Funeral services for 92-year-old William “Willie” Janzen of Mountain Lake, Minnesota, will be at 1:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon, October 27, 2017, at Bethel Mennonite Church in Mountain Lake with Pastor Galen Kauffman of Bethel and Pastor Merwin Dick, Good Samaritan Society of Mountain Lake chaplain, officiating. The church is located at 301 9th Street North
Interment will be in Cornerstone Cemetery (formerly Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Cemetery) in rural Mountain Lake prior to the funeral service.
Visitation will be Thursday, October 26, 2017, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Sturm Funeral Home-Mountain Lake. The funeral home is located at 420 10th Street North.
Online condolences to the family may be sent to: www.sturmfh.com.
Sturm Funeral Home-Mountain Lake Chapel is handling the arrangements.
William “Willie” Janzen passed away with his family by his side on Friday, October 20, 2017, at the Good Samaritan Society of Mountain Lake-The Village.
William “Willie” Peter Janzen was born on June 13, 1925, the son of Henry and Sara (Wall) Janzen in Mountain Lake. The fifth of seven children, he grew up on the family farm south of town and graduated from Mountain Lake High School in 1943. At the age of 16, his father passed away suddenly, leaving him and his older brother, Jake, responsible for the farm, which through his hard work and perseverance, prospered. As a young adult, he was baptized upon confession of his faith and joined the Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church (EMB) (today, Cornerstone Bible Church).
He met and fell in love with Mary Gross, a teacher at the Mountain Lake Christian Day School, and they were wed on July 10, 1953 in her hometown of Onida, South Dakota. They moved to the family farm and happily added to their family with the birth of Bill and Barb.
Bill and Willie farmed together until Willie’s retirement in 1990. In 1991, Mary suffered a severe stroke and Willie faithfully cared for her until her death in 1992.
Willie traveled frequently after Mary’s death, visiting many places including Costa Rica, Hawaii, Europe and California.
On November 1, 1997 he married Adeline Fast in Mountain Lake, gaining more children and grandchildren and a faithful and loving companion. They spent many winters in Arizona, which they both thoroughly enjoyed.
Throughout his life, Willie served the Bethel Mennonite Church as a trustee and deacon, served as a board member of Heritage Village, the Federal Land Bank and Mountain Lake Cooperative Oil Association. He enjoyed traveling, wood-carving, gardening, family genealogy and history. He was a great storyteller and took great delight in writing letters to his grandchildren on each birthday with stories from when he was their age.
As his health declined, he moved to the Good Samaritan Society of Mountain Lake-The Lodge and eventually, The Village. There he received personal, compassionate care by the staff members for which he was truly grateful.
Willie is survived by his wife, Adeline of Mountain Lake, children; Bill (Rachel) Janzen of Mountain Lake and Barbara Janzen (Louis Buchholtz) of Chico, California; step-children, Bonnie (Greg) Nygren of Brainerd, Minnesota, Craig (Janelle) Fast of Becker, Minnesota and Carole (Glen) Roseen of Wyoming; sister, Gladys (Harlan) Franz; brother-in-law, Jerry (Twila) Harder; grandchildren, Timothy (Laura) Janzen, Sara Janzen, Clara Buchholtz and William Buchholtz; step-grandchildren, Jonathan Nygren, Jeremy Nygren, Cassie Fields, Kristin Roseen, Derek Fast and Missy Fast, and four step-great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his first wife; parents and siblings, Justina (Einar) Nelson, Jacob (Emma) Janzen, Clara (Owen) Trout, Annette (John) Pauluk and Mildred (David) Balzer.
Memorials may be directed to the Mennonite Central Committee.