Biographical Sketch

Gerhard J. Klassen, church leader and farmer, was born on May 25, 1903, to Johann J. Klassen (1869–1941) and Aganetha Doerksen (1871–1920) in Malvinovka, Kharkov, South Russia (now Ukraine), the seventh of thirteen children (Johann, Simeon, Abraham, Agatha, Aganetha, Jakob, Gerhard, Maria, Cornelius, Dietrich, Katharina, Anna, and Erna). Gerhard married Helena J. Froese on March 13, 1930, in Manitou, Manitoba, Canada. Helena was born on August 26, 1903 to Johann Peter Froese (1878–1949) and Katharina Dueck (1881–1919) in Kronberg, Schoenfeld, South Russia. Two children were born to Gerhard and Helena: John and Sarah. Gerhard died in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on December 28, 1965.

A year after Gerhard was born, the family moved to Wassilyevka, Ignatyevo, South Russia, a village with a Mennonite Brethren church. In 1910, they relocated to Barwenkowo, Naumenko, South Russia, where his father and two others started a farm implement factory. Gerhard was known as bright and gifted; he was well-liked by his teachers. At the age of 13, he made a confession of Christian faith and was baptized into the Mennonite Brethren church in 1917. He participated in the church youth program, sang tenor in the choir and played violin.

When Gerhard’s family immigrated to Canada in 1925, Gerhard remained behind with the intention of giving a Christian witness to his Russian friends and colleagues. The Klassens, along with many other Mennonite families, immigrated to Canada with hopes of brighter future, as Stalin’s new religion-less society and farm collectivization program began to spread across Russia. The long tradition of Christian faith, hard work, and private enterprise, made the prospect of Soviet-style communism difficult for most Mennonite families to accept. The Klassen family was no exception. Eventually, Gerhard, too, decided to leave while the option to leave was still open. He left Russia to join his family in Winnipeg, Manitoba, a year after they had left.

Gerhard’s conviction that his calling was to do mission work among Russian people remained strong and he spent one year as a student at a Russian Bible School located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With his family, in the area of Winnipeg called, North Kildonan, he helped to start the church that would become known as the North Kildonan Mennonite Brethren Church. He taught Sunday School, preached, sang, and although he was never ordained, served as leader of the church during its first two years.

In 1936, he came to a disagreement with the North Kildonan Mennonite Brethren Church’s leading ministers and withdrew from the church. See copy of Gerhard’s journal from this period along with translation and reflections by his son, John G. Klassen, included in the fonds.

In 1937, Gerhard and Helena moved to Petersfield, Manitoba, and farmed there until 1947. Moving back to Winnipeg, they bought a small chicken farm in North Kildonan, which they operated until his death. Back in Winnipeg, Gerhard re-established his membership with the North Kildonan Mennonite Brethren Church. He was known as a man of faith, one who led a “difficult, but significant life.”

More details of Gerhard J. Klassen’s life and legacy can be found in the following sources: Gerhard J. Klassen obituary, Die Mennonitische Rundschau, 16 February 1966, pg. 11; Genealogy of Johann Janzen 1752–1977, compiled for Ernest J. Klassen of Winnipeg by Katie Peters, pg. 51; Ann Wiens, Leaving a Legacy: treasuring the rich Christian heritage of the Johann J. Klassen family (Winnipeg, 2004); and John G. Klassen, “Gerhard Johann Klassen (1903–1965): Reflections on a difficult life” Mennonite Historian 39/1 (March 2013): 1–2, 8.