Rev. Roy S. Habecker, 90, of Lancaster, went to be with his Heavenly Father on Thursday, December 9, 2021, at home. He was the husband of Lydia Kaoru Habecker to whom he was married for 38 years. He was born in Lancaster County, son of the late Irvin G. and Susan H. Sensenig Habecker. At an early age, Roy's beliefs and convictions took him on a life-changing journey to the other side of the world, where he spent over 47 years of his life serving as a Christian missionary, mostly in Taiwan, but also in Macau and South Asia. He first arrived in Taiwan in 1956 to serve at the Mennonite Christian Hospital in Hualien City as part of his military alternative service. A primary focus during those adventure-filled first years was assisting missionary mobile clinic teams providing medical care to Aborigine villages in remote mountainous areas of Taiwan's eastern coast. When his term of service was over, Roy decided to return to Taiwan as a career missionary under The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM) and ended up doing pastoral and church-planting work back in Hualien. In Taiwan, Roy met his first wife, Doris Ho, a fellow TEAM missionary from Honolulu, Hawaii, serving as a missionary school teacher. The two were married in 1966 and their son Douglas was born the next year. Doug was followed three years later by their daughter, Debryn. In between the arrival of his two children, Roy returned to Pennsylvania to earn a degree from Messiah College. In 1980, the family moved to Taichung City in western Taiwan where Doris passed away in 1981 from cancer. In 1983, Roy married fellow TEAM missionary Lydia Kaoru Goeku, a native of Okinawa, Japan. The couple served in Taichung until 1999, when they relocated to the then-Portuguese colony of Macau on the southern Chinese coast, before retiring to Lancaster in 2002. Throughout his life, and even the last two years, when he was largely confined to bed, Roy was constantly loved and remembered by family, friends and those he worked with for his humble and unselfish servanthood, good-natured, low-key disposition, big ready smile and unwavering daily commitment to Jesus Christ.
Surviving in addition to his wife, son: Douglas Habecker of Taichung, Taiwan and daughter Debryn Habecker, Columbus, OH. Two grandchildren: Kaizen and Tialani, as well as his four Lancaster based siblings: Vera S. (late Robert) Keagy; Harry S. (Lynn) Habecker; Chris S. (late Shirley) and his wife Janet Habecker and Mahlon S. (Sharon) Habecker.
The Viewing and Funeral Service was held with interment in Habecker Mennonite Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made in his memory to: the Missionary Fund, c/o Calvary Church, 1051 Landis Valley Rd., Lancaster, PA 17601. Arrangements by the Workman Funeral Homes, Inc., Mountville/Columbia. To send an online condolence, visit the condolence page.