Paul G. Landis, 83

Paul Gotwals Landis, 83 years old, was born in August of 1938 to Wilmer Meyers Landis and Lorraine Schueck Gotwals in Elroy, Pennsylvania. He died Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, at Logan Health in Kalispell.

His early education was done in Pennsylvania for the first eight years, after which the family moved to Virginia. He completed the remainder of his early, formal education at Eastern Mennonite High School and Eastern Mennonite College, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Education degree. While there, he met Suzanne Schlosser Christophel and they were married in June of 1960. To this union were born four children, Gretchen, Heidi, Krista and Philip. Paul, Suzanne and family lived and worked at Sandy Lake in Northern Alberta for six years with Mennonite Missions in a Voluntary Service Unit where he taught school, was radio operator for the unit's minimal air traffic and contact with other units in Northern Alberta, and worked as maintenance man for the school and mission buildings.

Following this stint, they moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where he pursued a Master of English Education degree. During this time, he was led to see his talents for the ministry, so their next move was to Harrisonburg, Virginia, so he could attend Eastern Mennonite Seminary and complete his Master of Divinity degree. He accepted an associate pastor's position at Pleasant View Mennonite Church near Goshen, Indiana, where their son, Philip, was born. His next call was to West Zion Mennonite Church near Carstairs, Alberta, where they lived and worked for five years. The next move was to Calgary, Alberta, to teach again. When this job closed, he was principal at Demarais, Alberta, for one year, but the 10-hour drives one way from Calgary and back got to be too much, especially during the winter months. He was a great provider for his family, when he was out of work at all, it was not long before he had another job. Some of these years were spent working on a hog and chicken farm near Carstairs. Later on, he worked with and pastored a group of Laotian believers in Calgary and their hearts became tightly knit together as he officiated at their weddings, baptisms, funerals and took part in their wonderful potlucks.

He and Suzanne divorced in 1995 and, in the interim, he memorized the whole Gospel of Mark so “I would stay in a positive place in the midst of such turmoil and unrest.” In December of 1997, he married Edie Kauffman of Kalispell and they made their home on the farm where he worked. He continued working on the farm, and with his Laotian friends and their community in Calgary on weekends. When he retired from the farm work, he and Edie moved to Montana where they became active once more in the Mountain View Mennonite Church near Creston. Here he attended until his death, taking part in worship, teaching Sunday school and filling the pulpit betimes when the minister had to be gone.

Paul loved to study various subjects, but especially the Bible. He was a very apt teacher and his illustrations during any talks he gave gave deeper understanding to those listening. He corrected Bible study lessons of prisoners for the Gospel Echoes Prison Ministries and was always reaching out to others anywhere he went to tell them of Jesus' love and kindness toward them, inviting them to accept Jesus to be their Savior in order to have a place with God when came their time to leave this life. He had some pretty quirky taste combinations when it came to food and loved to have sweet and salty tastes together. This made for some pretty funny raised eyebrows during mealtimes with his family, but they learned he “ate to live, not the other way around.” (quote-unquote) His love of chess and Scrabble made him a formidable player at either, so If someone bested him, it was a feat of honor for them.

Paul was preceded in death by his parents, Wilmer and Lorraine Landis, his daughter, Gretchen and a grandson, Nicholas Morgan.

He is survived by his wife, Edie Kauffman-Landis, of Kalispell; daughters, Heidi Christophel of Red Deer, Alberta, and Krista McGinn of Kitchener, Ontario, and his son, Philip of Calgary; brothers, Earl and wife Annie of Akron, Pennsylvania, and James and wife Doris of Waynesboro, Georgia; sisters, Darlene and Charles Saunders of Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, Sara Ann and Robert Kane of Stark City, Missouri, and Christine and Marlin Burkholder of Linville, Virginia. His surviving grandchildren are Tatyana Morgan, Jessica Guenter, Rebecca McGinn, Gordon McGinn and Cranmer McGinn.

Johnson-Gloschat Mortuary is caring for the family.

Cremation has taken place and Paul's ashes will be scattered at a later date by family.

Memorials can be made to Gospel Echoes Prison Ministry based in Tangent, Oregon/gospelechoes.com for which he corrected prisoners' Bible study lessons for many years.