Martini Janz

Our beloved mother, Martini Alma (Reimer) Janz, 98, of Goshen, Indiana died on April 18, 2026, at Greencroft Healthcare. She was born in Steinbach, Manitoba on May 15, 1927, to John H. W. Reimer and Anna (Toews) Reimer. She married Arthur Barkman Janz in Steinbach on September 1, 1946.

Mom and Dad were both members of the Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church in Steinbach, Manitoba, and later Prairie Street Mennonite Church in Elkhart, Indiana, during their more than 60 years of involvement with the Congo Inland Mission and then Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission both in the Congo and later at the mission’s office in Elkhart, Indiana.

Martini and Art and their three-year-old son Larry travelled to Congo in 1951 to begin serving as AIMM missionaries. Following Congo’s independence from Belgium in 1960 our family left the Congo to live in Steinbach for one year. In 1961, Dad was called to serve as the pastor of Gospel of Grace Mennonite Church in Hooker, Oklahoma. After 2 years, Mom and Dad were called back to the mission in Congo. They served in Congo until 1969 when family health problems caused them to move to Elkhart, Indiana, to work at the AIMM headquarters.

Martini and Art moved to Goshen, Indiana, from Elkhart in 2002. After her husband Art’s passing in 2008, Martini moved to Greencroft in 2013. In her 90’s she wrote her memoir called Stargazer’s Children, chronicling her life in Canada, Congo, and the U.S. Martini’s book is available on Amazon.

Throughout her career with CIM and AIMM and after her retirement, Mom was passionate about the role of women in both the African and North American church. This was evident by her participation with various committees of the mission and the church. She promoted the founding of the Lycée Miodi, a girls’ technical school in Nyanga, Congo. She worked with the Barkman Foundation to provide Lycée Miodi graduates with a sewing machine.

She is survived by her children, Brenda (Randy) Yoran, of Ocean Springs, MS, Bruce (Ann) Campbell-Janz of Lancaster, PA, Joanne Janz of Ocean Springs, MS, Mark (Debra Van Englen) Janz of Mentone, CA, and Arthur (Larry) Janz of Sandy, UT. She had nine grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Arthur (Art) Janz and her sisters, Linea (Reimer) Geiser, Hildegard (Reimer) Terry, Naomi (Reimer) Lepp, Elizabeth (Reimer) Bartel, Wendy (Reimer) Rempel, and her daughter-in-law Sue (Markey) Janz.

The memorial service will be at Silverwood Mennonite Church in Goshen, IN, on Saturday May 16 officiated by Pastor Donna Mast.

In lieu of flowers, friends are invited to contribute to the work of Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission (AIMM) at PO Box 744, Goshen, Indiana, 46527, or 440 Main St., Steinbach, MB, R5G 1Z5, CANADA, or to Alan Barkman who is responsible for the Barkman Foundation’s financing of sewing machines for Lycée Miodi graduates. Checks can be sent to Alan Barkman at 152 Brandt Street, Steinbach, MB, R5G 0R2, CANADA.