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2007-03-20 issue:

Mary Becker Valencia: a lifetime of service

by Mennonite Mission Network

Print Article

NEWTON, Kan.—Mary Becker Valencia wanted to be a missionary and a teacher since she was a child. Those interests came together for her in a lifetime of service in Colombia with Mennonite and Presbyterian ministries.

Valencia was born Aug. 2, 1913, on the farm of her parents, Eva and John Becker, near Newton. She died Feb. 18 in Bogotá, Colombia, at age 93.

She completed a bachelor’s degree in 1940 at Bethel College, North Newton, Kan., with majors in Bible and German. Before going on for a master’s in religious education at New York Theological Seminary, she served as interim editor of The Mennonite in 1941.

Valencia became one of the first four mission workers sent to Colombia by the former General Conference Mennonite Church Board of Missions in 1945. They began a boarding school on a farm at Cachipay for children whose parents suffered from leprosy. Students there went on to become church leaders, teachers, nurses, lawyers, administrators and workers in a variety of technical and professional fields.

With her marriage to Héctor Valencia on Jan. 1, 1950, Mary began serving with him in various Presbyterian ministries. She served in the Mennonite school Colegio Americano, teaching English, religion, home economics and as a counselor and director of the primary department.

Valencia is survived by two children, María Victoria of Bogotá, Colombia, and Daniel Alfonso of Heidelberg, Germany, and two grandchildren. —Mennonite Mission Network

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