26 May Death of Missionary Jill Van Deusen

Jill Van Deusen (right), 70, a former missionary in Sierra Leone, passed away on Thursday, May 23, at the University of Toledo Medical Center.

Jill, a native of Hillsdale, Mich., served as a teacher in Sierra Leone for nine years. After returning from Sierra Leone, she worked two years in Washington DC with Angel Tree Prison Fellowship, and then moved to Archbold, Ohio, where she taught school at Four County Career Center, near Archbold, and also worked at the Archbold Library. She was a member of the Archbold Evangelical Church.

Both the visitation and funeral will be held on Tuesday, May 28, at Archbold Evangelical Church, 705 Lafayette Street, Archbold, Ohio 43502.

Visitation time: 11 am – 1 pm Tueday, May 28.
Funeral time: 1 pm Tuesday, May 28.

Jill’s online obituary is with the Grisier Funeral Home in Archobold.

Jill Van Deusen almost died in Africa. One morning in August 1979, Jill woke up almost completely paralyzed. Her condition was quickly diagnosed as Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare disease of the spinal cord. She was quickly evacuated to the Netherlands, accompanied by Dr. Ron Baker and Sharon Birdsall (now Sharon Cherry). She gradually recovered, and returned to the United States on October 3, 1979. Jill later bravely returned to Sierra Leone to continue serving, but her body just couldn’t handle it, and her term was cut short.

You can read online the entire story of her illness and the emergency evacuation.