Stanley C. Shenk, 91, of Goshen, died at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, at Greencroft Healthcare where he had resided since Monday. He had been ill for about a week. Formerly of 1406 S. 12th St., he had lived at Greencroft since 2002.

He was born March 30, 1919, in Denbigh, Va., to Coffman and Icie Pearl (Shank) Shenk, who died in 1987 and 1922, respectively. His stepmother, Retta Boyer Shenk, died in 1999.

He married Doris Sell on June 20, 1942, in Souderton, Pa. She died Oct. 13, 2004.

Surviving are four children: Dave (Shirley) Shenk of Elkhart, Dan (Vera) Shenk of Goshen, Rhoda (Bob) Keener of Shippensburg, Pa., and Phil (Alice) Shenk of Goshen; 13 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and two brothers, Charles (Liz) Shenk, Columbus, Ohio, and Martin (Rosemary) Shenk, Biglerville, Pa.

Shenk was a member of Clinton Frame Mennonite Church, Goshen, and several professional organizations.

He grew up in Denbigh, Va.; Versailles, Mo.; the Washington, D.C., area; and Biglerville. He graduated from Eastern Mennonite College, Harrisonburg, Va., in 1943 and Goshen College in 1944. He attended Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Princeton Theological Seminary and graduated from Biblical Seminary, New York City, in 1959. He received his doctorate from New York University in 1971; his thesis was titled “The Image of the Mennonites in American Novels, 1900 to 1970.”

Shenk taught at Eastern Mennonite College, 1945-48; Christopher Dock Mennonite High School, Lansdale, Pa., 1958-60; Upper Moreland High School near Philadelphia, 1961-63; and Goshen College as a Bible professor, 1965-85. He also taught Bible courses in India (1975-76 and 1986), Japan (1985) and Singapore (1986). He led about a dozen tours to the Holy Land, including several Goshen College Middle East Bible Seminars. In 1959 he led a Mennonite Central Committee contingent to Newfoundland, and in 1974 he did a research project on the Coptic churches of Egypt.

Ordained to the Christian ministry in 1949, he served as pastor of South Union Mennonite Church, West Liberty, Ohio, 1949-57; interim pastor of Bristol (Pa.) Mennonite Church, 1963-65; and assistant pastor at Clinton Frame Mennonite Church, Goshen, 1965-73. In his retirement he also had a preaching ministry with a number of Mennonite churches in the Midwest.

Shenk wrote extensively, including about 700 youth Sunday school lessons, 1950-63; hundreds of articles, poems and book reviews, mostly for Mennonite publications; and four books, “Youth and Nonresistance” (1953), “Mission in Asia” (1988), “The Book of Hezekiah” (publication pending) and “Common Sense About the Second Coming” (unpublished).

Friends may call from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday and for one hour prior to the service Monday at Clinton Frame Mennonite Church, 63846 C.R. 35, Goshen. The funeral service will be conducted at 1 p.m. Monday at Clinton Frame, with a meal following. Pastors Terry Diener and Jeff Mumaw will officiate. At 9 a.m. Tuesday family and friends will gather at Yoder-Culp Funeral Home, Goshen, and proceed to Violett Cemetery for burial.

Memorials may be given to Goshen College, Greencroft Foundation or Mennonite Women USA.