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Grave of Herman E. R. Schell.

Photo courtesy of Judyanne Waters. Source: Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33902004/herman-er-schell

Schell, Herman Ernst Robert (1891–1980) and Lydia (Schlichting) (1893–1951)

By Remwil R. Tornalejo, and Marilou Manatad Tornalejo

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Remwil R. Tornalejo is an associate professor in the Historical-Theological department of the International Institute of Advanced Studies Seminary (AIIAS). Tornalejo has a B.A. in theology from Mountain View College, Valencia, Philippines, and M.P.S., M.Div., and M.Th. degrees from AIIAS. He had served as a pastor, Literature Ministry Seminary dean and instructor at the South Philippine Union Conference. He had served as chair of the theology department of the South Philippine Adventist College. Tornalejo completed his D.Theol. from Theological Union (ATESEA). He is married to Marilou Manatad. They have four children.

Marilou Manatad Tornalejo graduated in 1991 from Mountain View College with a Bachelor of Secondary Education, major in English. She finished her M. A. in Education from the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS) in 2013. She is currently working as a teacher and librarian at the AIIAS Academy. She is also pursuing a doctoral degree in Educational Specialist. She is married to Remwil R. Tornalejo and they have four children.

First Published: September 14, 2022

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Herman and Lydia Schell were missionaries in Indonesia, Korea and the Phillippines. The Schells gave their life to mission service, enduring difficulties and imprisonment during the war years.

Early Life

Herman Ernst Robert Schell was born August 19, 1891, in Hamburg Germany. He was a Dutch citizen. His parents were E. J. H. Schell and Thiel M. Schell, both German citizens from Hamburg, Germany. His mother was a Seventh-day Adventist. Schell lived in Hamburg until 1920.1 He was converted into the Adventist faith in March 1910, when he attended a series of public evangelistic meetings through a friend’s invitation. On July 1, 1910, he was baptized by Elder O. Janert. Schell had a brother and a sister.2

Education and Marriage

Schell attended Hamburg Normal School from 1899 until 1906. He then attended Hamburg Selecta School for one year and Hamburg Commercial School for two years, until 1908.3

Schell married Lydia Schlichting, a Dutch citizen, on March 15, 1916.4 Lydia was born February 17, 1893,5 in Alexandrowsk, Russia, to parents Hermann Schlichting, a German citizen, and Agathe Borm6 who was born in Russia but had German citizenship. Lydia lived in Russia until 1907. Her father was a Seventh-day Adventist. She was converted into the faith in February 1910 and was baptized into the church in June 1910 by Pastor Drinhaus.7 Lydia had five other siblings, Hermann, Frieda, Jenny, Elsa, and a brother, Waldemar.8

Lydia Schell was employed in the Hamburg Publishing House from 1911 until 1913. They moved to Holland in 1920.9 They returned to the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1941. From 1942 to 1945 both were interned in Indonesia.10

Ministry

Schell started his denominational service January 10, 1910, at the Hamburg Publishing House, serving until 1920 in the different departments of the institution.11 In December 1928 the Schells were called to the Netherlands East Indies, where they labored until 1939 with one furlough intervening.12

From 1920 until 1928 Schell was the manager of Holland Publishing and secretary–treasurer of the Netherlands Conference. From 1928 until 1938 he served as secretary-treasurer of the Indonesia Union Mission (former Netherlands East Indies Union Mission), and for some years as manager of the Indonesia Publishing House in Bandung (formerly the Dutch Publishing House). From 1939 until 1941 he labored in Korea as secretary-treasurer of Korean Union Mission.13

In mid-1941 Schell was called to connect briefly with the Philippine Union Mission as acting secretary-treasurer. However, before that year ended, he was recalled to Indonesia to assist in evangelistic work, while at the same time working as the secretary-treasurer and auditor of the Indonesian Union Mission.14 He was ordained in the gospel ministry on January 10, 1942, in Bandung Indonesia, by K. Tilstra, L. Wortman and M. Kauntul.15

During World War II he experienced interment until the close of the war.16 After a post-war furlough, the Schells returned to Indonesia in 1948,17 where both were employed by Indonesia Union Mission. This time Schell served with the Voice of Prophecy of Indonesia Union Mission, as well as managing Indonesia Publishing House, editing the union paper, De Werker, and pastoring the Dutch Seventh-day Adventist church.18

In mid-1951, the General Conference voted to extend sponsorship on behalf of the Schells for visas to the United States. They planned to settle in the United Stated upon retirement. The Central European Division had given satisfactory assurances relative to his sustentation support.19

However, before the Schells could move to the United States, Lydia Schell died in Bandung Indonesia, on August 21, 1951.20 With the approval of the Far Eastern Division, Schell requested a permanent return from mission duties. The General Conference approved the request in September 1952.21

Later Life

Herman Schell married Hazel Mote in 1952. They lived in California for some time, then settled in Tennessee.22 In 1953 Schell was approved by the General Conference to receive a sustentation allowance. 23 Herman Schell died on February 24, 1980, in Coalmont, Tennessee.24

Contribution

Herman and Lydia Schell will be remembered as a missionary couple who served the Adventist Church during its pioneering days in Indonesia. Schell was instrumental in advancing the publishing work in the region, the most effective missionary method during that time and even today. He was also a prominent leader in the treasury department of various church institutions in the Far Eastern Division.

The Schells gave their life to mission service, enduring difficulties and imprisonment during the war years. For her part, Lydia Schell died while in active service in the mission field.

Sources

Biographical Information Blank, Herman Ernst Robert Schell. General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Archives, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.

Biographical Information Blank, Lydia Schlichting Schell. General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Archives, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.

“Death.” ARH, April 10, 1980.

General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, meeting minutes (April 1948, May 1951, September 1952, February 1953). https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/Forms/AllFolders.aspx.

Johnson, H.D. “Obituaries.” Far Eastern Division Outlook, December 1951.

“Hermann Schlichting.” https://www.myheritage.com/names/hermann_schlichting.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1947, 1956.

Notes

  1. Biographical Information Blank, Herman Ernst Robert Schell, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Archives.↩

  2. Ibid. “Death.” Adventist Review, April 10, 1980, 14.↩

  3. Biographical Information Blank, Herman Ernst Robert Schell.↩

  4. Biographical Information Blank, Lydia Schlichting Schell, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Archives.↩

  5. Ibid. Her obituary says November 17, 1893 (H.D. Johnson, “Obituaries,” Far Eastern Division Outlook, December 1951, 8).↩

  6. “Hermann Schlichting,” https://www.myheritage.com/names/hermann_schlichting. Accessed November 13, 2021.↩

  7. Biographical Information Blank, Lydia Schlichting Schell.↩

  8. H. D. Johnson, “Obituaries.” “Hermann Schlichting,” https://www.myheritage.com/names/hermann_schlichting. Accessed November 13, 2021.↩

  9. Ibid.↩

  10. H. D. Johnson, “Obituaries.”↩

  11. “Death,” ARH, April 10, 1980, 14. https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Periodicals/RH/RH19800410-V157-15.pdf. Accessed November 11, 2021.↩

  12. H. D. Johnson, “Obituaries.”↩

  13. Biographical Information Blank, Herman Ernst Robert Schell.↩

  14. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1947), 108.↩

  15. Biographical Information Blank, Herman Ernst Robert Schell.↩

  16. “Death” Adventist Review, April 10, 1980, 14.↩

  17. https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1948-04.pdf. Accessed November 11, 2021.↩

  18. “Death,” ARH, April 10, 1980, 14. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1947), 296, 306.↩

  19. https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1951-05.pdf. Accessed November 7, 2021.↩

  20. Biographical Information Blank, Herman Ernst Robert Schell, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Archives.↩

  21. https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1952-09.pdf.↩

  22. “Death,” ARH, April 10, 1980, 14. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (1956), 414.↩

  23. https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1953-02.pdf.↩

  24. Ibid.↩

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Tornalejo, Remwil R., Marilou Manatad Tornalejo. "Schell, Herman Ernst Robert (1891–1980) and Lydia (Schlichting) (1893–1951)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. September 14, 2022. Accessed March 14, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=5JJQ.

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Tornalejo, Remwil R., Marilou Manatad Tornalejo. "Schell, Herman Ernst Robert (1891–1980) and Lydia (Schlichting) (1893–1951)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. September 14, 2022. Date of access March 14, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=5JJQ.

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Tornalejo, Remwil R., Marilou Manatad Tornalejo (2022, September 14). Schell, Herman Ernst Robert (1891–1980) and Lydia (Schlichting) (1893–1951). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved March 14, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=5JJQ.

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