Paul Arthur Friesen, age 98, died May
30, 2022 at the Schowalter Villa in Hesston, KS. He was born
September 10, 1923 at Bethel Deaconess Hospital in Newton, KS; the
9th child and 5th son of Peter Abram Friesen and the first child of
the union of Peter Abram Friesen and Florence Cooprider Friesen. He
was preceded in death by his wife Wilma Wenger Friesen and by 4 half
sisters, 4 half brothers, one sister, a son in law Stanley Roth, and
daughters in law Jane Friesen and Kathleen Friesen. Survivors include
his children; Kelvin Friesen (Karen) of Archbold, OH, Janice Roth
West (Tom) of Wichita, KS, Eric (Wanda) of Cimarron, KS, Gregg
(Joanna) of Newton, KS, Jon (Kristeen) of North Newton, KS, Jennifer
LeFevre (Dennis) of Woodland Park, CO along with 12 grandchildren and
six great grandchildren.
At age 3 months Paul traveled with his
family by ship from New York to Bombay, India and from there by train
to Central India where his parents served as missionaries with the
Mennonite Church; his mother a physician and his father an
evangelist. His early years were spent playing with his younger
sister (Grace) and children from the village of Sankra in the Central
Provinces where the family lived. At age 5 he began school in Landoor
(U.P India) at Woodstock School in the foothills of the Himalayan
Mountains. He recalled being capable of speaking in English, Hindi
(including the local Chitisgarri dialect from where he grew up), and
Urdu. While he initially dreaded boarding school, it was that setting
that gave him a peer group with diverse interests and, up to his
death, he retained a fondness for the school and its mountainous
setting. In the early 30?s the family returned to the states for
two years with one year in Iowa and one in Chicago. In the end, the
return to India was a welcome relief. His time in India left Paul
with a bounty of stories of snakes, leopards, tigers, and long
travels by bike or train. It was not unusual for him to bike 30 to 40
miles on dusty roads to visit friends, hike in the mountains, or to
swim in the headwaters of the Ganges. It was perhaps that setting and
those experiences that led him to develop an ability to delight
others with stories that held the attention of his children and
others. The family returned to the states in 1941.
Once back in the United States, Paul
attended Hesston Academy and College where he met Wilma Wenger of
Wellman, IA. They were married after he graduated from Goshen College
where he completed a Bachelors of Theology degree. Together he and
Wilma worked in church planting in Highway Village, IL and Sterling,
IL where their first two children were born. A call from Hesston
College led to a career change when the college recruited Paul to
develop an art program for the college. That prompted further
education and an eventual MFA from Fort Hays State University. His
teaching career included work at both Bethel and Hesston Colleges
where he focused on ceramics and sculpture. He continued to preach
and through his life worked in various roles within the church. His
sermons were remembered as much for their stories as for their
theological content. Paul saw himself first as a pastor and his art
work often embodied elements of his faith. Following retirement Paul
worked in his studio doing ceramics and working with both wood and
stone to create works of art. His final commissioned sculpture piece
was completed in his 97th year and his final work of ceramics, a
burial urn for a close college friend, at age 98.
In addition to his family, Paul?s
passions included teaching, gardening, a love of Indian food, and
travel. With his family of six children he and Wilma camped from
Idaho to Virginia. He instilled in his children a cooperative and
congenial sense of family that continues to this day. Paul was
passionate about life. While his legacy includes a wealth of art
work, both publicly and privately held, his greatest legacy lives in
the lives of his family and in the students he taught and mentored
over a long and productive life. This world, it can be said, is a
better place because of him. Interment will be at Eastlawn Cemetery
in rural Harvey County. Services at the Hesston Mennonite Church are
pending.
