1927
Ivan
2011
Ivan Paternoster
March 10, 1927 — October 1, 2011
IVAN PATERNOSTER, 84, known to friends as ‘Pat,’ entered the Lord’s presence October 1, 2011, joining his beloved Juanita, who preceded him on August 23 after 55 years of marriage.
Born March 10, 1927, in Walthamstow (London), England, to Ernest Frederick and Barbara Beatrice Paternoster, he grew up with his two older brothers, Arthur and Leonard, and younger sister Sheila. The War would necessitate evacuation from London to escape air raids, and he would follow his brothers into the armed forces, serving 3 years in the Royal Navy at the conclusion of the war. In 1951, he went to Nigeria as an accountant with Lever Brothers’ West African Soap Company. It was in Nigeria, challenged by the life and witness of missionaries and African Christians he came to know, that he came to saving faith in Jesus. And it was in Nigeria that he met Juanita Kaiser, a young missionary from Michigan with the Nigerian Faith Mission in Uregi. Hearing God’s call to missionary work, Pat fulfilled his contract to Lever Brothers, returned to London for training at the Missionary School of Medicine, and then joined the NFM in Uregi.
In January 1956, he began the Missions course at Moody Bible Institute, and in June of that year, he and Juanita were married. They were together accepted in 1959 to the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM: now Serving in Mission), with whom they served until retirement in 1990. After Hausa language study and stints supplying management and leadership for furloughing missionaries (in everything from publishing to a village dispensary, the field treasury to leprosaria and an eye hospital), Pat and Juanita’s request was granted that they be assigned to the Niger Republic and evangelism to semi-nomadic Fulani north of the city of Zinder. The Fulani would remain their primary concern, though they would again serve in bookshop, leprosarium, business department and hospitality ministries.
Upon retirement, Pat and Juanita returned to Michigan, soon settling in Battle Creek, where they lived until being called home. They were active members at Cornerstone Community Church.
A lifelong passion of Pat’s was cycling. He was a member of the Herts and Essex Wheelers Club, a life member of the Cycle Touring Club, founder of the Ikorudu Road Cycling Club in Nigeria, and a member of the Battle Creek Cycling Club. He promoted cycling and assisted people to cycle whenever and wherever he could. He continued to ride until two weeks before his death.
Additionally, Pat enjoyed gardening, both vegetables and flowers, bird watching, playing the harmonica, photography, calligraphy and making greeting cards.
Pat is survived by his six children, their spouses and sixteen grandchildren.
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Cornerstone Community Church, 3030 Beckley Road, Battle Creek, MI 49015-9388.
Memorial contributions may be made to Cornerstone Community Church designated for the Fulani Project, or to Easter Seals.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.henryfuneralhome.org.
James L. Paternoster
Ann Arbor, Michigan
__________________________________________
I would only dispute an aspect of [his] nostalgia, which is not for his prime, but for the time just before. This is a common feeling—we remember fondly the time when the world was all before us—and a worthy one, since it does honor to those who taught us and helped us along . . . But nostalgia must not foreclose the present or the future. Yes, there were giants in the old days, but we have our own. . .
- R Brookhiser
Born March 10, 1927, in Walthamstow (London), England, to Ernest Frederick and Barbara Beatrice Paternoster, he grew up with his two older brothers, Arthur and Leonard, and younger sister Sheila. The War would necessitate evacuation from London to escape air raids, and he would follow his brothers into the armed forces, serving 3 years in the Royal Navy at the conclusion of the war. In 1951, he went to Nigeria as an accountant with Lever Brothers’ West African Soap Company. It was in Nigeria, challenged by the life and witness of missionaries and African Christians he came to know, that he came to saving faith in Jesus. And it was in Nigeria that he met Juanita Kaiser, a young missionary from Michigan with the Nigerian Faith Mission in Uregi. Hearing God’s call to missionary work, Pat fulfilled his contract to Lever Brothers, returned to London for training at the Missionary School of Medicine, and then joined the NFM in Uregi.
In January 1956, he began the Missions course at Moody Bible Institute, and in June of that year, he and Juanita were married. They were together accepted in 1959 to the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM: now Serving in Mission), with whom they served until retirement in 1990. After Hausa language study and stints supplying management and leadership for furloughing missionaries (in everything from publishing to a village dispensary, the field treasury to leprosaria and an eye hospital), Pat and Juanita’s request was granted that they be assigned to the Niger Republic and evangelism to semi-nomadic Fulani north of the city of Zinder. The Fulani would remain their primary concern, though they would again serve in bookshop, leprosarium, business department and hospitality ministries.
Upon retirement, Pat and Juanita returned to Michigan, soon settling in Battle Creek, where they lived until being called home. They were active members at Cornerstone Community Church.
A lifelong passion of Pat’s was cycling. He was a member of the Herts and Essex Wheelers Club, a life member of the Cycle Touring Club, founder of the Ikorudu Road Cycling Club in Nigeria, and a member of the Battle Creek Cycling Club. He promoted cycling and assisted people to cycle whenever and wherever he could. He continued to ride until two weeks before his death.
Additionally, Pat enjoyed gardening, both vegetables and flowers, bird watching, playing the harmonica, photography, calligraphy and making greeting cards.
Pat is survived by his six children, their spouses and sixteen grandchildren.
A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Cornerstone Community Church, 3030 Beckley Road, Battle Creek, MI 49015-9388.
Memorial contributions may be made to Cornerstone Community Church designated for the Fulani Project, or to Easter Seals.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.henryfuneralhome.org.
James L. Paternoster
Ann Arbor, Michigan
__________________________________________
I would only dispute an aspect of [his] nostalgia, which is not for his prime, but for the time just before. This is a common feeling—we remember fondly the time when the world was all before us—and a worthy one, since it does honor to those who taught us and helped us along . . . But nostalgia must not foreclose the present or the future. Yes, there were giants in the old days, but we have our own. . .
- R Brookhiser
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