a bachelor of arts degree in social sciences and religion from Bethel
College in North Newton. She also earned a master's degree in religious
education from Mennonite Biblical Seminary in 1957 and graduated magna cum
laude.
She married
Delton Franz in 1954 and, after brief pastorates in Kansas, moved to the south
side of Chicago to attend Mennonite Biblical Seminary. In Chicago, the Franzes
began an inter-racial Mennonite church. They were active in the Civil Rights
Movement and coordinated rallies and speaking engagements with Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.
In the 1950s
and 60s, Marian worked for the Church Federation of Greater Chicago and became
director of Weekday Religion Education (then run in cooperation with public
schools) for one third of the area of Chicago. She wrote articles for the
International Journal of Religious Education.
In 1968, the
Franzes moved to Washington, D.C., to open the Washington Office of Mennonite
Central Committee, an international relief, development and peacebuilding
agency.
In 1971, she
helped found Dunamis, a Christian organization that spoke to policymakers about
political issues facing the nation. She became its first director.
In 1982, Mrs.
Franz became the first full-time director of the National Campaign for a Peace
Tax Fund. As a lobbyist, she called upon members of Congress to create
legislation that would allow persons who are conscientiously opposed to war to
pay all of their tax obligations without having their money used to fund
military force.
"Taxes
have enormous consequences. They kill twice," Franz said. "First,
they directly enable war ... particularly paying for weapons. Second, taxes
allocated for war represent a distortion of priorities. Money is taken away
from the important work of healing and spent to destroy and kill."
She was one
of the founders of the Faith and Politics Institute and served on the board for
14 years. The non-partisan, inter-faith organization was founded in 1991 to
help public officials stay in touch with their faith and deeper values as they
shape public policy.
In recent
years, Marian commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Selma Civil Rights March
with President Clinton and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
She made
numerous trips to Europe to attend international conferences that promoted
conscientious objection to the payment of military taxes. She also gave
testimony before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in New York.
She was one
of the founders of Conscience and Peace Tax International, which works through
international movements and institutions, such as the United Nations and the
European Union, to obtain recognition of conscientious objection to paying for
armaments and war.
At the time
of her death, she was CPTI's International chairperson and would have chaired
the international conference in Berlin, Germany, in October 2006, but was
unable to because of her health.
Marian
stepped down from her post as executive director of the Peace Tax Fund in 2006
to dedicate herself full time to fighting an aggressive recurring cancer.
She was
preceded in death by her husband and siblings Vernon and Doris Claassen.
She is
survived by her three children, Gregory Franz of Los Angeles, Gayle Franz of
Newton and Coretta Franz-Eby of Lancaster, Pa.; a son-in-law, Rich Eby and two
grandchildren, Justine and Adam Franz-Eby, all of Lancaster, Pa.; and
sister-in-law Eldine Franz Harder of North Newton.
A memorial
service will be Feb. 17 at Hyattsville Mennonite Church in Hyattsville, Md.
Memorials
may be sent to Mennonite Central Committee of Akron, Penn., 21 South 12th
Street, PO Box 500, Akron, PA. 17501.
