© Mennonite Heritage Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba (Last updated January 31, 2003)
Retrieval numbers: Vol. 2106-9
Title: George Franz fonds
Dates: 1922-1984 , predominant 1971-1984
Extent: 6 cm of textual records
George Franz, minister and farmer, was born on September 9, 1911 in the Crimea, South Russia. He was the second child born to George and Helena (nee Nachtigal) Franz. His family was forced to move to Gnadenfeld when the revolution came. It was here that he attended school until he was 14. His mother died on December 23, 1923 and the following year his father married Barbara Nachtigal, his mother's younger sister. Along with many others his family left Russia in 1925. On October 24, 1925 they arrived in Herbert, Saskatchewan. After living one year in Ernfold, Franz's family moved to a farm in Chinook, Southern Alberta. He was baptized in 1932 and became a member of the Neukirchener Church. Two years later he married Tena Baergen. Together they had four children. The Chinook settlement was dispersed as a result of the depression and Franz and his wife moved to Tofield, Alberta where they farmed for 20 years. He became very involved in forming the Tofield Mennonite Church. It was here that he was ordained on February 8, 1942. He served the Tofield church until 1965 when he moved to Edmonton to serve as minister at the First Mennonite Church. Although Franz had planned to retire at the age of 66, he received a call to serve the First Mennonite Church in British Columbia which he accepted after much prayer. From his own account the six years he served in Kelowna were some of the happiest of his years in ministry. In 1985 Franz was diagnosed as having cancer and despite surgery, doctors were unable to treat it. George Franz died on April 1, 1987 in Altona, Manitoba.
This fonds contains approximately 224 devotional writings including: sermons, children's stories, anniversary meditations, prayers, Sunday School Lessons, and conference meditations.
Franz, George, 1911-1987
File list available.
Collected by David and Trudy Schellenberg of Winkler for the Christian Heritage Library.
Hand-written English, German and Gothic German.
Described by Sharon H. H. Brown December, 2002.
None
Acc. no. 97-150