Marlin L. Jeschke

Marlin Jeschke, 94, died September 16, 2023, after a brief stay in hospice in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was born May 18, 1929, west of Laird, Saskatchewan, the sixth of seven children of Ernest and Eva (Schmidt) Jeschke, and grew up on the family farm. Marlin graduated from Prairie Bible Institute High School, Alberta, Canada, in 1947, and Prairie Bible College in 1952. He received a BA in English from Tabor College in Kansas, in 1954. At Garrett Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, he completed a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1958, and a Ph.D. in Religion in 1965.

Marlin was on the faculty of Goshen College in the Division of Bible, Religion, and Philosophy, from 1961 to 1994. An early highlight of his career as a college professor was a 1968-69 Fellowship in Asian Religions at the Center for Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School, which allowed him to travel to a variety of Muslim and Buddhist countries from Lebanon to Japan. Marlin had an impact on the curriculum of his department, adding courses such as Asian Religions, Religion in America, Christianity and Marxism, and Religion and Science. Christian theology was always his main focus, teaching The Christian Faith class fifty times. He published three scholarly books on the subjects of church discipline, church baptism, and the Holy Land.

A member of The Mennonite Historical Society since 1961, Marlin served as its secretary for some years and as its president for five years. He was book review editor of The Mennonite Quarterly Review for fourteen years. Marlin also wrote many book reviews for Mennonite Weekly Review and, over the course of his career, was invited to speak at many churches and other venues.

In retirement, Marlin kept busy as an educator. He recorded 600 episodes of The American Religious Landscape, broadcast on Goshen College radio station WGCS, and for over six years wrote a weekly Global Faiths column for The Goshen News Saturday religion page. He also enjoyed serving as a docent at MennoHof interpretive center in Shipshewana. In his last years living at Greencroft Retirement Community, he was an avid user and supporter of the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail.

Marlin married Charmaine Louise Shidler of Denver, Colorado, in 1955. They had three children, Eric (Amy Baum), Hilo, Hawaii, and twins Margaret (Bart Miller), Oak Park, Illinois, and David (Kimberly Rush) Seattle, and six grandchildren Momi and Tyler Jeschke, Simon and Evelyn Miller, and Nick and Cate Jeschke. After 36 years of family life on Carter Road in Goshen, Charmaine died in 1991. In 1994, Marlin married Elizabeth “Betty” Bixel Miller of Bluffton and Berlin, Ohio, who died in 2018 after 24 years of marriage.

Marlin is survived by his children and grandchildren; stepdaughter Kathy Fenton-Miller (Willard); stepdaughter-in-laws Linda and Crystal Miller; step-grandchildren Lisa Rose Martin, Leanne and Robert Miller, Solomon and Emma Fenton-Miller, Alyssa and Phillip Miller; two step-great-grandchildren; and sister-in-law Rosalee Jeschke. He was preceded in death by wife Charmaine; second wife Betty; sisters Edna Lepp, Anna Schroeder, and Helen Dirks; brothers Alfred, Roland, and Donald Jeschke; daughter-in-law Kimberly Rush; and stepsons Jim Miller and Tom Miller.

With his ready smile, Marlin was known to pause at the door to his room at Greencroft and declare “I was a family man,” pointing to photos of his grandchildren. The love for and faithfulness to his family was demonstrated in so many ways for so many years. He took his children on long bike rides, planted rows of raspberry bushes, filled the sandbox under the cherry tree, and built simple toys in his garage workshop. He played kickball in the yard after supper and stayed up late writing countless family letters. In retirement, he loved to take his treasured Prius on road trips to see relatives. If he wasn’t hand-delivering cider or peppernuts, he was sending care packages of chocolate and Yoder’s popcorn. The gratitude he expressed for the simplest things, like sitting on a porch with coffee and a “cloudless blue sky” is a legacy he leaves for all of his family.

Marlin was baptized into the Salem Krimmer Mennonite Brethren Church, Waldheim, Saskatchewan, in 1946. Together with his wife Charmaine, he joined College Mennonite Church in 1969, where he remained an active member for the rest of his life. As both a lifelong student and teacher, Marlin sought to obey the biblical command to love God with all his mind. Indeed, he found a rich and intellectually satisfying faith, which he shared with friends and family and thousands of students at Goshen College.

A memorial service will be held at College Mennonite Church at 11am on Saturday, November 18. Memorial contributions can be made to The Marlin and Elizabeth Jeschke Scholarship for Religious Studies at Goshen College, www.goshen.edu/give, or to Friends of the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail, pumpkinvine.org.