1940–1949

  • Jake Goering ’41, North Newton, was featured in the April issue of the Kansas Government Journal in an article by North Newton city manager John Torline titled North Newton Interprets Its Rich History. The article tells about the new interpretive markers at eight pause points along the city’s walking trails. It also notes how Jake envisioned a trail along the Kidron-Martin Canal and Sand Creek and how he, along with other retired men, created Sand Creek Trail. Jake expresses his love for the trail and his passion for helping to maintain it, even at age 94.
  • Stan Voth ’49, North Newton, was featured in a May 21 news release from Mennonite Church USA titled Volunteers Extend Reach of Mennonite Church USA Archives, about his loyal work as a volunteer at the denomination’s historical repository on the Bethel campus, the Mennonite Library and Archives.

1950–1959

  • William Block ’56, Winnipeg, is a retired pastor. He does some writing, pulpit supply and occasionally preaches for a German radio sermon series.
  • Hielke De Jong ’59, Virgil, Ontario, has co-authored a book, The Complete Book of Potatoes: What every grower and gardener needs to know (Timber Press, 2011), with son Walter De Jong and Joseph B. Sieczka. The target audience is North American home gardeners. Hielke is an honorary life member of the Potato Association of America. In his retirement (from the Potato Research Centre in Fredericton, New Brunswick), he serves as volunteer consultant on short-term international potato projects. The most recent project was in China in 2011, where Hielke and Walter served as consultants with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Wife and mother Siegelinde (Hinz) De Jong ’59 joined them on the trip.
  • Florence (Hooge) ’54 and Otto Driedger ’53, Regina, Saskatchewan, continue to be involved in Circles of Support and Accountability with high-risk offenders returning to the community. They also volunteer in other restorative justice initiatives, assist with refugee settlement and help pastor at Peace Mennonite Church, a multiracial/ethnic congregation. Opportunities to serve abound and we are blessed with good health and energy, Florence says. We also continue to collaborate with colleagues in Ukraine who serve youth in schools with violence reduction classes and families with children with disabilities.
  • Marlow Ediger ’53, North Newton, had the following writings published: Recent Leaders in American Education in the College Student Journal; Enjoyment in the Mathematics Curriculum in Montana Mathematics; Vocabulary Development in Science in the Michigan Science Teachers Journal; Pupils learn on their own in science in Science Activities: Classroom Projects and Curriculum Ideas; and Children’s Literature in Science in Elements (Canada). Marlow was also reappointed to the editorial board of the Meston College Journal of Research in Education (published in India).
  • Sidonnia (Nickel) Flickinger ’52, Glendale, Ariz., is retired, having been a supervisor at Phoenix Baptist Hospital.
  • Arley Loeffler ’57, Coarsegold, Calif., is retired, having been a supervising therapist for Kings View Hospital.
  • Robert W. Schmidt ’52, Newton, is a retired Bethel chemistry professor. The American Chemical Society recently recognized him for 60 years of membership. This year also marks 20 years of volunteer work at Book ReViews bookstore in Newton, a not-for-profit store that deals in used and rare books. Bob worked with internet sales and still volunteers at the store once a week. In 1998, Bob, his wife Betty (Enns) ’51 and five other couples bought and then operated the store. Profits go to Harvey County charities.
  • George ’53 and Ruth (Goossen) ’53 Unger, Abbotsford, British Columbia, have lived on the same property since 1953. They serve retirement homes by playing piano for entertainment and singalongs and by offering stories, Bible readings and prayers. George accompanies the 50-voice Abbotsford Male Chorus, which performs in many churches. They enjoy their six granddaughters and two grandsons, and plan to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary in August 2013

1960–1969

  • David Friesen ’64, Abbotsford, British Columbia, retired from pastoral ministry 12 years ago, and now spends time as an interior and exterior painter. He recalls fondly that his wife, Doris, served as the Bethel campus nurse in 1963-64.
  • Duane Friesen ’62, North Newton, is a contributing author to the book Interfaith Just Peacemaking: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives on the New Paradigm of Peace and War, edited by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). Duane’s essay, Encourage Grassroots Peacemaking Groups and Voluntary Associations: Christian Reflection, is one of 30 by Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars on 10 practices of just peacemaking. Duane, who is Edmund G. Kaufman Professor Emeritus of Bible and Religion, taught the course Christian Attitudes to War, Peace and Revolution in spring for the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary Great Plains Extension in North Newton.
  • Lauren Friesen ’65, Chicago, is the author of the play Rothko, published in a German-English edition last December (Xlibris Corporation, 2011). Rothko is a memory play that explores the legacy and tangled relationships of the Russian-American painter Mark Rothko (1903-1970). The national theater in Hannover, Germany, presented a staged reading in June. Lauren is the David M. French Distinguished Professor of Theatre at the University of Michigan-Flint.
  • Roger Hofer ’67, Hillsboro, continues to work at Wheatbelt Inc., a company he started 31 years ago, and says I do not plan to retire. We manufacture coiling doors for windows, serving counters and various storage cabinet applications and ship throughout North America.
  • James C. Juhnke ’62, Wichita, Bethel professor emeritus of history, gave a presentation titled Ambivalent Celebration: Kansas Mennonites and the Bicentennial of 1976 as part of the Friends of the Mennonite Library and Archives series at the college April 10.
  • Osamu Kawasaki ’62, Saitama-shi, Japan, was ranked fifth in the nation in tennis in the 75-years-and-older age division as of August 31, 2011.
  • James Klassen ’69, Garland, Texas, received a doctorate of ministry degree from Baylor University in May.
  • Janeal (Crabb) Krehbiel ’68, Lawrence, was inducted into the Kansas Music Educators Association Hall of Fame at the KMEA annual convention in February. Janeal also had the pleasure of conducting a 300-voice National Children’s Festival Chorus in Carnegie Hall in New York. She was assisted by five other clinicians on stage, three of them Bethel graduates: Marilyn (Crabb) Epp ’72, Lawrence, was festival accompanist; Mory Ortman ’93, New York, a premier accompanist in the city, accompanied for the second set of concerts; and Rachel Dirks ’92, Lawrence, was guest cellist.
  • Steve Stucky ’67, Newton, is lead pastor at Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church, Goessel.

1970–1979

  • Barbara (Koppes) Beal ’70, Glen Carbon, Ill., retired after 10 years as director of internal and community relations for the Missouri School for the Blind, St. Louis. Previously she spent 26 years with the Metro Transit (formerly Bi-State Development Agency), St. Louis.
  • Kirk Belt ’78, Houston, teaches visually impaired students in the Houston Independent School District. He also is an orientation and mobility specialist, helping people to use canes.
  • Rebecca (Schmidt) Dick ’78, Baldwin City, chairs the 2012 United Way campaign in Douglas County. She has been the Baldwin City division chair many times, has been on the Allocations Committee and is currently serving on the United Way board.
  • Renae (Becker) Floyd ’76, Modesto, Calif., has been a member of the counseling faculty at California State University-Stanislaus since 1994. She received the Outstanding Professor in Faculty Governance Award for 2011-12 and serves as chair of this year’s Retention, Promotion and Tenure Committee.
  • Kim (Huebert) Pace ’77, Greeley, Colo., organist at First Congregational Church UCC, performed a concert on the new Quimby pipe organ March 25. Kim’s program included music by Alain, Sowerby, Bach, Barber, Vierne, Webster and Durufle. You can listen to her encore piece, What a Friend We Have in Jesus by Charles W. Ore, on YouTube.
  • Chuck Regier ’77, Newton, curator of exhibits at Kauffman Museum, was featured in the spring issue of Exhibitionist, the journal of the National Association for Museum Exhibition. Rebecca Fell, a student in fine arts museum exhibition planning and design at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, selected Chuck’s innovative exhibit design as one of four case studies for her 2011 master’s thesis. Her article featured photos of the packing crates that also served as exhibit modules for The Bison: American Icon and the truck that Chuck custom fit to transport Mirror of the Martyrs. Chuck and museum director Rachel Pannabecker ’80, North Newton, together with Flint Hills Design and Osage Woodworks, collaborated with Kansas NSF EPSCoR to design, fabricate and install an exhibition called Climate and Energy Central, which features stories of current research by Kansas scientists and premiered this spring at the new Flint Hills Discovery Center in Manhattan.
  • Frank Stucky ’71, Newton, his son Nate Stucky ’11, Newton, and a group of 22 Rotary Club members from across the United States spent a month in India touring the country and helping with polio immunization clinics. They also visited a school funded by the Newton Rotary Club and delivered school bags to children there. Frank has given presentations about his trip to groups in Newton, Topeka, Kansas City and Wichita.

1980–1989

  • James Curtis Bonds ’82, Virginia Beach, Va., retired from U.S. Navy Feb. 1, 2011, after serving more than 28 years. He retired at the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Curtis now is a defense contractor consultant with Science Application International Corporation, which writes and sets standardized policies and initiatives for seven government maintenance centers located around the United States and in Japan.
  • Rebecca (Aparicio) Hale-Silvestri ’85, Tampa, Fla., is charge nurse at ACTS Detox in Tampa. ACTS (Agency for Community Treatment Services, Inc.) provides and manages prevention, acute care and stabilization, treatment and support services in the areas of substance abuse, co-occurring substance abuse and mental illness, child protection, delinquency, criminal justice, housing, economic self-sufficiency, and health and wellness.
  • Mark Jantzen ’85, Bethel professor of history, was appointed to the executive committee of the Kansas Association of Historians as well as to a second three-year term on the Kauffman Museum Board of Directors.
  • Janet Neufeld ’80, Las Vegas, is the academic manager of Innovative Learning Environments, Technology Instruction System Services, Clark County School District, Las Vegas. The system is the fifth largest in the United States, with 309,000 students and 38,000 faculty. Jan oversees virtual and blended learning technology programs. She holds an educational specialist degree in general school administration and is completing a doctorate in educational leadership at Kansas State University.
  • Rachel Pannabecker ’80, North Newton, director of Kauffman Museum, and Chuck Regier ’77, Newton, KM curator of exhibits, together with Flint Hills Design and Osage Woodworks, collaborated with Kansas NSF EPSCoR to design, fabricate and install an exhibition called Climate and Energy Central, which features stories of current research by Kansas scientists and premiered this spring at the new Flint Hills Discovery Center in Manhattan.
  • Shannon (Zuercher) Pauls ’87, Hesston, was one of the longtime teachers recently recognized by the University of Kansas School of Education for 25 years or more of service to education, mostly in Kansas schools. Shannon teaches sixth-grade reading improvement and eighth-grade literature at Maize South Middle School, where she has been for 15 of her 25 years in the teaching profession.
  • Lynn Preheim ’84, Wichita, is Wichita office managing partner at the legal practice of Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP. The firm provides corporate, transaction and litigation legal services to clients ranging from Fortune 500 corporations and privately held companies to emerging businesses. Lynn’s work has included class actions, insurance coverage disputes, Uniform Commercial Code issues and products liability. He joined the firm in 1987.
  • Michelle Roman ’89, Prairie Village, is a banking and finance partner with Husch Blackwell, Kansas City, Mo. The firm focuses on the lending and regulatory activities of commercial lenders, retail banks, life insurance companies, mortgage-backed securities lenders, credit unions, savings associations and other financial institutions. Before joining Husch Blackwell, Michelle practiced finance and real estate law, representing lenders and borrowers across the United States in multi-million-dollar transactions.
  • Doug Siemens ’84, Newton, successfully defended his dissertation, Boys’ Achievement Gap and the Ethic of Care: A Participatory Action Research Study in April and graduated from Wichita State University’s educational leadership doctoral program in spring. The Bethel College Women’s Association selected him to give the annual lecture they sponsor in June. Doug is assistant professor of education at Bethel.
  • Regina Troyer ’89, Kansas City, Mo., is a prepress specialist at Cookbook Publishers Inc., Lenexa. She also does some design and production work.

1990–1999

  • Benjamin Benavides III ’98, San Antonio, Texas, earned a master’s degree in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University, Irvine, Calif., in December 2011.
  • Rachel Epp Buller ’96, Newton, Bethel assistant professor of art, Kate Larson ’08, Lawrence, and several Bethel students were the focus of a Hatteberg’s People feature on KAKE-Channel 10, the local ABC affiliate in Wichita, April 1. In his regular features, longtime photojournalist and TV news anchor Larry Hatteberg highlights what people in Kansas are doing. Rachel, Kate, Lora Jost ’88, Lawrence, whose art was pictured in the Hatteberg’s People segment, and Carolyn Wedel �83, Salina, were among the organizers/artists of the Kansas chapter of the Feminist Art Project whose work was exhibited at CityArts in Wichita for the month of April (see page 13).
  • Rachel Epp Buller ’96 Newton, assistant professor of art at Bethel, had an essay published in Academic Mothering in a Post-Second Wave Context, ed. Hallstein and O’Reilly (Demeter 2012).
  • Natasha Janzen Ulbricht ’93, Macha, Zambia, and her husband Ingo Ulbricht are teacher mentors on a one-year assignment with Mennonite Central Committee.

2000–2009

  • Ricky Coon ’05, Murfreesboro, N.C., is an associate head football coach at Chowan University.
  • John Eads ’04, Cerrito, Paraguay, and his wife Leah live and work at the Escuela Agrícola San Fransisco. The school is part of Fundación Paraguaya and trains students in farm-based businesses. Their son Amos is four years old and daughter Clara one.
  • Patrick Flaming ’00, Hillsboro, is director of inpatient operations at Prairie View Inc., Newton.
  • Joel Krehbiel ’06, Champaign, Ill., was honored April 13 during an awards banquet of the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois. Joel received the James O. Smith Memorial Award, which honors a graduate student in the theoretical and applied mechanics department judged to be the most effective teaching assistant. Joel has served as a teaching assistant for statics and other introductory engineering courses while completing his second year in a doctoral program. He is currently researching mechanical algal cell disruption techniques for improved biodiesel production.
  • Kate Larson ’08, Lawrence, Rachel Epp Buller ’96, Newton, Bethel assistant professor of art, and several Bethel students were the focus of a Hatteberg’s People feature on KAKE-Channel 10, the local ABC affiliate in Wichita, April 1. In his regular features, longtime photojournalist and TV news anchor Larry Hatteberg highlights what people in Kansas are doing. Rachel, Kate, Lora Jost ’88, Lawrence, whose art was pictured in the Hatteberg’s People segment, and Carolyn Wedel ’83, Salina, were among the organizers/artists of the Kansas chapter of the Feminist Art Project whose work was exhibited at CityArts in Wichita for the month of April.
  • Steve Martin ’04, Valley Center, is head football coach at Wichita Northwest High School. He had been defensive coordinator, weights coach and track coach at Wichita Heights High School. Prior to that he was head football coach at Troy High School.
  • Peter Miller ’08, Arcola, Ill., is executive vice president at Equipment Direct West, a company that exports new and used agricultural equipment primarily to Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. His primary area of responsibility is Ethiopia. Peter is also active in Mennonite Economic Development Associates.
  • Kristen Schrag ’09, Kykotsmovi Village, Arizona, teaches first grade at Hopi Mission School on the Hopi Indian Reservation. She is with Mennonite Voluntary Service.
  • Alan Stucky ’03, Harper, was featured in a May 31 news release from Mennonite Church USA titled Kansas Congregation Responds to Hunger for Conversations about God, Authentic Relationships, which told how Alan has stretched members of Pleasant Valley Mennonite Church as they reach out to youth in the community. The adults in the congregation provide Wednesday night meals to youth, and attendance is now six times larger than it was five years ago. After the meals, the youth and adults gather for discussion about personal connections and relationships. They end the evening in a large prayer circle.
  • John Tribuiano III ’00, El Dorado Hills, Calif., has been named a Super Lawyer for Northern California for 2012 by Super Lawyers magazine. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.
  • Kelcy Voth ’07, Chicago, was featured in the March 14 edition of The Hillsboro Star-Journal in an article titled Chicago trader from Goessel finds success. Kelcy trades futures contracts, mostly on energy commodities - crude oil, heating oil and gasoline - but occasionally on grains and precious metals. He became interested in the stock market when he was 13 years old.
  • Robert Weave ’07, Utrecht, the Netherlands, and other attorneys have started The Center for International and European Law, a joint venture between Van Hoof Advocaten, Weaver & Henderson On Point Legal, Leo Zwaak and Van As Advocaten. The new firm’s clients include lawyers, businesses, governments, civil society organizations and individuals from around the world. Rob, who studied law in the United States and the Netherlands, is a member of the American Bar Association, the American Bar Association’s International Law Section and the Dutch Society of Social Lawyers.
  • Lindsey (Miller) Young ’07, Hutchinson, teaches at Haven High School.
  • Yue Qiu Moon Yu ’09,Lincoln, Neb., earned a master’s degree in educational psychology from the University of Nebraska in December 2011 and began doctoral studies in January.

2010–2019

  • Trent Baalman ’12, Wichita, is an analytical chemist at Golden Heritage Foods, Hillsboro.
  • Kyle Berg, ’12, Wichita, is an insurance agent for New York Life.
  • Brad Celestin ’12, Newton, is a detective for the Newton Police Department. Since last December, he has also been consulting for the FBI Cyber-Crime Task Force. His local investigations of child abuse and child pornography cases brought him to the FBI’s attention.
  • Megan Fowler ’11, La Junta, Colo., is an athletic trainer at La Junta High School.
  • Kylie Jantz ’12, Newton, has been accepted into the physical therapy program at Wichita State University.
  • Abbey Kirk, ’12, Lenexa, is a quality control technologist at Thermo-Fisher Scientific.
  • Jana Koehn, ’12, Wichita, accepted a nursing position at Newton Medical Center.
  • Mario Lara , ’12, Newton, is a marketer for Those Blasted Signs, Newton.
  • Taylor McCabe-Juhnke, ’12, North Newton, accepted a Mennonite Voluntary Service position as assistant at RENEW Wisconsin, Madison, a statewide nonprofit organization that promotes economically and environmentally sustainable energy policies and practices in the state. MVS is a program of Mennonite Church USA.
  • Andrew McNary, ’12, Potwin, has accepted a position with Seaboard Corporation, Washington, D.C.
  • Elizabeth Miller, ’12, Chicago, is a case manager with Edge Alliance.
  • Laura Prahm, ’12, Wichita, is a Second Lieutenant RN for the United States Navy
  • Peter Regier, ’12, Canyon Village, Wyoming, is an environmental chemist for Delaware North Company in Yellowstone National Park.
  • John Reimer, ’12, Hesston, is a project manager assistant with King Enterprise Group, McPherson.
  • Roxanne Reimer, ’12, Walton, accepted a Mennonite Voluntary Service position as an immigration assistant in Alamosa, Colo. MVS is a program of Mennonite Church USA.
  • Jennifer Rose, ’12, Walton, is a case manager with COMCARE, Wichita.
  • Justin Schneider, ’12, Newton, has accepted a Mennonite Voluntary Service position as a youth leader. MVS is a program of Mennonite Church USA.
  • Aimee Voth Siebert, ’10, Denver, earned a master’s degree in international disaster psychology from the University of Denver in June. She is a disaster behavioral health specialist for the State of Colorado, working through the Department of Public Health.
  • Lucas Stertz , ’12, Lincoln, was admitted into Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design.
  • Nate Stucky , ’11, Newton, his dad Frank Stucky ’71, Newton, and a group of 22 Rotary Club members from across the United States spent a month in India touring the country and helping with polio immunization clinics. They also visited a school funded by Newton Rotary Club and delivered school bags to children there.
  • Louise Zurkee, ’12, Andale, has been accepted into the physician’s assistant program at South University, Savannah, Ga.