Arlen Wayne Janssen (1923-2020)

Arlen Wayne Janssen, 96, graduated to his heavenly home Friday, Nov. 13, 2020, at the Rice County District Hospital in Lyons, Kan. He was born Dec. 24, 1923 at the farmstead two miles north of Lorraine, Kan. to Herman G. and Christina (Steenbock) Janssen.
Arlen attended school in Lorraine and graduated with the Class of 1941. He was united in marriage to Lucille Wirth on May 3, 1947 at the Bethany Baptist Church in Lincoln County, Kansas and was blessed with 55 years of marriage until she died Oct. 23, 2002. He farmed one year near Kanopolis and then spent the rest of his life farming in northern Rice County. Farming included raising many crops and animals, especially pigs so the Janssen Hog Farm was created as a partnership with his son Steven.
Arlen was a loving husband, father of four, grandfather of six, and great-grandfather of 12. He had a personal relationship with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and was a member of the First Baptist Church of Lorraine. He was the church clerk and deacon for many years. He also was the treasurer for the Southwest Association of the North American Baptist Conference and did a lot of traveling for church extension prospective sites. He enjoyed traveling to most of the tri-annual NAB Conferences over the many years, the last one being at age 94. He also took many bus trip tours all over the U.S. with Steve or Doug and Rosanne.
Survivors include his daughter, Elaine Jury of Lee’s Summit, Mo.; sons, Steven Janssen of Geneseo, Kan.; Douglas (Rosanne) Janssen of Wichita; Gerald (Kay) Janssen of Lee’s Summit; sister-in-law, Marilyn Janssen of Lorraine; grandchildren, Jennifer (David) Diaz of Billings, Mont., Monica (Joe) Guggenberger of Lee’s Summit, Angela (Michael) Mosier of Wichita, Joel (Esther) Janssen of Clearwater, Kan., Rachel (Gordon) Maxey of Overland Park, and Gregory (Alicia) Janssen of Kansas City, Mo.; and great-grandchildren, Grant, Austin and Miles Guggenberger, Elena, Abigail and Trey Diaz, Lisa and Jason Mosier, Titus and Timothy Janssen, and Greyson and Avery Maxey.
He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Lucille; sisters, Melva Splitter and Wanda Olson; and brothers, Vernon and Jerome Janssen.
Visitation is from 1-8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, at Parsons Funeral Home, Ellsworth, Kan.
Memorial service to celebrate his life is at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, at the First Baptist Church, Lorraine with burial following in the Lorraine Baptist Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to Heart Ministries (Victory Village, a home for girls), in care of Parsons Funeral Home, PO Box 45, Ellsworth, Kan. 67439.
Condolences may be left at parsonsfh.com