List of Mennonites
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Contents |
[edit] General list of Mennonites
- Harold S. Bender - Professor of theology at Goshen College.[1]
- David Bergen - Giller Prize winning author[2]
- James M. Branum - Green Party of Oklahoma politician.
- Christopher Dock - Educator[3]
- Brendan Fehr - Actor linked to TV show Roswell.[4]
- Henry Friesen - Scientist - Endochronologist[5]
- Joseph Funk - US music teacher and publisher.[6]
- Owen Gingerich - Smithsonian Astronomer.[7][8]
- John Goerzen - Former President/Chairman of Software in the Public Interest and Member of the Board of Trustees of the Mennonite Bethesda Society[9]
- Joseph B. Hagey - Mennonite bishop[10]
- Hans Herr - Mennonite bishop.[11]
- Milton Hershey - Born and raised Mennonite.[12][13]
- Jeff Hostetler - NFL Quarterback, the family has been Mennonite for centuries.[14][15]
- Paul Hiebert - Writer and Humorist
- Julia Kasdorf - Poet.[16]
- Graham Kerr - Started "The Galloping Gourmet"(convert)[17][18]
- Cindy Klassen - Five time Olympic medalist.[19]
- Floyd Landis – professional road bicycle racer.[20]
- John Paul Lederach - Professor of International Peacebuilding.[21][22]
- Le Thi Hong Lien - Teacher and former political prisoner.[23]
- María G. Penayo Solaeche - Paraguayan first lady, her husband Nicanor Duarte Frutos, is a nominal Catholic who attends her church.[24][25]
- Anthony Winkler Prins - Dutch encyclopedist
- A. James Reimer - Canadian Mennonite theologian.[26]
- John D. Roth - Mennonite scholar[27]
- Menno Simons - Theologian, Mennonitism named for him.
- Dan Snyder - Hockey player.[28]
- Steven Stucky - American composer, winner of Pulitzer Prize for Music.
- Pierre Widmer - French Mennonite pastor and editor.
- Rudy Wiebe - Canadian author and professor who was raised Mennonite so knew no English until age 6.[29]
- John Howard Yoder - Theologian and Pacifist[30]
- Justin Yoder - disabled child athlete.[31]
[edit] Canadian politicians connected to the Mennonites
- Leonard Barkman-Manitoba Liberal Party
- Raymond Chan-Liberal Party of Canada
- Albert Driedger-Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba
- Jake Epp-Formerly a Minister of National Health and Welfare and a Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources.
- Ed Fast-Conservative Party of Canada
- Jacob Froese-Leading figure for the Manitoba Social Credit Party from 1959 to 1977.
- Russ Hiebert - Conservative Canadian politician.
- Jake Hoeppner-was a Reform Party of Canada MP.
- Harold Neufeld-Cabinet minister under Gary Filmon and currently Chair of the Menno Simons College Foundation
- Helmut Pankratz-Former member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba.
- John Reimer - From Ontario was a member of the Canadian Alliance.
- Vic Schroeder-New Democratic Party of Manitoba and former Ministry of Finance (Manitoba)
- Werner Schmidt - A figure in the history of both the Social Credit Party of Alberta and the Reform Party of Canada.
- Moses Springer - Liberal member in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who was raised by Joseph B. Hagey.
- Vic Toews-Current Minister of Justice and Attorney Generalin Stephen Harper's government.
- Mark Warawa-Conservative Party of Canada
- Cornelius Wiebe-A physician who was the first Mennonite to serve in Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.
Note: Several Canadian political figures have a Mennonite background. This might be more common in Canada than in most nations. This is most true in the case of Manitoba and so politicians from other provinces will be designated as such. Hence the explanation for this slightly unusual subdivision. As this more concerns "connected to" not all the names here stayed committed to Mennonitism.
[edit] People of Mennonite ancestry or background
This is mostly people whose Mennonite ancestry or upbringing is important to them, but who are not currently Mennonite. In some cases names listed here include people whose current status as Mennonites is undetermined.
- Sandra Birdsell - Canadian poet with a Mennonite mother.[32]
- Di Brandt - Canadian poet, left her Mennonite village at 17.[33]
- Greg Brenneman - Former CEO of Burger King[34]
- John Denver - Folk singer-songwriter[35][36]
- John E. Dick – an award-winning Canadian scientist, credited with first identifying cancer stem cells in certain types of leukemia.
- Katherine Esau - American botanist.[37]
- Dawna Friesen - NBC foreign news correspondent
- Jean Friesen - Canadian Politician
- Jeff Friesen - NHL Hockey player
- Patrick Friesen - Canadian Poet.[38]
- James L. Kraft - Founded Kraft Foods, which is named for him.[39]
- Jon Gnagy - American art instructor on television.[40]
- Matt Groening - Creator of "The Simpsons"
- Ted Honderich - Philosopher of mind and logic who holds controversial views on terrorism.
- Ben Klassen - His parents were Mennonite, but he abandoned it and formed the white-supremacist Creativity Movement.
- Floyd Landis - Professional cyclist
- James L. Kraft - Founded Kraft Foods, which is named for him.[41]
- Jacob Penner - Canadian politician who was raised Mennonite, but became a Communist.
- Robyn Regehr - Hockey player whose parents were Mennonite missionaries.[42][43]
- Adolph Rupp - American college basketball coach.
- Karl Schroeder - Canadian writer of science fiction.
- Martin Thulin - Musician called "Menonita Rock."[44]
- Miriam Toews - Winnipeg writer
- Bill Unruh - Is a Canadian physicist who discovered the Unruh effect.
- Jack Unruh - Commercial artist.
- Jesse Unruh - California politician. "Money is the mother's milk of politics."
- Joost van den Vondel - German-Dutch writer and playwright who converted to Catholicism.
- Armin Wiebe - Canadian novelist.
- Irene Worth - American theater actress.
- Samuel K. Zook - Union General in the US Civil War.
[edit] People incorrectly identified as Mennonite
The most common examples are those who were of other Anabaptist faiths. For example several noted members of the Pietist/Anabaptist Brethren denominations have been labeled as "Mennonites" by non-members.
The most cited example of this is Dwight D. Eisenhower as when he was born his parents were of the River Brethren and this is what he claimed was his faith in youth. This itself is not Mennonitism and in reality his parents converted to the Jehovah's Witnesses when he turned 5. The Wright Brothers were the son of Milton Wright, a bishop in the Church of the United Brethren. As with many of Brethren origin these people have been considered Mennonites from time to time.
George Armstrong Custer is erroneously identified as coming from Mennonite background by biographer Milo Milton Quaife.[45]
