Lohrenz, Henry W., 1878-1945

Mennonite leader and educator.

Biography

Henry W. Lohrenz was born in Harvey County, Kansas, on 2 February 1878 to Heinrich and Elizabeth Wiens Lohrenz. He joined the Ebenezer Mennonite Brethren Church in Buhler, Kansas, in 1896. From 1900 to 1908 Lohrenz attended McPherson (Kan.) College, from where he received an A.B. degree in 1908. While a student at McPherson, the Ebenfeld Mennonite Brethren Church near Hillsboro, Kansas, called Lohrenz to the ministry in 1904. He was ordained there in 1907. In 1908 Lohrenz was called to be president of the newly-founded Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas. He held that position until 1931. During most of those years Lohrenz was also a professor of biology at Tabor. From 1929 to 1932 he was the Dean of the Tabor College Bible School. Lohrenz received an A.M. degree from the University of Kansas in 1911 and a D.D. from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Chicago in 1929. He also briefly attended Columbia University, Princeton Theological Seminary, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Chicago, and the University of Wichita. In 1932 Lohrenz left Tabor and became an assistant professor of Biology and Bible at Bethel College in nearby Newton, Kansas. He stayed there only until 1934, when he accepted a position as Bible instructor at Corn Bible Academy in Corn, Oklahoma. He returned to Tabor in 1935 as Dean of the Bible School, a position he held until 1941. From 1941 until 1945 he was a professor of Bible there. H. W. Lohrenz's service to the Mennonite Brethren Conference was wide ranging. He is perhaps best remembered in that regard as the chairman of the Board of Foreign Missions from 1919-1936 and Executive Secretary of that board from 1936-1945. His other conference positions included Conference Moderator (1919-1924, 1927-1930 and 1943-1945), Conference Assistant Moderator (1936-1939), Conference Secretary (1905-1906), Conference Assistant Secretary (1909-1915), chairman of the Constitution Committee (1930-1936), Secretary-Treasurer of the Education Committee (1936-1939), Vice Chairman (1936-1939) and Chairman (1943-1945) of the Board of Reference and Counsel, member of the Christian Education Committee (1924-1927), and member of the Peace Committee (1919-1927). Henry W. Lohrenz died 16 March 1945 in Hillsboro, Kansas.