Ardis Jane Bystrom, September 24, 1919 — January 16, 2019

Ardis Jane Brown Bystrom was born in North Star, Michigan on September 24, 1919 to Bessie Fraser Brown and Alfred Walter Brown. She had one brother, Joy and two sisters, Nita and Rhea. She became a Christian at an early age and felt called to become a missionary as a young adult.

She attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois, graduating in 1942. While at Moody she also met her husband, Kenneth Neil Bystrom, whom she married in December of that same year. Ken and Ardis joined Team Mission as missionaries and served in Colombia from 1943 through 1946 and then in Venezuela.

In 1952 Ken joined the American Bible Society to head up their office in Caracas. Ardis worked at the Canadian Embassy and raised their two young children. In 1963 Ken was asked to assume additional responsibility which involved significant travel and the family moved to Mexico City.

While there Ardis worked for an elite executive recruitment firm and attended the University of the Americas, studying history and psychology, while her children attended school in the United States. Ardis’ welcoming nature, her love of cooking and her natural affinity for entertainment endeared her to many around the world, especially pie lovers. She was humble, incredibly wise and a devoted biblical historian, reading her Bible through every year and teaching her children, Sunday School class and Women’s Group to absorb Scripture.

Her character was kind, generous, encouraging and gutsy in the face of adversity. She believed you could do whatever you set your mind to and that we all need abundant hugs. But most importantly she continually strove to emulate her friend and Lord, Jesus Christ.

It has been easy for her family to understand the Lord’s concepts and love through her example. She will be dearly missed by her daughter, Nancy, her daughter-in-law, Wanda Rowley, and two grandchildren, Tracey Gardner and Tom Bystrom, and their children. She will also be missed by many around the world.

But we can all be comforted in the knowledge of Ardis’ new heavenly home and reunion with her much loved husband, Ken, their son and other loved ones there. No doubt she is coordinating the entertainment of many of the saints and discussing biblical history with Jesus. We so look forward to seeing her again one day and enjoying a heavenly meal at her table.

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