Ben J. Wiens, Hillsboro
Ben Wiens Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information (jostfuneralhome.com)
February 28, 1919 - August 19, 2021
Hillsboro - Ben J. Wiens, 102, passed away August 19, 2021 at Hillsboro Community Hospital in Hillsboro. He was born February 28, 1919 in Hillsboro to Jacob and Anna (Willems) Wiens. He married Mary Wall August 20, 1942 in Mountain Lake, MN.
Survivors include: daughter Sandra Wiens and husband Robert Harms of Guilford, CT; sister Luella Stauffer of Pipestone, MN.
Predeceased by his wife Mary Wiens in 2007 and sister Leona Schultz.
Celebration of Life 12:00 Thursday, August 26, 2021 at the Hillsboro Mennonite Church Fellowship Hall. Family will have a private committal service at Hillsboro M.B. Church cemetery.
Memorials to Teacher Education Scholarships at Tabor College in care of Jost Funeral Home, P.O. Box 266, Hillsboro, Kansas 67063.
Online condolences at www.jostfuneralhome.com.
Life Sketch taken from the Funeral bulletin
Ben J. Wiens of Parkside Homes in Hillsboro, Kansas died on August 19, 2021, at the age of 102.
He is survived by his daughter Sandra of Guilford, Connecticut and her husband Robert Harms, and by his sister Luella Stauffer of Mountain Lake, Minnesota.
He was a lifelong educator, having taught at Tabor College, Rutgers University, Moravian College, and Penn State University, and he was active in various church and service projects during his retirement in Hillsboro.
Born in Hillsboro, Kansas, on February 28, 1919, while his father was attending Tabor College, he grew up on a dairy farm in Mountain Lake, Minnesota. His earliest memories were seeing his father taking the horse and buggy to the rural school where he was teaching. His mother took care of the dairy farm and chickens during the day. His duties at home included milking the cows and delivering milk to some 25 customers. He was baptized at the age of 12 and joined the Mennonite Brethren Church in Mountain Lake, embarking on a lifelong commitment to scripture and Christlike living. He attended German school for the first five grades and then was transferred to the public schools, graduating from high school in 1938.
After high school graduation, he went to Mankato State Teachers College in Mankato, Minnesota for a two-year teaching certificate. This qualified him for a rural school position, which he taught for two years.
He married Mary Wall of Mountain Lake, Minnesota in 1942. Their daughter Sandra was born in 1951. After marriage, he returned to Mankato State University to finish his degree program with majors in industrial arts and social studies. After supervising student teachers for three years in the Mankato State University Laboratory School, he went to Stout State University in Wisconsin for his master’s degree in educational psychology, and he later earned a doctorate in education at Colorado State University in Greeley.
He joined the faculty of Tabor College as chairman of the education department in 1949, where he got Tabor’s application for teacher certification approved in 1958 and served as the registrar and then the dean of the college. After a stint of teaching at Rutgers University in New Jersey, he became chairman of the education program at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He then became a supervisor of Penn State University’s continuing education program for eastern Pennsylvania.
After his retirement in 1982, he and Mary moved back to Hillsboro, where his membership in the Hillsboro M. B. Church provided an opportunity to be the chair of the church council, as well as for Sunday school teaching.
He became the executive director of the Kansas Paraguay Partners organization for seven years, making two trips to Mennonite settlements in Paraguay, and he directed a major project to restore all 80 panels of the stained-glass windows in the Tabor College auditorium. Throughout his retirement years, he remained a prolific reader and a constant learner.
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