Allen Ray Grunau
Allen Ray Grunau, 81, of Hillsboro died July 30, 2004, at Hillsboro.
Born Oct. 21, 1922, in Fairview, Okla., he was the son of Jacob C. and Minnie (Hein) Grunau. At 15 he accepted Christ, was baptized, and joined South Fairview Mennonite Brethren Church. By his late teens, he was a Sunday School teacher and a choir director.
During World War II he was drafted into alternative services as a conscientious objector, spending three years in CPS camps in Fort Collins, Colo., and Lincoln, Neb.
On July 25, 1946, he married LeOra Ratzlaff, at Corn, Okla. She survives of the home.
His formal education included elementary and secondary schooling in the Fairview public schools, a bachelor's degree from Tabor College, a master's degree from the University of Oklahoma, and a doctorate from the University of Kansas.
He was an educator and a member of Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church.
He began his teaching career in 1950 at Corn Bible Academy in Corn, Okla. He later taught at Grant County Rural High School in Ulysses and Hillsboro High School. After completing his doctorate in 1965, he began a 19-year stint at Tabor College.
In 1993 he was diagnosed with cancer and in 2000 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
Survivors include his wife; son, Charles of Hillsboro; daughter, Patrice and husband Robert Brown Jr. of Phoenix, Ariz.; granddaughter, Jacqueline Grunau of Lawrence; brother, Clifford Grunau and wife Polly of Perryton, Tex.; sisters, Rosella Thomas and Ruby Suderman of Hillsboro and Wilma Ewert of Sacramento, California.
Services were held Monday at Parkview Mennonite Brethren Church with Pastor Bruce Porter and Pastor Marvin Hein officiating. A private family burial was held.
Musicians were the Men's Quartet of Kenneth Jost, Robert Loewen, Marvin Ratzlaff, and Ray Franz, accompanied by Marilyn Ratzlaff; Lewis Hagen, trumpet; and John Ratzlaff Jr., pianist.
Memorials have been established with Tabor College and Hospice Care of Kansas.
Condolences may be sent to the family via hillsboromem chapel@hotmail.com.
