Swartzendruber, Dean

Dean Swartzendruber, 84, passed away Monday, Aug. 22, 2011, at Mercy Iowa City. A Celebration of Life service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26, at Lower Deer Creek Mennonite Church, rural Kalona. Burial will be in the West Union Mennonite Cemetery. Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Yoder-Powell Funeral Home in Kalona, where the family will greet friends from 2 to 5 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m.

Dean was born on Aug. 14, 1927, near Wellman, Iowa, to Edward L. and Katherine (Erb) Swartzendruber. He grew up on a farm seven miles north of Wellman and attended White Hall School and Wellman and Parnell High Schools, before graduating from Hesston (Kansas) High School. Dean married Lois Bergey on Sept. 3, 1949, at Doylestown, Pa.

Dean operated the family farm on which he was raised. He was ordained as minister of Lower Deer Creek Mennonite Church on Oct. 2, 1960. He earned a B.A. from Vennard College in Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 1968. Dean was very active in various church committees and evangelical efforts and taught Bible for three years at Iowa Mennonite School. He was overseer of three Spanish churches in Muscatine and Davenport for 20 years.

After serving at Lower Deer Creek for nearly 30 years, Dean served as interim pastor at Gulfhaven Mennonite Church, Gulfport, Miss.; Sugar Creek Mennonite Church, Wayland, Iowa; Sycamore Grove Mennonite Church, Garden City, Mo.; West Union Mennonite Church, Parnell, Iowa; and the English River Church of the Brethren, South English, Iowa.

Dean and Lois always enjoyed the ministry. They appreciated the support and friendliness of people wherever they served and firmly believed in preaching and teaching Jesus as the way of salvation.

He is survived by his wife, Lois of Kalona; six children, Pat (Loren) Swartzendruber of Harrisonburg, Va., Richard (Donna) of Wellman, Fred (Mina) of Goshen, Ind., Scott (Jan) of Kalona, Cindy (Dan) Steiner of Goshen, Ind., and Kris (Morris) Miller of Bradenton, Fla.; 16 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Ruth (Alvin) Grasse of Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, and Mary Lechner of Seward, Ala.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be directed to Iowa City Hospice or Mennonite Mission Network.

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