List of Mennonites

This page includes a list of notable Mennonites.

General list

• Harold S. Bender, professor of theology at Goshen College ^[1]
• David Bergen, Giller Prize winning author ^[2]
• Travis Bergen, baseball player
• JC Chasez, solo artist and singer for NSYNC ^[3]
• Christopher Dock, educator ^[4]
• Abraham Esau, German physicist ^[5]
• Howard Dyck, Canadian conductor and broadcaster ^[6]
• Dietrich Enns, baseball player
• Brendan Fehr, actor linked to TV show Roswell ^[7]
• Eric Fehr, hockey player
• Henry Friesen, endocrinologist who discovered Prolactin ^[8]
• Jeff Friesen, former hockey player
• Byron Froese, hockey player
• Johann Funk, early Canadian Mennonite bishop ^[9]
• Joseph Funk, U.S. music teacher and publisher ^[10]
• Michael Funk, former hockey player
• Owen Gingerich, Smithsonian astronomer ^{[11] [12]}
• Girl Named Tom, winners of season 21 of The Voice
• Steven Goertzen, former hockey player
• Herman op den Graeff, Mennonite community leader of Krefeld, delegate and signer of the Dordrecht Confession of Faith in 1632
• Joseph B. Hagey, bishop ^[13]
• Vincent Harding, African-American historian, theologian and civil-rights activist
• Hans Herr, bishop ^[14]
• Jeff Hostetler, NFL quarterback ^[15]
• Julia Kasdorf, poet ^[16]
• Graham Kerr, "The Galloping Gourmet" ^{[17] [18]}
• Cindy Klassen, five time Olympic medalist ^[19]
• Eduard Klassen, harpist ^[20]
• Clayton Kratz, relief worker ^[21]
• Erik Kratz, American professional baseball catcher currently in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. ^[22]
• Alan Kreider, author and employee of the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary ^[23]
• Floyd Landis, professional road bicycle racer ^[24]
• John Paul Lederach, professor of International Peacebuilding ^{[25] [26]}
• Lê Thị Hồng Liên, teacher and former political prisoner ^[27]
• María Gloria Penayo De Duarte, Paraguayan first lady, her husband Nicanor Duarte, is a nominal Catholic who attends her church ^{[28] [29]}
• Dustin Penner, former hockey player
• Casey Plett, writer
• Nguyen Hong Quang, Vice President of the Mennonite Church in Vietnam ^[30]
• Richie Regehr, former hockey player
• Robyn Regehr, former hockey player
• A. James Reimer, Canadian Mennonite theologian ^[31]
• James Reimer, hockey player ^[32]
• John D. Roth, Mennonite scholar ^[33]
• Menno Simons, theologian; Mennonitism named for him
• Jerome Monroe Smucker, founder of The J.M. Smucker Company
• Dan Snyder, hockey player ^[34]
• Gene Stoltzfus, American peace activist, founding director of Christian Peacemaker Teams
• Brad Thiessen, hockey player
• David Toews, hockey player
• Jonathan Toews, hockey player
• Miriam Toews, best-selling author, winner of the 2004 Governor General's Literary Award ^[35]
• Andrew Unger, novelist and author of The Daily Bonnet
• Garry Unger, former hockey player
• Pierre Widmer, French Mennonite pastor and editor
• Armin Wiebe, author
• Rudy Wiebe, Canadian author and professor who was raised Mennonite so knew no English until age 6 ^[36]
• Harvey L. Wollman, former Governor of South Dakota ^[37]
• John Howard Yoder, theologian and pacifist ^[38]

Canadian politicians connected to the Mennonites

• Albert Driedger, cabinet minister under Gary Filmon ^[39] and also a director of the Elim Mennonite Church. ^[40]
• Jacob Froese, only Manitoba Social Credit Party MLA between 1959 and 1973, and was the party's leader for most if not all of the period from 1959 to 1977 ^{[39] [41]}
• Kelvin Goertzen, 23rd Premier of Manitoba
• Harold Neufeld, cabinet minister under Gary Filmon and currently Chair of the Menno Simons College Foundation ^{[39] [42]}
• Vic Toews, Conservative Party of Canada member and a judge of the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba ^[43]
• Brad Wall, former Premier of Saskatchewan ^[44]
• Cornelius Wiebe, first Mennonite to serve in the Manitoba legislature ^[45]

Note: Several Canadian political figures have a Mennonite background. This might be more common in Canada than in most nations. This is perhaps most true in the case of Manitoba, though Saskatchewan and British Columbia also have significant Mennonites in politics. As this more concerns "connected to" this may include people who are ethnic Mennonites and not necessarily members of Mennonite churches.

People of Mennonite ancestry or background

These are people of Mennonite ancestry, but who are/were not members of the Mennonite religion. In some cases names listed here include people whose current status as Mennonites is undetermined.

• Sandra Birdsell, Canadian poet ^[46]
• Di Brandt, Canadian poet ^[47]
• Greg Brenneman, former CEO of Burger King ^[48]
• Arthur Compton, physicist, 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the Compton Effect.
• Karl Taylor Compton, physicist, president of Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1930-1948.
• Wilson Martindale Compton, trade association executive.
• John Denver, folk singer-songwriter ^{[49] [50]}
• Dwight D. Eisenhower, thirty-fourth President of the United States (1953–1961). Eisenhower's direct ancestor, Hans Nicol Eisenhauer, was a Mennonite who settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1741. ^[51]
• Ashley Graham, plus-size American supermodel. ^[52]
• Jonathan Groff, American actor and singer who originated the role of King George in the Broadway musical Hamilton.
• Katherine Esau, American botanist ^[53]
• Patrick Friesen, Canadian poet ^[54]
• Anna German, Polish singer ^[55]
• Philip D. Gingerich, paleontologist ^{[56] : 137}
• Malcolm Gladwell, English-Canadian journalist, bestselling author, and speaker who has made a return to religion though not of a specific church at the moment. ^[57]
• Jon Gnagy, American art instructor on television ^[58]
• Matt Groening, American cartoonist, creator of The Simpsons . His father, Homer Groening, was born and raised in a Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonite family from Saskatchewan. ^[59]
• Joey Kelly, former member of The Kelly Family ^[60]
• James L. Kraft, founder of Kraft Foods ^[61]
• Milton Hershey, founder of The Hershey Company ^[62]
• Robyn Regehr, hockey player ^[63]
• Adolph Rupp, college basketball coach ^[64]
• Marlin Stutzman, politician who was raised Mennonitem but is now Baptist. ^[65]
• Hermann Sudermann, German dramatist and novelist ^[66]
• Dick Winters, U.S. Army Major and World War II commander of Band of Brothers' Easy Company ^[67]

People incorrectly identified as Mennonite

• George Armstrong Custer, erroneously identified as coming from Mennonite background by biographer Milo Milton Quaife. ^[68]

References

1. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online Archived 2007-09-29 at archive.today
2. McClelland & Stewart publishers ^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
3. The religion of J.C. Chasez, singer with N'SYNC ^[usurped]
4. Eastern Mennonite University Archived 2006-05-03 at the Wayback Machine
5. Goossen, Ben (2019-03-21). "Hitler's Mennonite Physicist". Anabaptist Historians. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
6. "Howard Dyck" The Canadian Encyclopedia
7. "Brendan Fehr's website". Archived from the original on 2006-05-05. Retrieved 2005-12-12.
8. Industry Canada Archived 2006-04-24 at the Wayback Machine
9. Klippenstein, Lawrence (1998). "Funk, Johann". In Cook, Ramsay; Hamelin, Jean (eds.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography . Vol. XIV (1911–1920) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
10. "Bethel College". Archived from the original on 2005-11-27. Retrieved 2005-12-12.
11. ABC.Net
12. Mennonite Weekly Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
13. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online Archived 2007-09-29 at archive.today
14. Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society Archived 2004-12-17 at archive.today
15. His biography at Amazon.com
16. Avatar Review
17. Farming Magazine ^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
18. Mennonite Economic Development Associates
19. Canadian Christianity.com
20. "About the Artist - The Klassen's Music". 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
21. Christianity Today
22. Mennonite World Review
23. Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary Profile Archived 2011-10-21 at the Wayback Machine
24. Swiss Mennonite.org
25. Menno Link
26. "University of Colorado at Boulder". Archived from the original on 2006-06-14. Retrieved 2006-08-24.
27. "Amnesty International". Archived from the original on 2006-02-12. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
28. "Mennonite Brethren Herald". Archived from the original on 2006-08-09. Retrieved 2006-08-31.
29. US Department of State, Home Page
30. "Human Rights Watch". Archived from the original on 2006-05-09. Retrieved 2007-11-17.
31. Mennonite Publishing Network Archived 2006-10-03 at the Wayback Machine
32. "James Reimer has faith in his game". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. 4 April 2011.
33. Goshen
34. CTV
35. "Book Author View | Random House of Canada". Archived from the original on 2014-06-01. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
36. McClelland & Stewart publishers
37. South Dakota Legislative Manual, 1975
38. Goshen
39. "MLA Biographies – Deceased". Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. Archived from the original on 2014-03-30.
40. "Albert Driedger". Winnipeg Free Press. July 21, 2011. Retrieved 2014-02-06.
41. "Jacob Froese". Winnipeg Free Press. June 19, 2003. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
42. James Urry (2006). Mennonites, politics, and peoplehood: Europe-Russia-Canada, 1525-1980 - Page 351. University of Manitoba Press. p. 351. ISBN   978-0-88755-688-3 . Retrieved 2 December 2010. When Neufeld resigned in 1993, another NDP Mennonite candidate, Harry Schellenberg, won the by-election, ...
43. "Mennonites won't lose citizenship over 80-year-old glitch: Toews", Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, January 26, 2007, 9:18 report. Retrieved June 14, 2008.
44. "MWR : MB elected provincial premier". Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2016-01-31.
45. "105-year-old wins Order of Canada" CBC article
46. Sandra Birdsell's website Archived 2006-10-30 at the Wayback Machine
47. Griffin Poetry Prize site Archived 2006-01-16 at the Wayback Machine
48. USA Today
49. "Bethel College". Archived from the original on 2006-09-07. Retrieved 2006-10-09.
50. University of Michigan Archived 2008-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
51. Eisenhower's direct ancestor, Hans Nicol Eisenhauer, was a Mennonite that settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1741. "Eisenhower Birthplace - Eisenhower Family Tree". Archived from the original on 2008-03-20. Retrieved 2008-04-05. Eisenhower's pacifist roots may have influenced his presidential farewell speech in which he warned the country against the emerging military-industrial complex. "Military-Industrial Complex Speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961". Archived from the original on 2013-08-12. Retrieved 2015-09-03.
52. Graham, Ashley; Paley, Rebecca (2017-05-09). A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty, & Power Really Look Like. HarperCollins. ISBN   978-0-06-266796-0.
53. The National Academies Press
54. Association of Manitoba Book Publishers Archived 2006-04-24 at the Wayback Machine
55. Biography ^[usurped] . sz-n.com. April 12, 2013. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
56. Mueller, Tom (2010). "Valley of the Whales". National Geographic . 218 (August): 118–137. Archived from the original on July 23, 2010. …Gingerich himself grew up in a strictly principled Christian environment, in a family of Amish Mennonites in eastern Iowa.
57. Religion News
58. Real Life Magazine Archived 2007-02-02 at the Wayback Machine
59. Seattle Times
60. Kelly, Joey (2014). America for Sale. Reinbek: Rowohlt. Google Books. Retrieved 2015-11-08. 18th century ancestors of his mother Barbara-Ann Suokko were Amish.
61. Illinois Review
62. Hershey history site Archived 2005-11-25 at the Wayback Machine
63. "NHL website". Archived from the original on 2008-07-20. Retrieved 2006-12-17.
64. "Adolph Rupp". NBA. Retrieved 10 April 2010. Rupp was born outside Halstead, Kansas to Mennonite German immigrants…
65. IndyStar
66. Krahn, Cornelius; van der Zijpp, Nanne (1959). "Sudermann (Suderman, Zudermann, Suterman, Soermann) family". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. The noted author Hermann Sudermann was of Mennonite background, his father having been baptized as Mennonite in Elbing
67. Winters, Richard D. and Cole Christian Kingseed. Beyond Band of Brothers, p. 4-5.
68. "Mennonite Life - June 2006 - Juhnke article George Armstrong Custer and Samuel S. Haury". Archived from the original on 2012-07-28. Retrieved 2006-10-09.