Friesen, Lydia J. Gunther July 14, 1921 ~ Nov. 22, 2003
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2003 Dec 29 p. 2
Africa worker dies at 82
By MBMSI News Service
BONNERS FERRY, Idaho — Lydia J. Friesen, a missionary in Africa for 36 years, died Nov. 22. She was 82.
Friesen and her husband, Irvin served in Congo under Mennonite Brethren Mission and Service International for 26 years. They did evangelism and village education, served at the Bible Institute in Kafumba, and did literature work in Kinshasa and Kikwit.
Friesen focused her work on church women and led choirs on a pump organ. Though she never had a piano lesson, she was a gifted pianist who loved to play as well as sing.
For 10 years after their tenure in Congo, the Friesens served in Botswana with Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission, doing literature work and teaching the Bible among African Independent Churches.
In 1986 they retired in Reedley, Calif., and were active in Dinuba MB Church. In 2000 they moved to Bonners Ferry.
Born July 14, 1921, to John and Helena Gunther in Rosedale, Calif., Friesen graduated from the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. There she met Irvin Friesen, whom she married Nov. 11, 1944, in Reedley.
She is survived by her husband; a daughter, Karen of Yellville, Ark.; a son, Glenn, of Bonners Ferry; seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
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