Jonathan L. Burmeister, age 73, a resident of West Chicago, IL, died Tuesday, November 8, 2016, at home. He was born April 13, 1943 in Milwaukee, WI.

He grew up in Elkhorn and Marinette, WI, and attended the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. After receiving his M.A. from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, he joined Wycliffe Bible Translators in 1971. After further training in linguistics and in French, he and his wife Nancy began working in the Anyi language of Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa, in November 1973. For the next twenty-five years Jonathan devoted himself to learning the language, helping to develop a written form of the language, and leading a team of Anyi Christians in translating the New Testament. Along the way he helped to train a number of Anyi Methodist lay preachers and to assist translation teams in related languages.

After the Anyi New Testament was dedicated, he became active as a Translation Consultant, checking translations across West Africa for exegetical accuracy. During his many furloughs he enthusiastically talked about his work in churches and worked to recruit more people for Bible Translation.

After a civil war broke out in Cote d'Ivoire in 2002, he relocated to the country of Mali and worked from there until illness required him to return to the US in December of 2008. He continued to do translation checking by Skype and to take on speaking engagements until December 2015, when his cancer became more and more debilitating.

He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Nancy; their five children, Elisabeth (Brett) Lee, David (Lindsay), Paul (Marissa), and Mary and Martin; four grandchildren, Maddox Lee, Jackson Lee, Sterling Burmeister and Harrison Burmeister; his mother, Florence; two sisters, Karen Wilhelm and Julie (Tom Griffin) Burmeister; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his father, Charles Burmeister.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 3, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. at St. John Lutheran Church , 410 N. Cross Street, in Wheaton, IL. Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be directed to Wycliffe Bible Translators , P.O. Box 628200, Orlando, FL 32862; or to Lutheran Bible Translators , PO Box 789, Concordia, MO 64020-0789.