The funeral is set for Saturday, September 4 at 4 p.m. at the Bible Presbyterian Church in Walker, Iowa

Jean Franzenburg Belz, widow of Max Belz, founding pastor of the Bible Presbyterian Church in Walker, Iowa (1948) and of Cono Christian School (1951) died late on Tuesday, August 31 from complications of a massive stroke the previous Wednesday.

She is survived by eight children and many, many grand-children and great-grand children – many of whom are involved vocationally in Christian ministry. A detailed obituary is being prepared by the family, and The Aquila Report will publish that in a later article.

The funeral is set for Saturday, September 4 at 4 p.m. at the Bible Presbyterian Church in Walker, Iowa. The family would like to have relatives and friends come as early in the day as possible, since they will have a one-hour musical and scriptural tribute to Jean Belz at 2:30 p.m., involving as many as possible.

At a family reunion this past July, the last time many of the family (particular the large extended family) had a change to see Jean, one of the grandson said,
“The last night of the reunion I said goodnight to Grandma, beautiful woman, in her pajamas. She squinted at me as she crawled under covers: ‘Do you get moody? Do you worry?’ This was unprovoked. I told her I don’t really get moody, but I do worry over things I don’t control. ‘Well don’t,’ she said, and closed her eyes. ‘God is on his throne.'”

One of Jean’s sons, Andrew, is the Chancellor of Cono Christian School and was present last week on Wednesday (August 25) when she suffered the stroke and has left a journal of events through the helpful assistance of one of the web sites that helps families separated by distance keep track of illness and injuries of loved ones. This one was CaringBridge.org.

Following are some edited extracts from the posts that Andrew made during the events leading up to his Mother’s death.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010 10:45 PM. Mom suffered a massive stroke on the right side of her brain, affecting the left side of her body, while at the Cono dining room tonight, at roughly 6:20. She went by ambulance to St. Luke’s Hospital (in nearby Cedar Rapids, Iowa). The neurologist administered medicine through her femoral artery. She has a blood clot in her brain, and the somewhat invasive administration of this is necessary to address the blockage quickly. This intervention has been undertaken since she made it to the hospital within a window of opportunity. For 14 out of 15 patients, the TPA treatment significantly improves their quality of life.

Thursday, August 26, 2010 1:58 PM. I arrived at St. Luke’s ICU at 10:30 this morning. Mom was just back in her cubicle from a CAT scan of the head. It was good news that she took last night’s treatment well, and the outlook seems bright for her regaining some use of her faculties. But I am sure we’ve entered a new phase of Mom’s care.

Mom spoke with the nurse just a few minutes before I arrived. She knew that she was in the hospital (wasn’t sure which one), and could squeeze with her right hand. She does not have movement on her left side. She will be taking medication over the next several hours to even out her heart beat, which was irregular when she arrived last night. The irregularity may have been responsible for throwing the clot out into her brain. She took the IV medicines well last night. She may get out of ICU in the next 24 to 48 hours, but will remain hospitalized for several days.

Thursday, August 26, 2010 7:38 PM. Just talked with the floor physician who gave a much more grim outlook. The next 24 hours is critical for either an uptick or, frankly, death. The brain swelling, an expected result of the TPA last night, is significant in Mom’s head, and if it continues, the limited size of the skull will bring even further pinching and loss of blood flow to key functions, like breathing and heart muscle, and, I would guess, the kidneys. The CPU staff is in a holding pattern today and through tomorrow to see which way it goes. Just watching. We are prepared to welcome her back to health, or let her go.

Friday, August 27, 2010 3:42 PM. This morning brought clarification on Mom’s present condition and her future prospects. Mom suffered a massive stroke on Wednesday night that leaves her entire left side, toe to head, immobile. It’s not that she’s missing her left eye, but that she leaves out the left side of perceived reality. It is not clear if she will be able to swallow.

For these couple of days, perhaps through Monday morning when we have another meeting, Mom is sleeping, breathing hard on lots of extra oxygen, with great company around her: Julie, Mary, Sara, Chris McMorris, Adam, Mary Anna, Jeanna, on a rotational basis. We have deeply appreciated your calls, prayers and words.

Saturday, August 28, 2010 9:35 PM. No real change, this Saturday evening. She’s resting comfortably, with caring hands all around. The family is so grateful for all of the prayer, messages and support!

Monday, August 30, 2010 4:22 PM. (From Sara) This morning Mother’s condition has declined further, and the neurologist’s morning exam showed less responsiveness. It appears that she may live only a few more days, and so she has entered hospice care at St. Luke’s. Andrew, Julie, and Mary have been with her yesterday and today. We are all grateful to God for his rich mercy and comfort expressed through so many of Mom’s friends and ours. We are sad, thankful, and worshipful.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010 21:53 PM. No change here in Room 553, overlooking the little Cedar Lake next to Quaker Oats, in Cedar Rapids. The sky is dark gray this morning, and we’ve had a nice rain. In celebrating Mom’s life, we want to enjoy together some things that she also treasured and taught us! When the time comes for a service, we look forward to lots of music, so get your voices and instruments ready. Butterhorns and cinnamon rolls will be prepared, and if you have other ideas, let us know. The family has treasured reading the many notes of encouragement and memories, thanks very much.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010 7:31 PM. Our dear, sweet mother, with the Lord at 7:15 p.m. Iowa time.

In addition to Andrew’s postings, more than 100 people signed the guestbook with promises of prayer and encouragement. Some from former students were especially, precious, such as:
· PS sorry for being such a pain, as a student;
· Quickly, she rebuked me but in such a way that I was caught off guard. She simply said, “Jxxxx, listen up so you don’t leave here ignorant.” In an instant, I was forced to look inward and decide in that moment what kind of person I was going to be;
· Once I walked in to her house and she said, “Jxxxxxxx, do you want to follow in your parents’ footsteps.” “Yes.”. Next thing I knew, I found myself out picking flowers and making arrangements for every table in the Hearth Room.

In an issue of WORLD Magazine dated December 13, 2008, Susan Olasky wrote this tribute to Jean Belz, and it tells much of the story of her life and Cono Christian School. Readers of The Aquila Report may be aware that another son, Joel Belz, is the Founder of WORLD. We thank WORLD for the permission to reprint this.

WALKER, IOWA—At age 89 Jean Belz still lives in a house on Cono’s 29-acre campus, which does not include its huge expanse of cornfields but does include several stands of trees and a cluster of buildings, comprised of six student dorms, a gym and classrooms, and a multi-purpose building where the school’s 96 students and 30 employees eat, play games, worship, and put on productions.

Jean Belz’s chair sits by the fireplace built by her husband Max from field stones gathered nearby. In that chair she reads her Bible and prays, a habit stretching back as long as anyone can remember. Congestive heart failure, glaucoma, and age have slowed her down. She doesn’t tend her garden like she used to. Cono students assigned to detention often work it off by doing chores in her yard.

As she sometimes watches students from her kitchen window, still taking note of stragglers who might be late to chapel—she can remember how she and Max moved to this land so that her husband could pastor a church. They had moved into the basement of a building, with the dining room table and a couch in the east end; kitchen appliances, washer, and the furnace in the middle; a fuel bin and fruit shelves on the west side. The whole family slept on another floor, with blankets making room partitions.

Max Belz was not only a pastor but an entrepreneur. He ran a grain business then a printing business and in 1951 added headmaster to his list of jobs. Joel Belz wrote in an obituary of his father, “Dad knew that not even the zeal of a fresh start was adequate to sustain any church over the long pull, and especially not in a rural area where population was declining. The children of the church must be kept, and taught, and secured for the church’s future.”

Cono started with two families, seven students, and a commitment to teaching Christianly. “I don’t want my children fed or clothed by the state,” Max Belz said, “but even worse would be to have them educated by the state.” A teacher, Dorothy Thompson, developed the curriculum, with Max Belz teaching Bible, music, and choir, and Jean Belz teaching English literature and Latin. Cono grew gradually throughout the 1950s, adding a few students from neighboring communities. It graduated its first class of two in 1957 and two more the next year.

In 1960 an expanded ministry beckoned, as the ninth-grade son of a missionary in Jordan moved in with the Belzes and attended Cono. Soon other missionary kids enrolled, and after them students from Ethiopia and Korea. In the 1980s and 1990s the school expanded its mission even further, welcoming students from around the country in various kinds of spiritual and familial distress. Current Cono chancellor Andrew Belz says Cono became “a redemptive school, a place for young people who needed a place to go away from home.”

Today, some kids come to Cono because of parental death or divorce. Some need to work out identity issues connected to adoption, or to find refuge from mean streets. Sometimes parents from abroad want their children to learn and improve their English language skills so they can pursue American higher education and increased opportunity.

Sometimes kids from single mother homes need to experience the love and discipline of surrogate fathers. But they all get the same: “love and limits in the name of Jesus.”

The constant over the years, according to Andrew Belz, has been his mom, who offered “good and abiding stuff: good food . . . an insistence on good music . . . good literature and good grammar . . . a good work ethic.” And Jean Belz’s hope for Cono graduates has been consistent: “lives of service and trust.” — Susan Olasky

Source: http://www.worldmag.com/articles/14767