Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

Anna Frances "Fran" Wenger

Anna Frances

"Fran" WengerAnna Frances "Fran" Wenger passed from this life to the next at Greencroft Healthcare in Goshen, IN on Saturday, February 2, 2013, after coping with cancer in the last four months. She was born to Mary Ellen (Martin) Zimmerman and Eli B. Zimmerman on October 4, 1933, in Blue Ball, Pennsylvania. She is survived by six siblings living in Pennsylvania: Marian Z. Zimmerman (Amos), Kathryn M. Horst (Milton), Raymond Zimmerman (Ada Mae), Mary Jane Musser (Isaac), Ellie Oberholtzer (Mahlon), and Sylvia Martin (Harold).On August 7, 1965, Fran was married to Marion R. Wenger in Goshen, IN, who survives her, along with their three children, Mark Wenger, Elkhart, IN, Joel Wenger (Julie), Fortville, IN and Maria Wenger, Atlanta, GA. There are five grandchildren living in Indiana: Holly Wenger, Lindy Wenger, Adam Wenger, Hayden Wenger, and Coel Wenger.After a distinguished career in academic nursing as teacher and administrator, Fran was retired as Professor and Director Emerita of the Goshen College Department of Nursing. Drawing on her research and study she wrote for nursing journals, nursing school textbooks and a healthcare manual in the field of her specialization for her Ph.D. degree, culturally appropriate health care. She combined classroom and clinical teaching with directing travel-study groups abroad. She mentored many students in the health sciences with similar interests.Following more than thirty years of post-secondary nursing education, Fran became an activist, serving as liaison for Faith & Health Consortia in an arc from Berkeley, CA to Cape Town, RSA. She became part of a teaching team enabling Ethiopian university faculty in health sciences for the Carter Center?s Ethiopian Public Health Initiative, a decade-long promotion of grass roots health care which was summarized in a co-authored manual, "Educating Health Professionals in Low Resource Countries; A Global Approach" (Mosby, 2010).

Closer to home, Fran served as a volunteer on the Greencroft Goshen Board and as a volunteer in curriculum planning and dramatic reading for her home congregation, College Mennonite Church.During these years of public service, Fran found time to be a loving wife and mother and grandmother, and a widely admired friend, all the while relishing her urge to travel and to discover new places and explore different cultures. She was a curious and eager learner.A 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, memorial will be celebrated near her parental home in Blue Ball, PA. Friends are invited to the Martindale Reception Center for a final homegoing service, including a sermon by Pastor Jerold R. Martin of the Hinkletown Mennonite Church. Following the service, guests are invited to stay for coffee and for the important motive of gathering, to join with one another in conversation and remembrance.Memorials may be directed to Mennonite Central Committee US or the Goshen College Department of Nursing.Online condolences may be shared at www.yoderculpfuneralhome.com.