# John Fretz Funk 1864 beginnings; 1867 move to Elkhart · Overview John Fretz Funk (1835–1930), named John Funk on the supplied chart, came from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He worked as a teacher and then in Chicago’s lumber trade before beginning a publishing business in January 1864. He moved himself and the business to Elkhart, Indiana, in 1867. His periodicals included Herald of Truth and Mennonitische Rundschau. He also published editions of Menno Simons’s writings and Martyrs’ Mirror, making the older witness available to new generations. Printing became a means of connecting dispersed congregations through teaching, news, discussion, and shared memory. Funk also assisted Mennonites migrating from the Russian Empire in the 1870s through the Mennonite Board of Guardians. His surviving papers at Mennonite Church USA Archives include correspondence, diaries, and other records of this wider work. The Elkhart marker thus belongs to a life of publishing, church leadership, and material assistance, rather than merely the opening of a print shop. - [Mennonite Church USA Archives: John Fretz Funk Papers, HM1/001](https://archives.mhsc.ca/index.php/john-f-john-fretz-funk-papers-1852-1929) - [GAMEO: John Fretz Funk (1835–1930)](https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Funk%2C_John_Fretz_%281835-1930%29) - [The Martyrs’ Mirror collection](/en/events/martyrs-mirror-1660/) - [Supplied timeline: named figure and dated activity](https://github.com/trueChristian/history.truechristian.church/blob/main/sources/church-history/photos/IMG_9379.jpg) --- Page: https://history.truechristian.church/en/people/john-fretz-funk/ [Contribute a correction or addition](https://github.com/trueChristian/history.truechristian.church/issues/new?title=Correction%3A+John+Fretz+Funk&body=%23%23+Page+or+topic%0AJohn+Fretz+Funk%0A%0APage%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fhistory.truechristian.church%2Fen%2Fpeople%2Fjohn-fretz-funk%2F%0A%0ARecord%3A+john-fretz-funk%0A%0ADate+currently+shown%3A+1864+beginnings%3B+1867+move+to+Elkhart%0A%0A%23%23+Correction+or+addition%0A%0A%0A%0A%23%23+Sources+and+evidence%0APlease+include+book%2Fpage+references%2C+archive+links%2C+or+first-hand+documentation.%0A%0A%0A%0A%23%23+Image+credit+%28if+applicable%29%0ACreator%2C+source%2C+and+permission+or+public-domain+basis.%0A%0A%0A%0ASubmitted+for+review%3B+this+issue+does+not+publish+changes+automatically.)