One of our own, Mary Belle (Meadows) Jansen, 93, passed away on May 17, 2015. Mary graduated from Ottawa University before leaving Kansas to achieve her Master of Religious Education at Andover Newton Theological School in Massachusetts. Following graduation, she served as Minister of Christian Education for churches in Rochester, N.Y. and Toledo, Ohio. In 1959, she joined the staff of the Department of Christian Education of the American Baptist Churches of Ohio, Granville. While there, she met the love of her life, Bob Jansen, a widower from Akron with three sons. On September 11, 1965, she and Bob married and Mary began an elegant transition to life as a wife and mother to teenaged boys.
Over the years, she eagerly and joyfully shared her commitment to Christian service in various leadership roles at Goodyear Heights Baptist Church while serving the larger community through her work with the Akron Area Association of American Baptist Churches as well as the Ohio region. Mary was a faithful participant in ecumenical activities of the Akron Area Association of Churches, which she served as president, the Interfaith Council and the Interfaith Council Givers Program.
Mary radiated a strong but soft spoken Christian witness, generously offering comfort, guidance and a helping hand wherever and whenever she was needed. She was devoted to her family - immediate, extended and adopted - and embraced her friends and neighbors equally. She relished her role as the family's news center, and woe be to those who forgot to share their news with her.
Mary requested memorials be made to the Ohio Baptist Education Society Scholarships (ABC-Ohio, 136 Galway Drive North, Granville, OH 43023). With simple acts of kindness, her family will seek to honor her every day.
