Biographical Sketch

Fred Stoesz (GRANDMA ID: 222765) was born on May 26, 1952, to John and Ellen Stoesz. He grew up in southern Manitoba where his father was a preacher. This would leave a lasting impact on Fred and influence the way he would call, encourage, and challenge congregations in his own ministry across North America.

Fred attended Columbia Bible College before beginning his time serving as a missionary with World Impact. Fred’s mission with World Impact began in south central Los Angles in 1974. It was here that Fred would be introduced to his future wife, Jolene Klassen, from Hillsboro, Kansas. They were married in 1977 and had four children together. Fred served in L.A. until 1993, first as a missionary minster (also serving as a director while he was there), and as a church planter starting in 1991. Fred and Jolene also spent a year serving in Central America and then continued their service as church planters in Wichita, Kansas, with World Impact.

In 2003, Fred and his family moved back to Manitoba in Winnipeg, where he began serving with the Mennonite Brethren Church of Manitoba, supported by World Impact. His service with the conference began with Evangelism Canada and then shifted to serving with MCE (Mission and Church Extension), the Manitoba conference’s church planting arm. While in Winnipeg, Fred also served as associate pastor at the Christian Family Center in the Elmwood neighbourhood. Two other critical elements of Fred’s ministry while in Winnipeg were his fundamental and critical roles in helping to found and teach at SOUL (School of Urban Leadership) and EdenB (Escuela de Entrenamiento Bíblico), SOUL’s Spanish cousin institute.

Throughout his life and ministry, Fred’s love for the church and her mission, his heart for the people living in urban centres and the urban poor, and his passion for mission, both at home in the everyday and across the globe, were made abundantly evident. Fred’s passion and care for the Lord and His mission persisted even despite receiving a diagnosis of kidney cancer in 2004. By God’s grace, and to the amazement of doctors, family, and friends, Fred miraculously lived well beyond what doctors had anticipated, and he continued to serve joyfully in the urban core of Winnipeg throughout his battle with the disease.

Fred passed away on March 22, 2013, in Winnipeg, concluding his battle with cancer, having served joyfully until the very end. He was 60 years old.

Note: The sources for this biographical sketch are Fred’s teaching materials (see file list below, file 12 of volume 175) and the Fred Stoesz Profile found on the Mennonite Brethren Historical Commission’s website (click here to view the Profile).