Collection HM1/998 - Paul N. Kraybill Papers 1958-1990

Paul Nissley Kraybill was born in rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1925 and grew up attending Bossler Mennonite Church in nearby Elizabethtown. He graduated from Lancaster Mennonite School in 1943 and later enrolled at Eastern Mennonite College in Harrisonburg, VA, graduating with a B.A. in English in 1955. While still a student at EMC, in 1953 he accepted a position as assistant secretary of the Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities in Salunga, PA, and in 1958 he was promoted to the position of overseas executive secretary. During his time with EMBMC, Kraybill earned a reputation as a skilled administrator and, in 1970, he was appointed executive secretary of the (old) Mennonite Church Study Commission on Church Organization. Shortly thereafter, Kraybill assumed the role of general secretary of the Mennonite Church General Board and moved to Lombard, IL, with his spouse, Jean (Metz), and five children. He served in this role until 1977 when he took on full-time responsibilities as the executive secretary of the Mennonite World Conference. Kraybill served MWC until 1990 when he answered a call to serve as president of the Mennonite Health Association, a position he held until he died from cancer in 1993 at the age of 67.