He was the eldest of five children born to A. Martin Wenger (1884–1960) and his wife, Martha A. Rock (1889–1975). He was born at the Reese H. White farm in
Honey Brook, Pennsylvania, which his parents rented. His family moved in 1923 to
Telford, where his father had gotten the job of janitor at the
Rockhill Mennonite Church. Wenger was baptized on May 11, 1924, at the age of 13. He reported that he was disappointed when he did not feel a sense of "joy" and "Christian assurance" following the practice. He attended
Sellersville High School in
Bucks County. He graduated in the class of 1928 as class president,
valedictorian, president of the
literary society, and captain of the
debate team. That fall, he found work at the Royal Pants company in South
Perkasie. He resigned in the spring of 1929 when his boss began asking him to pick up
whiskey for him (that was during
Prohibition). With the assistance of
Amos David Wenger, the president of the school, John was able to attend
Eastern Mennonite School (now
Eastern Mennonite University) for two years (1929–1931). He attended
Goshen College for the final two years of college (1932-1934). One summer, he worked in the brickyard of
D.D. Derstine. He was the vice-president of the junior class, president of the
Young People's Christian Association, and a director of the
Mennonite Historical Society.
Harold S. Bender helped instill in Wenger the desire to go to
seminary. Upon his graduation, there was an opening for a minister at Rockhill. Wenger anticipated being given the position but was rejected because its bishops were uncomfortable with college education. On 3 April 1937, Wenger married Ruth Derstine Detweiler (19 December 1906, Sellersville, Pennsylvania - 19 February 1992, Goshen, Indiana). They had four children: Daniel, John, Mary, and Elizabeth. ==Career ==