Sunday, June 24, 2001
Remembering dreams
'Berg alumni recall past, recognize achievements
By Cathy Willoughby
Staff Writer
Dreams of young college students center on their future. Reminiscing about those dreams and their fulfillment were more 400 alumni of Heidelberg College this weekend. They came together to celebrate memories and fellowship at the college's annual Alumni Weekend.
A luncheon Saturday followed the parade of classes down Greenfield Street. The golden anniversary class of 1951 was honored as well as the 25th anniversary class of 1976. One member of the class of 1926 was present, as well as two members of the class of 1931, celebrating their wedding anniversary.
Mary Ann Busch Macos, class of 1956, and her husband, Nick, 1959, come back to see their fellow classmates every five years. Nick was a student from Tiffin, whose family owned the old American Restaurant. Mary came from Buffalo, N.Y. They met in Professor Van Dyke's business class. "We've been married 43 years,'' he said.
"I loved Keller cottage,'' Mary added. "It was just beautiful. It was near Williard Hall. It was an old brick house that was converted to a dorm. It was my favorite place.''
Betty Werner Feather (1956) also met her husband, Milton, class of 1958, at Heidelberg, in a botany class. "All of our fellow students were kids with similar backgrounds,'' she said. "And most of the students worked on campus. They were not necessarily rich kids.''
Imogene Kuenzli Orb, class of 1956, has come back to sing in the Alumni Choir, directed by Ferris Ohl. "My memories are especially of the concert choir because of the traveling that we got to do,'' she said. "It was a very broadening experience.''
"I would bet not one of you really dreamed of coming to your class reunion,'' President Richard Owens told the luncheon gathering. "When you think back to when you were a student here, at that point you had many dreams. You were dreaming about that person you would spend the rest of your life with, your education or professional goals, the family one day you would have and raise.''
The college recognized alumni who made their own and dreams of others come true with a group of awards given for the first time.
The Alumni Service Award was given to Ralph (1959) and Sue Beggs (1960) Quellhorst for their service in their church and for their humanitarian efforts abroad.
Ralph spent much of his life working for the United Church of Christ as a minister, in the U.C.C.'s Office for Church Life and Leadership and as conference minister for Ohio since 1993.
Sue, having taught elementary students, is credited with founding the first nursery school in Tiffin, Betty Jane Nursery School. More recently, she has dedicated herself to an organization called SARA's Children. SARA, Sharing America's Resources Abroad, is an organization which provides medical and humanitarian aid to orphans in the Transcarpathia region of the Ukraine. She has traveled there twice in the past four years to personally assist and regularly speaks on behalf of the organization.
The Legacy Family Award was given to the family of Mark and Mary Brenneman Friedley, class of 1954. They are part of a long family commitment to the college, especially in music.
A three story addition to Brenneman Hall in 1971 was made possible due to a gift from Mary's mother, Clara Brenneman of Wadsworth, in honor of her deceased husband, Glen. At the renovated Campus Center, the Friedley family name graces a patio.
Mark has served 30 years as a member of Heidelberg's board of Trustees, and from 1970-72 he served as Alumni Association president. Mark's parents were Ner and Esther Friedley, class of 1922, and Mary's parents, owners of a pharmacy in Wadsworth, purchased choir robes and opened their soda shop to choir members on tour. Two of the Friedley children, Holly Clark (1978) and Sarah Johnson (1980), carry on the Heidelberg legacy.
The Outstanding Alumni Award was given posthumously to Arthur Sutherland Bensell, class of 1934. Bensell was born in 1909 in Siletz, Oregon, the son of Siletz Indian farmers. He married Margaret Egbert, daughter of the local Indian agent, and they moved to her family's farm near Bellevue. In 1931, he enrolled at Heidelberg, where he became involved in many activities. Bensell excelled in football, making the Associated Press All-Ohio Conference team twice. In 1934, he graduated with honors.
For 18 years, he was a teacher and administrator at schools in Minnesota, North Dakota and Alaska. In 1952, he moved back to Siletz, and the couple operated Bensell's family store. He was also the mayor of the town, re-elected six times.
Bensell and a core group of other Siletz tribal members recognized the need to establish programs to help the tribes. They embarked on 10 years of diplomacy and were recognized when President Jimmy Carter signed Public Law 95-195 which restored the Confederated Tribes of Siletz to federal recognition. For six years after that, Bensell worked to provide more opportunities in housing, employment, education, job training and alcohol rehabilitation for his fellow Indians. He died in 1988. His niece, Rosemary Landis, a member of the tribal council of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz, accepted the award in his name. She said that the tribe was proud of "Uncle Arthur'' and that education, including Heidelberg, was important to him.
The Outstanding Alumni Award was given to Bill and Grace Stuckey Brinker, class of 1951. Accompanied by teams of volunteers, the Brinkers have completed about 40 "eye care'' mission trips primarily to Central America in the past 36 years. Bill is an ophthalmologist in Portage County. During each mission trip, both Bill and Grace see 8,000 patients, performing surgeries, fitting used eyeglasses, and giving the gift of sight. They are also founders of a program called Amigos de las Americas, based in Guatemala, which enlists, trains and assists American youth to take care of the poor in Central and South America.
"The reasons for me to be involved are more than just the mission,'' Grace told the crowd. "I come back further inspired to work on advocacy for the poor and the hungry, as well as trying to change some of our own beliefs and actions, particularly by the government on two thirds of the world's population.''
Bill told of an elderly woman, her eyes thick with cataracts, walking barefoot for 12 hours led by her 9-year-old grandson she had never seen. "She arrived at the clinic at night and slept in the doorway,'' he recalled. "The next day, she saw a consultant. After the next, she saw her grandson for the first time. To see the happiness, they were talking and laughing. She told me she had never had shoes, but she could wait, because when she got to heaven, God was going to give her shoes.''
"Then she said, 'God is going to give me pots and pans, so that when you (Bill) get to heaven, I am going to feed you a meal,' '' he said.
"This project is as close to heaven as Gracie and I need to get,'' Bill added.