Text of Dean's obituary in the local newspapers

NAPPANEE - Dean L. Hochstetler, 78, of 1752 Waterfall Drive, died at 4 a.m. Monday (Oct. 30, 2006) at home.

He was born Oct. 6, 1928, in Marshall County to William and Mary (Maust) Hochstetler, graduated from Bremen High School in 1947 and married Edna M. Swartzentruber on Dec. 7, 1952. She died April 25, 2006.

He is survived by three sons, Clair (Carole Anne) of Goshen, Verle of rural Bremen and Lee (Susan), currently in North Carolina, on leave from a Wycliffe Bible Translators assignment in Mali, West Africa.

He also is survived by eight grandchildren; two sisters, Mary Ellen Kaufman and Miriam Hochstetler of rural Nappanee; and one brother, Alan Hochstetler of Williamsburg, Va.

He was preceded in death by one brother, Eugene; and one son, Donald.

Friends may call from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Thompson-Lengacher and Yoder Funeral Home, 950 N. Main St., Nappanee, and from 2 until the 4 p.m. Sunday memorial service and celebration of life at Yellow Creek Mennonite Church, 64901 C.R. 11, Goshen, at C.R. 38.

Mr. Hochstetler donated his body to the Anatomical Education Center of IU Medical Center in Indianapolis.

Mr. Hochstetler and his wife, Edna, had been involved with the Yellow Creek Mennonite Church congregation for the past 15 years. He was owner/operator and later a partner with his son, Verle, of Equipment Service, a welding and farm-machinery repair business between Nappanee and Bremen.

He also traveled widely around the world with his wife and became a skilled counselor, pioneering a Christian spiritual deliverance ministry spanning more than 40 years. On May 25, 1986, Mr. Hochstetler was officially ordained by the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference as the first person to be credentialed for this particular specialized ministry in the history of the denomination. For the past 10 years, he focused on teaching and leadership development to assure the continuation of this ministry for the generations to follow.

Dean enjoyed flying as a private pilot, was a classical music aficionado and was widely read in a variety of disciplines. He was trilingual and enjoyed interactions with people from many cultures, traveling in over 40 countries, most of them alongside his wife. Enjoying her faithful support in the spiritual ministry, they often hosted friends and guests from across the country and around the world in their home.

Memorials may be given to the Mission Commission of Yellow Creek Mennonite Church, to be utilized to support the training experiences and expenses of people involved in spiritual deliverance ministry.

[Above is the text of the edited obituary as it appeared in The Elkhart Truth, October 31, 2006. Click on this for the original obituary as submitted by the family and printed word-for-word the same day in the South Bend Tribune - as far as I know, still available online with no password required to access it.]