Elizabeth Manget Minter

Elizabeth Manget Minter A courageous and caring woman who dedicated her life to her family, her church, and serving human kind is how her family described Elizabeth Minter. Mrs. Minter, 98, died June 22, 2009 at Westminster Manor in Austin, Texas. Mrs. Minter was born in Houchow, China in 1910 where her parents were medical missionaries for the Methodist Church. She was home schooled until age eleven when she went to boarding school in Shanghai. She read and spoke Chinese fluently. She graduated from Duke University in 1932 and received a Masters in Christian Education from Yale University in 1934. Mrs. Minter married John P. Minter of Austin, Texas and in 1937 returned to Suzhou, China with her husband and first-born son (Fred) as missionaries for the Presbyterian Church. She assisted in the mission work while having her second son (David) in 1940 and raising a family. When the Japanese invasion of China during World War II reached Beijing, she was evacuated by ship with her two small sons. Her husband, John, got out of China in November 1941 on the last ship to leave before Pearl Harbor. During the war, Mrs. Minter had her third son (Jack) in 1944. Mrs. Minter and family returned to China in 1946 and worked to help the Presbyterian Church there recover from the war. In 1949, they again had to flee China on twelve hours notice when the communist army approached Suzhou during the Chinese civil war. After leaving China, Mrs. Minter continued her support of church work in the United States assisting her husband in the Presbyterian pastorates in Cuero, Sherman, Houston, and Austin and was very active in Church Women United and Meals on Wheels. She was an active member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Austin. Mrs. Minter is survived by her sons, Fred and wife Jewel Lee Minter, David Minter, Jack and wife Mary Ann Minter; her grandchildren, John and wife Margaret Minter, David and wife Mechelle Minter, Melissa and husband Ivo Demitrov, Becky and husband John Rectenwald, Sara and husband Isaac Cline, Audree and husband Jeff Miller, Todd Minter, Nicole Healey, Emily and husband Brian Burden, David and wife Beth O'dell; and 15 great-grandchildren. A Memorial Service will be held for Saturday, June 27, 2009 at Westminster Presbyterian Church at 3:00 p.m. Her family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations should be made to the John P. and Elizabeth Minter Scholarship Fund at Austin College, Office of Development, Austin College, 900 North Grand Avenue, Suite 6, Sherman, Texas, 75090-4400.