A mission trailblazer will unlikely be forgotten because of the legacy he left behind.
The Rev. Carl C. Beck, whose warm spirit, business acumen, and frugal ways touched those he served in Japan, died Dec. 8, 2011. The Archbold, Ohio, native was 92.
Beck was preceded in death by his wife, Esther, who served with him in Japan through Mennonite Board of Missions, a predecessor agency of Mennonite Mission Network. The Becks, along with Genevieve and Ralph Buckwalter, were the agency’s first mission workers to Japan.
Before Japan, Beck served with Civilian Public Service during World War II from 1941 to 1945 in Wells Tannery, Pa.; Farnhurst, Del.; and Marlboro, N.J. He graduated from Goshen (Ind.) College in 1948, Goshen Biblical Seminary in 1949, and on Sept. 11 of that year, he was ordained at West Clinton Mennonite Church in Wauseon, Ohio. Soon after, the Becks began mission work in Japan.
Beck was known for being personable and warm, as he led people to Christ and helped to plant Japan’s first Mennonite church in Hokkaido. He also helped to plant churches in Osaka and Tokyo. Beck was active in peace ministry. In the 1960s and 70s he initiated reconciliation work camps between Japanese, Korean and other Asian young people. He was also one of the conveners of the Hayama Missionary Seminar, an annual ecumenical conference, originally intended to focus on peace studies.
Japan is also where Beck’s business acumen paid off in a way that is unusual for a mission worker.
At that time, mission workers were encouraged to earn income to sustain themselves, said Charles Shenk, who, with his late wife, Ruth, served alongside the Becks beginning in 1957.
“Most of us taught a little or a lot of English. He (Beck) opened up an import-export business. He imported laundering and drying machinery to set up his own coin laundry, a venture which developed into a larger enterprise.”
Beck also bought some inexpensive land that was available. Little did he know that Japan would experience a post-war boom that would dramatically increase the land’s value. Beck sold the land, and at the end of their service, the Becks returned from Japan with millions of dollars, which they put to use for God’s kingdom.
“Most of this money they put in a fund controlled by a board under West Clinton Mennonite Church,” said Peter Graber, director of development for Mennonite Mission Network. “That fund, now independent from the congregation, gives every year to numerous mission causes, including Mission Network.”
The fund has also provided education scholarships for several people, Shenk said.
“I remember him fondly, as one of our senior, mentoring co-workers, and was glad for the overlap time that we had in Japan over the years,” Shenk said.
Beck remained “extremely frugal” in his own lifestyle, but he was a “possibilities thinker when it came to mission and the church,” Graber said.
After retiring from mission work and returning to the United States in the early 1990s, the Becks settled into a small home in the hills of Sonora, Calif. They raised chickens and sold eggs. They worshiped among an Old Order German Baptist group near their home and aided the church’s mission efforts.
“Visiting Carl was always a special treat,” Graber said. “… I found him in his garden wearing his old straw hat with a coffee can tied around his neck with a string. That way he could harvest berries with both hands.”
The Becks returned often to Japan for three to four months at a time, visiting with family and local church members. After his wife’s death in 2001, Beck stayed in California until 2008 when he returned to Archbold and moved into an apartment at Fairlawn Retirement Community. More recently, he moved to Fairlawn Haven Nursing Home, where he died.
Beck is survived by five children, Carol (Hiroshi) Yamamoto of Japan, John Beck of Mexico, Sarah Monfils (Scott) Warman of Roanoke, Va., Sharon (Bill) McCloe of Charleston, W.Va., and Yurie Julie Takishima of Honolulu, Hawaii; seven grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and a sister-in-law, Darlene Beck, of Archbold.
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Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact Andrew Clouse at andrewc@mmnworld.net, 574-523-3024 or 866-866-2872, ext. 23024.
