Herbert Schaan
Herbert Schaan
Herbert Schaan
Herbert Schaan
Herbert Schaan
Herbert Schaan

Obituary of Herbert James Schaan

Rev. Herbert James Schaan passed away peacefully on Feb. 23, 2017 at Columbia Forest Long Term Care Centre , Waterloo, Ontario, Canada at age 75. His Children were by his side. Herb was born in Vernon, BC. He is the dear father of Vanya Lang (Ron) and Paul Schaan (Mandy), greatly loved grandfather of Koby (Kelsi), Theron, Dawson, Chay, Kody and great grandfather of Marina. He is survived by his sister Loretta Nagel (Roger) and nephews Stephen (Carolyn) and David (Beth) all of Missouri. He was predeceased by his parents Louise (Popp) and Herbert W. Herb served as a missionary to the Enga people of Papua New Guinea from 1966-1979. He was an evangelistic missionary establishing preaching stations, training indigenous evangelists, and going to previously unreached groups of people. Herb also served as pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Honolulu, HI (1980-1988) and Star of the North Lutheran Church in Kenai, AK (1988-1994). He taught anthropology at Kenai Peninsula College for many years and was a mental health outpatient counselor. Herb's avocation was anthropology. He gathered many stories and myths in Enga and recorded many of the local traditions with his photographs (over 250 of his photographs of Enga culture and traditions are displayed at the cultural and historical museum in Wabag, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea). He was a proficient Enga speaker (one of the 800 languages in Papua New Guinea) and encouraged them to develop their own distinctive Christian hymnody. Herb touched so many lives with his spirit, ministry of God's Word, love of nature and concern for the environment, artwork, music and knowledge of different cultures. He will be dearly missed from one end of the Pacific Rim to the other. A funeral service will be held on March 25th at 11:00 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in rural Wellsville, Missouri. Herb will be buried beside family in the Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery following the service. A celebration of life will also be held in Kenai, Alaska in July. Condolences for the family and donations to the London Health Sciences Foundation Multi-Organ Transplant Unit (or Physiotherapy Department)www.lhsf.ca may be arranged through the Erb & Good Family Funeral Home, 171 King Street South, Waterloo 519-745-8445.
Saturday
25
March

Funeral Service

11:00 am
Saturday, March 25, 2017
Trinity Lutheran Church
105 Trinity Church Road
Wellsville, Missouri, United States
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