Loren Albert Entz

Born ~ March 13, 1948

Date of Passing ~ June 27, 2026

Loren Albert Entz was born on March 13, 1948 in Newton, Kansas and passed away June 27, 2026 in Winnipeg, MB at the age of 78. On June 30, 2026 he was given a green burial at a small ceremony at Brookside Cemetery in Winnipeg.

Loren was born into the home of Albert Entz and Frieda (Busenitz) Entz. Both families had come from West Prussia in the 1870s. The extended families and church were their social life. They spoke High German as a family. Loren’s father had all the gifts needed to manage the farm and care for the land. The only time off work was Saturday evening to prepare Sunday school lessons. Loren’s mother was a practical cook, excellent seamstress, family historian, gardener, proverb reciter, singer, and nurturer of faith.

Loren was the fourth of eight siblings. The oldest three boys became father’s helpers. His mother claimed Loren to help in the house. He learned important life skills, all the more significant for the non-conventional life he would choose. His love of gardening and nutritious food would seem to have an obvious source.

Loren grew to be 6-foot-6 1/2 inches tall as an adult. Already at the age of 8 he was able to reach the gas pedal of the car. He would drive back roads to fields where his father was working. Driving was always a peaceful, happy place for him. He loved his VW Beetle in USA, his Honda 125 motorcycle, and his Peugeot 304 in Burkina Faso. When the family outgrew that Peugeot, the children couldn’t imagine changing. They said he had grown to know that Peugeot like a friend and a new car would be an unknown stranger.

He attended Elbing Grade School with his siblings and there he learned English. He went on to Berean Academy for high school, also in Elbing. He was a prankster yet still maintained good grades. Loren got to stay home from school some days to help on the farm because his father knew it wouldn’t hurt his grades. He was nicknamed "Stretch" by the band teacher in high school in a class that had four Lorens. At the age of 16, he chose to be baptized in his home church, Zion Mennonite, in Elbing. He would always remember the tears from that day, overwhelmed with God’s presence in his life.

The Entz household placed a high priority on service to humanity. During the Vietnam War, Loren’s older brothers scattered to do alternative service instead of joining the military. After two years at Bethel College, a church college in North Newton, KS, Loren chose to do his alternative service internationally with Fremont and Sara Regier in the Belgian Congo. There he visited villages, introducing rabbit-raising projects to help people generate income. The Bapende people, typically short of stature, named him “Deux Metres” because of his height. After his MCC service, he learned from a visiting Congolese that the good relationships he’d formed had had more impact than the project. People before programs became the guiding principle of his cross-cultural work.

After Congo, Loren enrolled in a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics degree at Kansas State University. He enjoyed the fellowship of campus Christian groups. One day an MCC recruitment team came to campus. Loren wanted to invite all five of them for lunch, but could only host one person in his residence. Donna Kampen volunteered. Over lunch, they each shared their dreams of working internationally.

The two didn’t keep in touch, but neither did they forget each other. Ten months, later Loren tracked Donna down at Hesston College where she was studying. Over the next two years, their dreams of international service together became concrete plans. Their wedding was a two-day celebration in the Mennonite Church of Fiske, Saskatchewan, August 4 and 5, 1976 with relatives and friends from the USA and Canada. The service was remembered for its music and its length.

After one year of training at the Mennonite Seminary, in Elkhart, Indiana, Loren and Donna were assigned to work in Burkina Faso with Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission (AIMM). It was the first time AIMM had sent workers to work among Muslims. In preparation, they studied French for a year in Le Chambon-Sur-Lignon, France. They arrived in Burkina Faso and began learning the Jula language with Muslim market merchants. They noticed how open the merchants were to faith discussions. Loren was given the Jula name “Seydou Jan,” meaning tall Seydou.

They were soon joined by team members, Dennis and Jeanne Rempel. The four taught Bible to Christians moving to the area from Mali. Soon God brought them in contact with Siaka Traore, a Burkinabè from a Muslim family who had become a follower of Jesus and was looking for other Christians. Siaka would become the founder of the Evangelical Mennonite Church of Burkina Faso.

Loren and Donna gave birth to Zachary in 1981 and to Mariam in 1984. They chose names for the children that were both Christian and Muslim, praying that the children would be bridge-builders between these two communities.

During a furlough in Canada with two small children and Donna expecting the third, Loren took over the household duties for a school year so that Donna could finish her Bachelor of Theology at Canadian Mennonite University. Donna got quite sick so Loren simply stepped up more and more. Aisha was born a week before Donna’s graduation in 1986. Her name is Hebrew for “a woman” and is also the name of the Prophet Muhammad’s beloved wife.

On their return to Burkina Faso with newborn Aisha, Loren and Donna met their French Mennonite co-workers, Paul and Martine Solomiac. The two couples decided to work among the Dzuun people and moved into neighbouring Dzuun villages. They all started learning the language. Loren and Donna did cultural research, and developed 70 stories that summarized the Old Testament for translation into Dzuun.

Living in the village of Saraba, Loren worked in the fields with the men, even learning to use the big hoe. Every planting season he would visit each of the farmers’ fields and give benedictions for good crops. In the later years, he would promote the planting of trees that reversed a serious nutritional deficiency. He spent time with the village elders almost daily. Because his focus was relationships, he found an easy balance between family and ministry. One of his favourite activities was playing games with his children.

Once the Dzuun Old Testament stories were recorded on cassettes, Loren and Donna sat together with the elders in two villages to listen to the stories. The elders understood these stories better than many Western readers because their cultural context situated them closer to the customs of Old Testament people. They were fascinated to hear stories of God in their own language. The few Dzuun followers of Jesus in the Solomiac village, began to learn the Psalms in their own language.

Loren loved the Psalms, and was happy to see Dzuun Psalms set to music with the balafon.

Loren’s strongest relationship was with an elder, Kwekpiri Ouattara, whom he visited regularly. Before the Entzes’ arrival in Saraba, Kwekpiri had lost two children in one week, a daughter in childbirth and a son in a truck accident. He’d become bitter. The Entzes chose Kwekpiri to help with checking and improving the Bible translation. He was especially touched by the story of Job and identified profoundly with him. After several years, the villagers noticed that Kwekpiri, through his contact with these stories, was no longer bitter. When he became the head elder in the village, he refused to perform an important annual ritual, which he deemed inconsistent with monotheism. Kwekpiri was profoundly influenced by the Bible stories, but he was buried as a Muslim, with Siaka and Loren both present. Loren read a Psalm at the funeral.

In 2008, after Loren experienced a heart crisis, the Entzes terminated their service in Burkina Faso and moved to California. There, at Fuller Seminary, Donna did a Masters program in intercultural studies. Loren was too sleep deprived to study, so he did the bulk of the household chores and volunteered at a food bank. He always found a way to be connected to food or the soil.

In 2010, Mennonite Church Alberta invited Loren and Donna to work in Edmonton. Donna accepted a position as a church planter while Loren, with decreasing strength, chose again to be the supportive spouse. A stroke in 2019 affected his balance, but he outfitted a furniture dolly with a crate in order to ride the bus to haul his groceries and his own garden produce. He did not want to own a private vehicle.

Once again he faced discouragement with no medical diagnosis. Donna was thriving, making connections with Muslims and refugees. Loren believed profoundly in this ministry. His role was to process Donna’s experiences with her and to be a gracious host for her many parties.

In 2021, Loren and Donna moved to Winnipeg to be close to their children and grandchildren after decades of living on different continents. They moved into a shared living arrangement called Prairie Rivers Coliving Cooperative. Loren enjoyed Sunday afternoon games with his grandchildren. Though undiagnosed, Loren’s health continued to decline. He still put his tired self at the service of his household. He did the book-keeping, grocery shopping, and the food bill up until the summer of 2025.

Loren had shown patience his whole life doing monotonous work or waiting peacefully for hours, but now this patience showed up as he struggled to move his very weak body. His patience exemplified his trust in God to work things out. With God’s help, the family cared for Loren, as he desired, in his home, until his last moments. He finally got his heart’s desire to be released into God’s presence.

Loren is survived by his wife Donna (Kampen), children: Zachary Entz (Robin Heppner Entz), Mariam Entz, and Aisha Entz; grandchildren: Abram, Naimah, Isaac and Elijah. He is also survived by his three brothers, four sisters-in-laws, two sisters, two brothers-in-law, six nephews, and three nieces. His parents and two brothers, Wilbur and Bernard, preceded him in death.

We as a family would like to thank our faith communities in Burkina Faso and Canada, including Muslim, for praying, calling, sending memories, visiting, bringing meals, and providing worship experiences to revive our spirits, Facebook friends who validated our challenges, medical staff, especially the occupational therapists that were invaluable, our households who stepped up with extra help physically and emotionally, our local friends who hugged us to sustain us, extended and mission family who kept showing up and checking in with us, work colleagues that provided flexibility in our work, and for Josiah Neufeld's help with the obituary.  

A Celebration of Life for Loren A. Entz

4:30 pm on Sunday, August 9, 2026

Bethel Mennonite Church, 465 Stafford St, Winnipeg, MB R3M 2E2.

Access to the church and its large parking lot is off of Harrow, west of and parallel to Stafford.

Livestream for the Celebration of Life is https://youtube.com/live/7UUf4UI1QC0?feature=share

For lodging, email Eric at CMU: EMunuhe@cmu.ca He would appreciate reservations by July 24.

Instead of flowers the family is requesting donations:

For Americans, please donate to AIMM. 

For Canadians, please donate to Mennonite World Conference.