Back to MennObits Index Page
Lazarus Project

An expanded obituary project of MennObits.  Includes additional information of obituaries appearing in
The Mennonite and other newspapers.  
Source of individual obituaries given with each record.  Project managed by Thelma Martin.

 1995 - L


   Lind, Marcus;   

Lind, Marcus


Marcus Lind, founder and first principal of Western Mennonite School in Salem, Ore., died July 3, 1995, in Portland.  He was living with his wife, Katie, and son Gerald at Rock of Ages Retirement Village near McMinnville.
   
He is also survived by a son, Loren of Rockwood, Ont.; a daughter, Mary Ellen of Des Moines, Iowa; five brothers and five grandchildren.
   
Marcus was born in 1909 [error; should be Dec. 27, 1908, at Wadsworth, Ohio].  He was commissioned by the Pacific Coast Mennonite Conference (MC) to open a church high school with an emphasis on biblical instruction and training.  In  1945 the program opened near Sheridan.  In 1946 it was moved to Salem.

Marcus was instrumental in developing the facilities, the Bible curriculum and the support for WMS during the first seven years while he served as both principal and teacher.  He remained on the faculty as Bible teacher through the 1973-74 school year, encompassing a 30-year span of service to WMS.

Students wrote the following tribute, printed in the 1974 yearbook: "We stood on one side of the great canyon called Time and said, "We want to see.'  You stood on the other side and said, 'I have seen.' We sat in New Testament and listened to your wisdom -- sometimes too deep for us to grasp, always challenging our still-unmolded opinions and beliefs.  We watched you and saw one way life can be.  For this example, we thank you."

The funeral service at WMS was a meaningful time of sharing and reflection on Marcus' [sic] life and the profound impact he had on family, friends and former WMS students.  Burial was at Willamette Memorial Park, Albany.

[As unofficial Lind family historian, I would add that two wives preceded Marcus in death:  Salome (Johnston) in 1953 and Leah (Kauffman) in 1962.   Both of their obituaries appear in MennObits.  Unfortunately, that of his third wife, Katie (Yoder) does not.  Katie died Aug. 14, 2001, at McMinnville, Oregon, and was buried in Willamette Memorial Park.]  
Submitted and additions in brackets by: Hope Kauffman Lind
From: Mennonite Weekly Review, Newton, KS
April 18, 1996


Back to MennObits Index Page

Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved - Mennonite Church USA Historical Committee & Archives
Permission granted to private family researchers to use selected portions of these files to tell their family stories.
May not be mass-produced in any form for commercial purposes.