View source for Pelsy, Valentin (1870-1925)

Valentin Pelsy (1870-1925), a Mennonite leader and [[Elder (Ältester)|elder]] of Alsace-Lorraine, was born in 1870 at Rhodes, near Saarburg, Lorraine. In consequence of a leg fracture in his youth that required many operations he was excused from military service. In 1888 his parents moved to Gosselmingen; there Valentin was responsible for the mill as well as the farm. He was led to study at the Bible school at Chrischona near [[Basel (Switzerland)|Basel]], Switzerland, by his friend Pierre Sommer, who had earlier attended that school. Later he and his brother Paul farmed the Mückenhof near Saarburg, which was burned down at the beginning of [[World War (1914-1918)|World War I]]. The brothers rebuilt it as well as they could and continued their farming. In 1920 Valentin married Marie Wagler of Schneckenbusch and settled on the farm of his grandparents at Gosselmingen.

Valentin Pelsy exerted a deep influence in his home congregation Saarburg, where he was ordained as preacher and elder in 1898. He also served in the neighboring congregations, such as [[Morhange (Lorraine, France)|Morhange]] (Mörchingen). He had no little part in the spiritual revival in the Mennonite congregations in [[Alsace (France)|Alsace]] and Lorraine. In 1925 he was chosen as president of the newly organized conference of these congregations. With tact and self-sacrifice he served as an organizer and as a pastor. Unfortunately his service was of short duration, for he died on 23 November 1925.
= Bibliography =
<em class="gameo_bibliography">Almanach Mennonite du Cinquantenaire 1901-1951</em>. Montbéliard, 1951.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. ''Mennonitisches Lexikon'', 4 vols. Frankfurt &amp; Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. I, 560; v. II, 340.

<em class="gameo_bibliography">Mennonitischer Gemeinde-Kalender</em> (formerly <em class="gameo_bibliography">Christlicher Gemeinde-Kalender</em>) (1927): 137.
{{GAMEO_footer|hp=Vol. 4, p. 133|date=1959|a1_last=Geiser|a1_first=Samuel|a2_last= |a2_first= }}