Rev. Gene Allen McBride
1929 - 2021
Rev. Gene Allen McBride of Hesston,
Kansas, passed away Monday, April 12, 2021 at Schowalter Villa, at
the age of 91 years. He was born December 1, 1929, in Friend,
Nebraska, the son of Fred and Grace (Schmidt) McBride.
He attended grade schools in York and
Nance Counties in Nebraska and graduated from Fullerton High School
with the class of 1947. He often spoke of his acceptance of Christ as
his Savior at a revival meeting in the fall of 1943 in the Methodist
Church in Fullerton.
He was united in marriage to Areta
Longenecker on April 8, 1949.
For several years, he farmed with his
father in Nebraska and his father-in-law in Minnesota, where he felt
God called him to mission work. On January 3, 1953, after graduating
from Bethany School of Missions in Bloomington, Minnesota, Gene,
Areta, and their three year old daughter, Jeanette, set sail for
Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau) in West Africa. Here, Gene was
baptized early in his ministry. They served in church planting under
the Worldwide Evangelization for Christ (WEC) Mission until 1988,
when they returned to the States because of Areta's failing health.
Gene then became the executive director of the Missionary Retreat
Fellowship, a complex of homes for missionaries on furlough near Lake
Ariel, Pennsylvania.
Following Areta's death in 1994, Gene
married Elizabeth (Fast) Jantzen in 1996 in Mountain Lake, Minnesota,
who also joined him in the work at MRF. In 2001, they retired from
this work and moved to Hesston, Kansas.
He and Liz became members of the Garden
Community Church, where he served faithfully as a Sunday school
teacher and an elder. Throughout life, Gene continued his interest
in, and love and support for mission work and missionaries. In his
retirement years, he also volunteered weekly at the Source of Light
Mission in Newton, Kansas.
In retirement, Gene was employed
part-time by Preferred Builders for several years. He loved to
travel, read, hunt and fish.
On March 18, 2019 he became a resident
in nursing care at Schowalter Villa in Hesston.
He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth;
daughter, Jeanette (Gary) Stangland; step-daughters, Ellen (Matt)
Miles and Martha Bragg; grandsons, Eric (Devon) Stangland and Jason
(Joli) Stangland; great-grandson, Calvin Stangland;
step-grandchildren, Jazzmin Bragg, Regal Bragg, Georgia Johnson,
Micayla (Joel) Shrimpton, Macy Miles, and Mattie Miles;
step-great-grandchildren, Mar'Gianna and Imani Wade; and siblings,
Norma Longenecker, Valerie Ross, Wayne (Joyce) McBride, Dwayne
(Sharon) McBride, and LaVonne (Chuck) Abela.
Gene was preceded in death by his
parents; first wife, Areta; sister, Twyla McNeff; and brother, Galen
McBride.
Blessed be his memory.
Cremation is planned with memorial
services to be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, April 17, 2021 at Garden
Community Church, rural Moundridge. The family will greet friends one
hour prior to service time. The services will be livestreamed at
www.facebook.com/gardencommunitychurch. Burial will be held at
Dunmore Cemetery, Dunmore, Pennsylvania at a later date. Memorial
contributions may be made to Missionary Retreat Fellowship (MRF), 74
Missionary Retreat Road, Jefferson Township, PA 18436; Worldwide
Evangelization for Christ Int. (WEC, Int.), PO Box 1707, Ft.
Washington, PA 19034; or Garden Community Church Missions, PO Box
338, Hesston, KS 67062. Moundridge Funeral Home is in charge of
arrangements.
