Miriam Mary Jantzen
July 12, 1927 – January 13, 2023
The family of Miriam Mary Jantzen, age 95, formerly of Waldheim and Saskatoon, announces her passing on January 13, 2023.
Miriam Mary Jantzen was born in her parents’ farm house at Brotherfield on July 12, 1927 according to her birth certificate … or July 13 if you believe her mother … allowing her to celebrate her birthday on both dates, which she often did with great enjoyment!
This cute little curly-haired blond was the youngest surviving sibling in a family of nine. She attended the rural Schmidtsburg School from 1934 to 1944, a young girl sometimes travelling alone over the winter snow in a covered sleigh, sometimes allowing the horse to find its own way home. Miriam was baptized in the North Saskatchewan River and joined the Brotherfield Mennonite Brethren Church on August 3, 1941. Her mother passed when she was only 15, and she consoled her grieving father by playing the piano for him. When she boarded in Waldheim for Grade 11 and 12, it was brother-in-law Wilfrid who ensured she had a ride back to Brotherfield on weekends to accompany the church choir. Wilf also taught her to drive and, in return, she became his farm hand for a summer. After graduation she attended Normal School in Saskatoon, then spent three years teaching in one-room country schools.
In 1950 Miriam made a decision that focused the rest of her life, and moved to Winnipeg to study at a school recognized for its strong music program, the Mennonite Brethren Bible College (MBBC). During her 5 years there she was a member of the Gospel Light Hour radio choir. She became an accomplished musician with the ability to simultaneously conduct and accompany a choir.
Upon completion of her studies she taught music at Rosthern School and Bethany Bible Institute in Hepburn, supplementing her income with private instruction.
Then, in 1961, Miriam made another life-altering decision and became a missionary to Paraguay with the Mennonite Brethren Mission Board. For 5-1/2 years she taught music at the Asunción Christian Academy, taught music and English privately, lead music programs in local churches, and supported the efforts of her co-workers. Just walking the streets of Asunción was often treacherous, never mind the conditions when she travelled in South America; her letters home describe getting through the “dirtiest, stinkiest” of ports just to ride on the “crumbiest” of boats.
Early in 1966 it was her great joy to participate in the annual 5-week teacher-training course for Indians in the Paraguayan Chaco, when at their request music was included in the curriculum for the first time. Her report on that experience in the Mennonite Brethren Herald (March 11, 1966) states: “I have never had a pleasanter teaching experience.” She describes how she appreciated so much the eagerness to learn, the natural gracefulness in conducting, the natural ability in music including how males from a young age took “like fish to water” to singing parts.
Upon her return to Canada, she studied music at MBBC for another full year, after which she moved back to Saskatchewan and taught music in various schools for the next 5 years.
Perhaps the highlight of those mid-life years occurred in 1973 and 1974. Both summers she spent 3-1/2 months in Panama, training Indians who had requested music education for their indigenized churches in the small jungle villages of Darien province. From her diaries we know that her students made great strides in voice lessons and on the melodicas she brought with her. We know the people’s “capacity for singing was unbelievable. 1-1/2 to 2 hours every evening in church. Then they would come to our house to continue.” We know about the friendly people who brought her more wild pig, deer, fresh fish, rice, corn and yuca than could possibly be eaten. And we know about the cockroaches, the vampire bats, and the restless rats running around in her lodgings, sometimes nibbling on her toes at night, sometimes getting so close while she cooked supper that she thought they would run down her back. Although travel by light plane, unreliable motor boat and dugout canoe could be risky, the rats were the most difficult part of those summers.
Miriam’s health struggles began at mid-life, continued through a major surgery, and lasted a good part of the rest of her life. For a time she lived with her sister Eva and greatly depended on her, experiencing what it feels like to lose the job one has been trained for, that came with a certain level of prestige, and had defined one’s being. She saw how, when one has a persistent illness, one’s essence might seem to disappear. When western medicine had no answers for her, she explored and greatly benefited from alternative medicine; Dr. Hoe Mark can be credited with saving her life.
By 1985 she was well enough to live in Saskatoon on her own. Now, in Eva’s words, Miriam kept herself “constantly busy and challenged.” She built up a class of private students, some of whom “did very fine work.” With brother Vernon’s assistance, she was able to fulfill a dream and purchase a grand piano. She developed and taught a Music Appreciation and History class for the adult education program at the University of Saskatchewan, and she taught that same material to interested folks gathered around the grand piano in the centre of her living room. Some of us remember how she would play a classical piece from her extensive library of over 400 CDs, then explain its significance and musical structure, and the historical context of the composer.
During that time, from approximately 1991 to 2002, Miriam was also the Mennonite Chaplain at St. Paul’s Hospital. Her duties included counselling those in difficult circumstances, and leading worship and memorial services. She spoke from her own experiences in providing comfort and support to those facing loss.
In 1997 she ended private music instruction, although she remained active in committee work, played the piano publicly several times a month, and attended musical performances whenever she could. What gave her the most pleasure in early retirement was listening to music with her friends and telling stories from her research in Music Appreciation and History.
The last 7 years of her life were spent in care where she shared her musical abilities as she was able, interacting with staff and residents with grace and humour. Miriam passed peacefully at Langham Care Home on January 13, 2023 at the age of 95.
In her funeral suggestions she tells us: “Words that brought energy back to me when it had disappeared were invariably those that said not to be afraid, and to be courageous.” While firmly believing the life of Christ enabled her to come to God, Miriam’s faith was not satisfied with simple answers or formulas for success. Life had taught her that God is mystery, “always surprising us with the way He acts, produces blessings, interferes in plans, destroys, and brings to life.”
Miriam was the last surviving family member of her generation. She was predeceased by her parents Peter H. and Maria (Harms), step-mother Tina (Berg); sisters Luella, Elizabeth, Hanna & husband Wilfrid Plett, Eva, and Bertha; brothers Edward & wife Sara (Berg), Vernon & wife Dorothy-Jean (Fehr), and Daniel; nieces Alvina Jantzen Block and Grace Jantzen; and nephew David Plett.
She is survived by nieces and nephews Archie & Erna Jantzen, Teresa Forest, Ruth & Thor Skafte, Geri Yee, Gladys Neufeld & Clayton Beish, Jane Epp, Evanne & Glynn Linnard, Joyce Janzen, Daniel & Christine Jantzen, and the families including Alvina’s. Grand nephew Conrad Jantzen was a significant presence in Miriam’s life in her last decades.
We will remember our dear Aunt Miriam with stories and laughter. Throughout the years she has been our classy music teacher who could walk in spike heels back and forth on the wooden floors of recital halls without making a sound, who would use her ‘CBC voice’ after a practice session to say, “That was almost … good.” She was the storyteller of our Jantzen family history. She was our friend and mentor who heard us, and became our encourager and refuge in difficult times. Her sense of humour was priceless! See Miriam, driving through the empty prairie countryside on a clear day when she can see for miles in every direction. As she approaches a Yield sign, she declares, ‘I yield to no one!’ and sails right on through. Or, when she turns 80, marching into a store that caters to pre-teens and stating to the receptionist, “It’s my birthday, I’m twelve, and I want to get my ears pierced!”
Her sense of adventure, when out on the town with a nephew, would have it no other way than to ride through the sweltering night in his silver Mustang convertible with the top down. On another day, with another nephew, behind the wheel of another Mustang, she pulled onto the highway, looked at the speedometer and said with glee, “Oh, I’m speeding already!”
Miriam found ‘her people’ by cultivating relationships with young and old, male and female. She treasured conversations where she was accepted and understood. After such mental stimulation, she would say “And I was HEARD!”
She was equally resolute in travelling to remote locations for missionary work, exploring the arts and culture scenes of various cities on her own for personal enjoyment, or keeping relationships alive by visiting us where we lived in London UK, Toronto, Winnipeg, Kelstern, Canmore, Fort St. John, Abbotsford.
Her material resources may have been somewhat limiting but her intellectual and spiritual resources were not. Miriam thought outside the box, challenged the norm, and openly struggled with complicated issues that have no easy answers. She was an iconoclast who broke the mold. She remains our inspiration to broaden our perspectives.
We remember her especially as a truly remarkable woman who, when faced with insurmountable obstacles, refused to concede defeat or adopt a victim attitude. She remains very much the object of our admiration for living courageously without compromising her convictions, and for taking action despite her fears. “Nevertheless she persisted” to the end.
In the spring we will take Aunt Miriam’s ashes to the Brotherfield Cemetery, back to her childhood community where her entire immediate family is interred and where, in her own words, “she belongs.”
We invite you to join us for a Remembrance of her Life on Saturday, February 4, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. at Nutana Park Mennonite Church, 1701 Ruth St E, Saskatoon, SK. Memorial donations may be made to the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra or Langham Care Home.
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE STREAM LINK OF MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR THE LATE MIRIAM JANTZEN
(A copy of the live stream will also be available to view after the service at the link above.)
Click here for slideshow of the late Miriam Jantzen.
Arrangements are in care of Dalmeny Funeral Home 306-254-2022.
Add Comment