USA > Ohio > Church of the Brethren in southern Ohio > Part 21
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Brother Garver was an early member of the General Educational Board of the Church of the Brethren, was three
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times the moderator of Annual Conference, and many times was appointed by Annual Conference as a member of com- mittees to churches needing guidance.
His death occurred on November 18, 1926, at Trotwood.
GERALD C. GIBBONEY
Gerald C. Gibboney was born at Mt. Pleasant, Pennsyl- vania, on March 19, 1909, to Samuel J. and Nancy Smith Gibboney.
His education was concluded with his high school work in the Bradford, Ohio, schools.
He married Priscilla Warner Rhoades of Phillipsburg, Ohio, on November 22, 1930. They have two children, Elaine Marcia and Sharon Ann.
Gerald Gibboney and Wife
The Salem church elected him to the ministry on February 9, 1942. He has assisted, in the free ministry, these churches: Fort Mckinley, Lower Miami, and Middle District.
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He is employed by the International Envelope Corpora- tion, which manufactures stamped envelopes for the United States Post Office Department.
JOHN HARVEY GOOD
John Harvey Good, son of Jesse Clayton and Lucy Gellispie Good, was born near Marengo, Iowa, on March 21, 1895. At the age of six he moved with his parents to Mont-
John Good and Wife
gomery County, Ohio, where he attended public schools, graduating from high school in 1914. The year following he attended the county normal school and qualified for teach- ing. He then taught two years in Montgomery County.
On January 20, 1917, Emma Viola Fuls, of Jackson Town- ship, Montgomery County, became his companion. Three daughters have been born to the couple. There are five grand- children. Following their marriage they engaged in farming for four years.
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They became members of the West Alexandria church (then Sugar Hill) while farming near there. This church called Brother Good to the ministry in March 1919. Plans were made at once to prepare for the responsibilities of the ministry; they entered Manchester College the following fall, gradu- ating with the class of 1924. Upon graduation Brother Good became pastor of the Stony Creek church, Northwestern Ohio, where he remained over five years. During this time he spent one summer in special study at Bethany Seminary. He was ordained at Stony Creek in 1927.
In September 1929 he became the part-time pastor of the West Alexandria church. After two years he became pastor of the Springfield, Ohio, church and continued here a total of fifteen years. While here he took further special training at Hamma Divinity School. In 1946 Brother Good and his wife returned to the West Alexandria church, where they con- tinue to serve.
While in Northwestern Ohio he held membership briefly on both the Welfare Board and the Ministerial Board of the district. In his home district Elder Good has been on the Welfare Board, the Board of Christian Education, and the Mission Board, and is at present a member of the recently formed District Board.
He has also served Southern Ohio as reading clerk and as district secretary and has represented the district on the Standing Committee four times. He has been elder-in-charge of many churches of the district through the years. Wherever located he was active in the local ministerial associations. He has engaged in evangelism in twenty-six churches in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan.
JONAS G. GROFF
Jonas G. Groff was born August 1, 1887, within the bounds of the North Star congregation (disorganized in 1919). His parents were Elder Nathan D. and Emma Patterson Groff.
He began teaching school at eighteen years of age. After four years he spent one summer in Manchester College and
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two years at Lebanon College, Ohio. He taught two years in the high school at Oregonia, Ohio, four years in Darke County, Ohio, and five years in the Galion, Ohio, schools. Then he returned to Southern Ohio as a teacher in the Dayton school system and has completed over thirty years at the Roosevelt
Jonas Groff and Wife
school. He took one year off from teaching to finish his training, graduating from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in 1914.
Gertrude Hittle of Rossburg, Ohio, became his wife in 1911. They have two children, Wilbur K. and Zelma. They live at Johnsville, Ohio.
He became a member of the North Star church, was elected to the ministry by the West Alexandria church in April 1931, and was ordained an elder in 1933. He served as part-time pastor of this church from 1931 to 1941 and has been elder of the church since 1933.
He was a member of the Historical Committee of Southern Ohio for several years. His son, Wilbur K. Groff, is a present member of this committee.
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JOHN B. GUMP
John B. Gump is the son of Elder Henry and Lydia Studebaker Gump, of Miami County, Ohio; he was born on May 22, 1873.
After attending the Bethel Township and Tipp City schools, Miami County, he later attended Juniata College.
John B. Gump and Wife
He united with the Church of the Brethren at Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, in 1893. His activity in the church began in the Sunday school as a teacher and then as a superintendent. He was installed into the ministry in 1904 and was ordained in 1911.
Brother Gump followed the teaching profession for ten years. In the free ministry he served in his home churches, Hickory Grove, West Charleston, and New Carlisle. He has filled appointments at Troy, East Dayton, Sidney, Loramie, and Circleville and has been the elder of the Casstown and New Carlisle churches.
He married Emma Funderburg of New Carlisle on Feb-
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ruary 22, 1900. They have three daughters: Paulena, instructor in the Cleveland schools; Mrs. John E. Stoner, whose husband is on the faculty of Indiana University; and Mrs. Russel J. Compton, whose husband is on the faculty of Purdue Uni- versity.
For fifteen years Brother Gump was a member of the board of trustees of the Brethren Home at Greenville, much of that time in charge of the children's department.
The Gumps retired in New Carlisle, where they have lived since.
ELLIS G. GUTHRIE
Ellis G. Guthrie was born near LaFayette, Ohio, to Joseph L. and Elsie R. Guthrie, on October 10, 1922. His father and
Ellis Guthrie and Wife
his father's father were ministers in the Church of the Brethren.
He completed his high school training in 1940 at the
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LaFayette high school, where he was elected to the Honor Society, receiving a medal for citizenship. He graduated from Bluffton College, Ohio, a Mennonite institution, in 1944, with honors. Then he enrolled in Bethany Biblical Seminary and graduated with the class of 1947 with the B.D. degree.
Licensed to preach in September 1940, he was ordained to the full ministry in 1941. He was ordained an elder by the Marion church, Northwestern Ohio, in 1951.
He served the New Stark federated church as student pastor while in Bluffton College. In the summers of 1945 and 1946 he served his home church, County Line, Northwestern Ohio, as pastor. In July 1947 he became pastor of the Marion church, that district, and continued until 1951. He came to this district in September 1951 as pastor of the Eaton church, in which responsibility he continues.
In his home district he was three times reading clerk, was once on the Resolutions Committee, and once a delegate on the Standing Committee. He was for several years a member of the Board of Christian Education in that district and for two years was secretary of the Joint Board of the district. He was elected reading clerk by the 1954 Southern Ohio district conference.
Wherever he has been he has been active in co-operative church work. He was secretary-treasurer of the Marion County Council of Churches and has been president of the Eaton Ministerial Association. He is on the nominating com- mittee of the Ohio Council of Churches.
On September 8, 1946, he was married to Ruth Elizabeth Brandt, of near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formerly of the Lutheran faith, she united with the Church of the Brethren in the First church, Chicago. They have three children, Bar- bara Louise, Sharon Elizabeth, and Renita Kay.
PAUL W. HALLADAY
Paul W. Halladay is a native of Southern Ohio, born near North Star on August 27, 1901. His parents were J. R. and Maggie Baker Halladay.
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Finishing his high school work at Greenville, Ohio, he entered Manchester College and graduated, A.B. degree, in 1924. He then attended the American Conservatory of Music, graduating with the Bachelor of Music degree in 1928 and the Master of Music degree in 1935.
He married Sara Heebner of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, on August 21, 1926. They have two children, Ruth Mary and Karleton.
Brother Halladay was elected to the ministry in 1920 by the Poplar Grove church. Now a professor of music in Manchester College, he has held many music institutes over the Brotherhood.
CHESTER I. HARLEY
Chester I. Harley was born at Manassas, Virginia, on August 7, 1914, the son of Samuel C. and Mary F. Harley. After graduating from the Manassas high school he entered Bridgewater College, graduating in 1935. He received his license to preach in his home church in September 1933. In 1934 he served as summer pastor in the Mt. Carmel congrega- tion of Eastern Virginia and in 1935 as summer pastor in the Bridgewater church.
In the fall of 1935 he entered Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia, at the same time serving the Hopewell congregation, First Virginia. He served the Richmond church, 1936-37. His B.D. degree was received from Bethany Biblical Seminary in 1939.
On August 7, 1938, he was united in marriage to Kathleen M. Barnhart of Pyrmont, Indiana. They have three children, Gerald, Joyce, and Sharon.
After graduating from Bethany Seminary he became the part-time district executive secretary in Eastern Virginia and part-time pastor of the Mt. Carmel congregation. In 1941 he became the half-time district executive secretary of the Eastern Maryland District and half-time pastor of the Flower Hill congregation. In 1944 he became pastor of the Bush Creek congregation also. In 1946 he was called to be the pastor of
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the Cloverdale congregation, First Virginia, from which parish he came to the New Carlisle church in June 1953.
Brother Harley has been on Standing Committee and has held many evangelistic meetings.
Chester Harley and Wife
Kenneth Hartman and Wife
KENNETH I. HARTMAN
Kenneth I. Hartman, a native of California, was born at Live Oak on January 6, 1919, to P. S. and Bessie Hartman.
He secured his education in the Live Oak schools, Ashland College, Ohio, and Bethany Biblical Seminary.
On June 4, 1943, he married Grace Keeny of Loganville, Pennsylvania. They have two children, Stephan and Dawn.
He was elected to the ministry by the Live Oak church, Northern California.
As a summer pastor he served the Shiloh church, West Virginia, and the Maple Grove church, Northeastern Ohio, for three years. He was pastor of the Lafayette church, Southern
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Indiana, for the six years before coming to this district on September 1, 1954, as pastor of the Eversole church.
WALTER E. HAWKE
Elder Walter Hawke was born near North Hampton, within the bounds of the Donnels Creek church, on October 3, 1892. The parents were Peter and Hannah Thomas Hawke. He attended the public schools at North Hampton and Olive Branch and took his A.B. degree at Wittenberg in 1916, the M.R.E. degree at Bethany Seminary in 1925, and then his M.A. at Wittenberg in 1933.
Walter Hawke and Wife
He married Margaret Lobaugh on May 20, 1917; they have one daughter living and one deceased.
Most of his active life has been spent in public-school work. He taught several years in Clark County, then was a principal in Ashtabula County. Returning, he was principal of the Oak Grove school in Clark County, and then superin-
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tendent-principal of the Wayne Township schools of Mont- gomery County. They lived, this while, at New Carlisle and were active in the church at this place.
Brother Hawke had full-time charge of the church at Middletown three years. At various times he served part time at Hamilton, West Charleston, Donnels Creek, and the churches of the district in Adams County. He was the elder at Rock House, Kentucky, for a while and is now the elder of both the New Carlisle and the Donnels Creek church.
Resigning his school principalship in 1953, he has since been engaged in the insurance business.
LESTER HEISEY
Lester Heisey was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, September 17, 1881, to Albert and Susan Kreider Heisey. He united with the Potsdam church in January 1898. He was married to Emma Miller.
Having followed farming until called to the ministry in 1908 by the West Milton church, soon afterward he became pastor of the Charleston church, Ross County, Ohio, and continued nearly five years. He also served as a pastor for a short while in Northeastern Ohio. Returning to Southern Ohio he was the pastor at Pleasant Valley for a year.
His was mostly a free ministry, however. Living at Potsdam, he followed the carpenter's trade. The Potsdam church ordained him an elder in 1942. He was one of the early workers in the Kentucky field and was mainly respon- sible for the establishment of the churches at Rock House and Wolfe Creek. The post office at Heisey, Kentucky, took his name. He passed away in 1950.
HARLEY H. HELMAN
Harley H. Helman was born January 19, 1887, in Shelby County, Ohio, to John A. and Allie Cromer Helman.
After attending the elementary schools in that county
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he enrolled in Manchester College, Indiana, completing high school work in the academy. Attending the college he gradu- ated with the A.B. degree in 1915. He completed the residence work for the A.M. degree in Northwestern University, Illinois, in 1927.
On February 4, 1906, he was married to Cora A. Danford, whose father was Edward A. Danford, minister in the Loramie congregation. They had four children: Emerson, Gerald (de- ceased), Mary Alice Gump, and Lowell.
H. H. Helman and Wife
Entering the teaching profession in 1905 he taught in the elementary schools and then became an administrator. He was superintendent of the Darby rural schools, Union County, for three years and of the Richwood schools, Ohio, for one year. During this year he was also director of the Richwood Normal School.
Elected to the ministry in 1915 by the Manchester church, Indiana, he was ordained an elder by the South Bend con- gregation in 1920.
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Brother Helman began his active ministry in the Belle- fontaine church, Northwestern Ohio, where he was the summer pastor in 1917. In 1919 he was called as pastor of the First church, South Bend, Indiana, where he served five years. He led this congregation in the erection of a new church dedicated in 1922. In 1924 he became pastor of the Elgin church, Illinois. In the fall of 1928 he entered the field of religious education, first as the minister of education in the local church, then as executive secretary of the Council of Religious Education for the State of Illinois, and later as research editor for the D. C. Cook Publishing Company. During this period he contributed over one thousand articles to various publishers of Sunday-school literature.
In 1934 he returned to his home district to become pastor of the New Carlisle church. He continued his work here ten years; then he moved to their rural home near this village. In 1951 he began his service in the Middle District church and is both pastor and elder at this time.
While in Northern Indiana Brother Helman was chairman of the Board of Religious Education, and in Northern Illinois and Wisconsin he was secretary of the same board of that district. In 1924 he was a member of the Young People's Com- mission, for the Brotherhood, responsible for initiating a na- tional youth program. In this district he has served on the Ministerial Board, as district secretary, on Standing Com- mittee, as editor of the Southern Ohio Herald, and at present as a member of the District Board. He was chairman of the committee which formulated the plan of organization for the district in 1952. He was the first secretary of the National Pastoral Association of the Church of the Brethren. As editor, he has contributed largely to the publication of this history.
HAROLD E. HELSTERN
Harold E. Helstern, son of George and Bessie Helstern, was born at Dayton, Ohio, July 24, 1899.
He graduated from the Trotwood high school and is employed in Dayton.
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His marriage to Christina Long took place on May 21, 1919. They have three children, Charlotte, Rollie, and James.
The Fort Mckinley church elected him to the ministry in August 1936. He was ordained an elder in 1939.
Brother Helstern has served the West Milton and Harris Creek churches as pastor, having now been with the latter for some years.
Harold Helstern and Wife
Russell Helstern and Wife
RUSSELL F. HELSTERN
Russell F. Helstern was born November 28, 1903, in Montgomery County, Ohio, the son of George and Bessie Helstern.
After completing his high school work at the Madison Township high school he attended Manchester College, graduating from that institution with the A.B. degree in 1931. He received the A.M. degree from Wittenberg College, Spring- field, Ohio, in 1939.
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On April 16, 1927, he was married to Vinnie Bowers, the daughter of Elder and Mrs. Harvey Bowers, of Wakarusa, Indiana. They are the parents of four daughters.
He was elected to the ministry on July 11, 1934, by the Fort McKinley church.
In the local church he has been a Sunday-school teacher and a member of the board of Christian education. He has done a great deal of supply preaching in near-by churches.
As director of Camp Sugar Grove almost from its begin- ning Brother Helstern has rendered outstanding service to the district in its camping program. He is at present the director of camp promotion for Sugar Grove. He has also shared in the district work as the director of intermediate work.
Brother Helstern is a high school instructor in the city schools of Dayton.
CLARENCE GEORGE HESSE
Clarence George Hesse is a native of Grant County, West Virginia, the son of Charles and Catherine Hesse. He first became a member of the Church of the Brethren in the Greenland congregation, West Virginia, in January 1906. This same church called him to the ministry in 1909. The Somerset church, Western Pennsylvania, ordained him to the eldership in 1922.
He graduated with the A.B. degree from Bridgewater College, Virginia, in 1917 and with the B.D. from Crozer Theological Seminary in 1920.
On August 11, 1920, he was married to Myrtle L. Idleman.
The Hesses shepherded the Greenville church from 1946 to 1952. Other pastorates have been: Somerset, Pennsylvania; Roanoke, Virginia; and Bridgewater, Virginia. They are now working in the Hartville church in Northeastern Ohio.
Brother Hesse has served twice as moderator of district conference in the Second District of Virginia and four times on Standing Committee.
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DORSEY HODGDEN
Dorsey Hodgden was born in the town of Essex, Union County, Ohio, November 26, 1855, the son of Elder Sidney and Catherine Davy Hodgden.
He went with his parents, as a boy, to Missouri, and later to Kansas. In the former state he united with the church in 1873 and that same year was called to the ministry at the age of eighteen. In 1875 he moved to Indiana, within the Roann congregation.
On February 7, 1878, he married Martha Ann Neff. They were the parents of five children, one of whom is Mrs. Norman Wine of Dayton, Ohio.
After their marriage they moved to the Clear Creek church, Middle Indiana, where he served for thirty-five years as pastor and elder. His ordination as an elder took place in the Clear Creek church in 1882.
The Hodgdens moved to Dayton, Ohio, in 1912, where he became active in the West Dayton congregation.
While in Middle Indiana Brother Hodgden represented the district on the Standing Committee and assisted in the establishment of the church at Huntington.
His wife was deceased on February 18, 1934, and on August 30, 1939, Brother Hodgden passed away.
W. H. HOLLER
W. H. Holler, son of Perry E. and Susan M. Holler, was born June 12, 1878, in Madison Township, Montgomery County, Ohio.
He attended the public schools here and has resided in this community practically all his life.
His wife was Laura Mae Mummaw, to whom he was married on February 20, 1902. They have two sons and two daughters.
Brother Holler was made a deacon in 1911, elected to the ministry in 1912, and ordained as an elder in 1921. He assisted in the free ministry at Fort McKinley, his home congregation, and was elder here from 1922 to 1925.
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DAVID HOLLINGER
David Hollinger was born to Samuel and Mary Kunkel Hollinger on April 13, 1855, near Greenville, Ohio.
His wife was Catherine Risser; they were married in 1876.
He was elected to the ministry in 1882 by the Palestine church and was ordained by the Manchester church, Middle Indiana. He was for a time a trustee of Manchester College.
The first pastor of the Greenville church, being asked by the Mission Board to take over the new work here in 1900, he served here until 1917, when he moved to Redcliffe, Alberta.
Sister Hollinger was elected to the ministry here and shared in the work of the church along with her husband. After they returned to Greenville in 1927 she became the first district secretary of the Ladies' Aid Society.
During 1910 the Hollingers made a tour of Europe and the Bible lands, after which they visited many churches relating their experiences. He held evangelistic meetings besides and was on Standing Committee several times.
He passed away at Greenville, Ohio, in 1937. Sister Hollinger lived here until she followed him in death in 1953. He had lived to be eighty-two and she ninety-two years old.
E. SYLVESTER HOLLINGER
E. Sylvester Hollinger was born near Hollansburg, Ohio, on September 6, 1887, the child of Daniel and Elizabeth Bolinger Hollinger of the Beech Grove congregation. He became a member of the church in November 1901.
On March 23, 1910, he was married to Elizabeth Wandle, daughter of Emanuel G. and Elizabeth Wandle.
He was made a deacon in 1910 and a minister in 1911 by the Beech Grove church, being installed into the full ministry in 1913 by the Prices Creek church and ordained an elder by the same church in 1926.
He obtained his elementary education in the country schools and attended one term at Manchester College and one term at the Bethany Bible Training School.
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For twenty-five years he worked in the Beech Grove church in the free ministry and as part-time pastor, and for seven years in the Cedar Grove church, mostly in the free
E. S. Hollinger and Wife
ministry. In 1944 he became the full-time pastor of the Beaverton church, Michigan, remaining here nearly five years. While at Beaverton he was on the Board of Christian Educa- tion of the district and was the director of peace and temper- ance. He was also elder of the Midland church. In September 1948 he became pastor of the Pleasant Valley church, where he serves at present.
Two children were born to the couple: Kenneth, a pastor in Northeastern Ohio, and Neva, a teacher in the Troy, Ohio, schools. His companion and their mother passed away in 1934.
On May 22, 1937, Brother Hollinger was married to Vicie Cassel, daughter of Philip and Rebecca Miller Cassel, of near Bradford. She had been a public-school teacher in Miami County for twenty-three years. She graciously assumed the full responsibilities of a pastor's wife, and they are rendering a real service at Pleasant Valley.
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KENNETH HOLLINGER
Kenneth Wandle Hollinger, son of E. S. and Sarah Wandle Hollinger, was born in Darke County, Ohio, on August 11, 1912.
His high school training was taken at Hollansburg. He graduated with the B.S. degree from Manchester College in 1935, and later took the B.D. degree from Bethany Biblical Seminary. Graduate work was taken at the University of Illinois.
He married Helen Louise Darley, also a graduate of Manchester College, in January 1938. They have four sons: John David, Richard Eugene, James Elvin, and Roger William.
Brother Hollinger was elected a minister in 1932 and an elder in 1942. He had served pastorates in Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois before coming to this district to serve the Beech Grove church, 1938-1943. While here he served on the Men's Work Cabinet and assisted in founding the work in Kentucky. He is now the pastor of the Olivet church, in the District of Northeastern Ohio.
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