Allan Ralph Mast, 85, of Hesston, Kan., died Dec. 26, 2024, at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, Kan. He was born Oct. 12, 1939, in Harrisonville, Mo., to Jonathan M. and Sarah Alma (Hershberger) Mast.
He graduated from Hesston College in 1959 and Goshen College in 1961 with a bachelor’s degree. After college, he completed two years of voluntary service in Mennonite Central Committee’s Pax program, living near Salzburg, Austria, where he and other “Pax Boys” built houses and a church for Yugoslavian refugees after World War II.
He married Jeannene Reschly on Aug. 10, 1968, at Hesston Mennonite Church. They shared over 56 years of marriage.
He worked as a typesetter for the Hesston Record newspaper from 1965 to 2003. In 1991, he and Jeannene became custodians at Hesston Mennonite Church, where they were members.Family and genealogy were important to him. He sang with the Kansas Mennonite Men’s Chorus. Every summer held at least one road trip to visit family, reunite with “Pax Boys” or see friends.
He is survived by his wife; daughter Anita Christian (Matt) of Hutchinson; son Timothy of Newton; one grandson; brother John (Margaret); sisters-in-law Linda Schrock and Lois Stauffer (Ken); and brother-in-law Don Diller (Debbie).
He was preceded in death by his parents; parents-in-law John and Alice Reschly; sister-in-law Jane (Reschly) Diller; and brother-in-law Delbert Schrock.
