REMEMBERING FRAN
HIEBERT – REFLECTIONS FROM A FRIEND
Mary A. Meye
wife of Dr. Bob Meye (former Dean, the Fuller School
of Theology)
Fran Hiebert was a dear, dear friend-along with her husband
Paul. I count her among my very dearest friends within a large seminary circle.
Not only did I know her from many social and seminary related moments, but she
and Paul lived with us for several months during a time of transition. To know
her was to love her.
But, please note: Even while Fran was a great woman to have at your side and on your
side, at the same time her sense of fairness and justice meant that if you were
on the side of wrong, she was a fearsome opponent. Good for her!
Fran and her husband Paul were rather the Ying and the Yang of human personality
types. Paul, always gentle and retiring, Fran not always
gentle, and not given to retreat. But always for the
cause of righteousness. And there they were conjoined disciples of
Jesus.
Fran was a truly intelligent Christian person. She always let the light of
the Gospel of Christ shine on the kaleidoscope of human and social
conditions, and responded according to that light. Her Mennonite roots held
her in good stead, and blessed us all.
Fran was a dear Christian friend, whom to remember is to miss-to miss a lot.
But to remember her is to be blessed by her, in the here and now. May God
continue to raise up women--and men--who walk with her
in the way of the Lord.
[Editor’s Note:
The Hieberts stayed with Meyes for 3 months in the
transition between Fuller and Trinity. ]
Published in the special issue “A
Memoriam of Paul G. Hiebert”
www.globalmissiology.org