Tabor College Learning In Retirement Program

The issues of downsizing material possessions and distributing heirlooms was discussed in a program entitled “Who’s Going to Get Grandma’s Yellow Pie Plate?” at the Tabor College “60+” Learning in Retirement Program, beginning at 9:45 a.m., Monday, Nov. 17, in the Wohlgemuth Music Education Center.

The program was presented by Susan Franz Koslowsky, of Towanda, Kan., and her parents, Harold and Eleanor Franz, of Wichita, Kan.

Koslowsky is Senior Vice President and Manager of the Premier Client Group for Emprise Bank, Wichita. She graduated from Tabor College in 1984 with a degree in business administration, and received the Tabor College Alumni Medallion in 1999. She is married to John Koslowsky, a firefighter for the City of Wichita.

Harold and Eleanor Reimer Franz, met as students at Tabor during the early 1950s. They lived most of their life in Minnesota. Eleanor is a Licensed Practical Nurse. Harold is an insurance businessman. The couple sent all three of their children to Tabor College, and later moved to Wichita, Kan. to be closer to their children and grandchildren.

Harold served on the Tabor College Board of Directors for 13 years. Eleanor is employed as a nurse with Hospice Care and has spoken to the Learning in Retirement group on the topic. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies at Tabor College.

Former Tabor College President Vernon Janzen will extol the virtues of Scripture memorization in a dramatic presentation, “Committing to Memory: a Discipline with Boundless Rewards,” during a special “Centennial Homecoming Edition” of the Tabor College “60+” Learning in Retirement Program, at 9:45 a.m. Friday, Oct. 3, in the Wohlgemuth Music Education Center.

Admission is free for this special event, and the public is invited to attend.

“We wanted as many as possible to hear Vernon Janzen speak, so moving the program from Monday to Friday to capture the Centennial Homecoming crowd seemed like the best way,” said Connie Isaac, director of the Learning in Retirement Program. “It’s one of the many exciting events taking place at Tabor College during this historic weekend.”

Janzen, who served as Tabor’s president from 1980-1987, worked in the Mennonite Brethren denomination’s schools and churches for over 50 years before his retirement in 2001. He served as an instructor and principal at Immanuel High School, Reedley, Calif.; instructor and Dean of Students at Fresno Pacific University, Fresno, Calif.; and President at Tabor College. He also ministered for 33 years in MB churches at Selma, Reedley, Lodi and Visalia, in California.

The California native earned an associate’s degree from Tabor in 1950. He later earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Fresno (Calif.) State University, and a bachelor’s in divinity degree from the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, in Fresno, Calif.

Janzen’s wife, Genevieve, a piano instructor, accompanies her husband’s ministry. The couple has four sons and five grandchildren.

Discount cards for lunch in the cafeteria will be available at the door during the half hour before the meeting. For more information, contact Connie Isaac, coordinator at 620-947-3121, 947-5964, or conniei@tabor.edu.

Humanitarian relief worker Maynard Knepp will present, “For I was Hungry and You Gave Me Meat,” at Tabor College’s “60+” Learning in Retirement Program, at 9:45 a.m. Monday, Sept. 29th, in the Wohlgemuth Music Education Center.

Knepp, a sought-after speaker in Central Kansas, will share stories and videos of people he met during trips to the war-torn African nation of Burundi, and Ukraine with the Mennonite Central Committee.

Knepp, who lives near Goessel, Kan., will be speaking under the auspices of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), Central States, headquartered in North Newton, Kan., where he serves as Warehouse Supervisor and Resource Generation Assistant.

Many audiences have enjoyed his first-hand accounts of his own growing up Amish at Yoder, Kansas. His wife, author Carol Duerksen, has used his experiences as the inspiration for a series of novels set in Amish life.

After Duerksen wrote a book about their black cat, “Slickfester Dude tells Bedtime Stories,” Maynard was busy telling those stories throughout the area in schools, nursing homes, and other settings.

Maynard and Carol are active in the rural Hillsboro community. They serve as youth sponsors at Tabor Mennonite Church and host exchange students from foreign countries in their home. In addition, their annual “Day at the Farm,” program in the summertime, and “Night in the Barn,” program at Christmastime have become popular community attractions.

The public is welcome to attend all Learning in Retirement programs. Fees are $3 per session or $15 per semester ($28 per couple). Registration and discount cards for lunch in the cafeteria will be available at the door during the half hour before the meeting.

For more information, contact Connie Isaac, coordinator at 620-947-3121, 947-5964, or email conniei@tabor.edu.