Edwin Jan Dubisz devoted his life to missionary work, serving in the Upper Volta for four decades. He died on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015, in Sebring, Florida where he lived in a Sudan Interior Mission Retirement Village. He was 88.

Mr. Dubisz was a member of the Westerlo Baptist Church, which supported his work as a missionary.

He was born in Chicago on Jan. 26, 1927 to Polish immigrant parents. “He placed his faith in Christ as a teenager, and faithfully served Christ his entire life,” his family wrote in a tribute.

He graduated from Lane Tech High School and joined the Army at the tail end of World War II. Initially he was trained as a paratrooper, but, due to the end of war, and his past experience working with his older brother at a bakery, he was reassigned to serve as a cook on a troop transport ship.

After the war, he attended Northern Seminary, where he earned a Bachelors of Divinity degree.  He then joined Sudan Interior Mission to begin his life-long ministry with the Gourma people of Upper Volta.

He arrived in Paris for French language study in 1952 and met Alberta Gibbs, who was also preparing for service in West Africa with the Sudan Interior Mission.  They courted and were married on Oct. 18, 1960.  Their family quickly grew with the addition of three children — John, Frank, and Doris.

Edwin and Alberta Dubisz served almost 40 years together in Upper Volta, now known as Burkina Faso.  Mr. Dubisz’s ministry involved evangelism, preaching, well-digging, and medical construction projects.

“His two-pronged approach in addressing both physical and spiritual needs,” his family wrote, “was modeled after his Savior and Lord’s ministry in Matthew 9:35, ‘And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.’”

The Dubiszes moved to the SIM Retirement Village in Sebring, Florida in 1992, where they continued to thrive in ministry and enjoy time with family and friends.

“Alberta ‘graduated to glory’ on November 16, 2013,” her family wrote. “ Edwin was fond of expressing his enduring hope of the resurrection by saying, ‘I’m not waiting for the undertaker, but for the Upper-taker!’

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Edwin Jan Dubisz is survived by his children and their spouses: John Dubisz; Frank Dubisz and his wife, Mary; Doris (née Dubisz) Selle and husband, Steven.  He is also survived by his six grandchildren:  Joshua, Daniel, and Michael Dubisz, and Elizabeth, Christopher, and Maryann Selle, and by his niece, Arlene Hough.

Arrangements are by the Stephenson-Nelson Funeral Home in Sebring, Florida.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 11 a.m. at the SIM Chapel, 4144 Nigeria Road, Sebring, Florida.