Marian Hilda (Claassen) Franz

Marian Hilda Claassen Franz

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Marian Hilda Claassen Franz of Washington, D.C. died Nov. 17 after a two-year struggle with cancer. She was 76.

Franz was born in Newton on Oct. 12, 1930, to Ernest G. Claassen and Justine Wiebe Claassen of Whitewater.

In 1954, she received a bachelor of arts degree in social sciences and religion from Bethel College in North Newton. She also earned a master's degree in religious education from Mennonite Biblical Seminary in 1957 and graduated magna cum laude.

She married Delton Franz in 1954 and, after brief pastorates in Kansas, moved to the south side of Chicago to attend Mennonite Biblical Seminary. In Chicago, the Franzes began an inter-racial Mennonite church. They were active in the Civil Rights Movement and coordinated rallies and speaking engagements with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In the 1950s and 60s, Marian worked for the Church Federation of Greater Chicago and became director of Weekday Religion Education (then run in cooperation with public schools) for one third of the area of Chicago. She wrote articles for the International Journal of Religious Education.

In 1968, the Franzes moved to Washington, D.C., to open the Washington Office of Mennonite Central Committee, an international relief, development and peacebuilding agency.

In 1971, she helped found Dunamis, a Christian organization that spoke to policymakers about political issues facing the nation. She became its first director.

In 1982, Mrs. Franz became the first full-time director of the National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund. As a lobbyist, she called upon members of Congress to create legislation that would allow persons who are conscientiously opposed to war to pay all of their tax obligations without having their money used to fund military force.

"Taxes have enormous consequences. They kill twice," Franz said. "First, they directly enable war ... particularly paying for weapons. Second, taxes allocated for war represent a distortion of priorities. Money is taken away from the important work of healing and spent to destroy and kill."

She was one of the founders of the Faith and Politics Institute and served on the board for 14 years. The non-partisan, inter-faith organization was founded in 1991 to help public officials stay in touch with their faith and deeper values as they shape public policy.

In recent years, Marian commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Selma Civil Rights March with President Clinton and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

She made numerous trips to Europe to attend international conferences that promoted conscientious objection to the payment of military taxes. She also gave testimony before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in New York.

She was one of the founders of Conscience and Peace Tax International, which works through international movements and institutions, such as the United Nations and the European Union, to obtain recognition of conscientious objection to paying for armaments and war.

At the time of her death, she was CPTI's International chairperson and would have chaired the international conference in Berlin, Germany, in October 2006, but was unable to because of her health.

Marian stepped down from her post as executive director of the Peace Tax Fund in 2006 to dedicate herself full time to fighting an aggressive recurring cancer.

She was preceded in death by her husband and siblings Vernon and Doris Claassen.

She is survived by her three children, Gregory Franz of Los Angeles, Gayle Franz of Newton and Coretta Franz-Eby of Lancaster, Pa.; a son-in-law, Rich Eby and two grandchildren, Justine and Adam Franz-Eby, all of Lancaster, Pa.; and sister-in-law Eldine Franz Harder of North Newton.

A memorial service will be Feb. 17 at Hyattsville Mennonite Church in Hyattsville, Md.

Memorials may be sent to Mennonite Central Committee of Akron, Penn., 21 South 12th Street, PO Box 500, Akron, PA. 17501.