Church of the Brethren in southern Ohio, Part 22

Author: Helman, H. H.
Publication date: 1955-00-00
Publisher: Brethren Publishing House
Number of Pages: 518


USA > Ohio > Church of the Brethren in southern Ohio > Part 22


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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WILLIAM M. HOLLINGER


William M. Hollinger was born September 27, 1890, at Lamar, Colorado, to Emanuel W. and Jennie Hollinger.


He graduated from the New Madison high school, Darke County, Ohio, in 1908 and from Manchester College in 1927, A.B. degree.


Entering the teaching profession he taught first in Darke County, then in Dixie high school, and now for twenty years has taught English in the Dayton high schools.


His marriage to Mollie M. Wandle took place at Arcanum, Ohio, on August 21, 1912. They have five sons and one daughter.


He was elected to the ministry in 1921 by the Salem congregation and was ordained an elder by the Eversole church in 1925.


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His service in the ministry and as an elder has been rendered in three Southern Ohio congregations, Eversole, Trotwood, and East Dayton. In the local church he has served on several committees and boards and as a Sunday- school teacher.


William Hollinger and Wife


Roy Honeyman and Wife


ROY HONEYMAN


Roy Francis Honeyman, son of Hanford and Josephine LeBlond Honeyman, was born May 4, 1889, in Franklin Town- ship, Darke County, Ohio. He received his education in the township grade and high school and began teaching at the age of nineteen, taught for six years, and then turned to farming.


On November 26, 1914, he was married to Opal Beachler at her home near the Painter Creek church. Three sons, Ken- neth, Carroll, and Richard, were born to them; Carroll died in June 1929.


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Uniting with the church in 1911, he became active in the Sunday school, first as a teacher and then as superintendent. In June 1921 he was called to the ministry by the Painter Creek church. Here he served for twenty years, eight as associate minister at both Painter Creek and Red River and then twelve years as pastor. After being ordained into the eldership in May 1926 he served several churches of the district as elder.


In September 1941 Brother Honeyman became the pastor of the Piqua church; he ministered to this congregation for six years, until his passing on August 25, 1947. For five years he was the director of peace education for the District Board of Christian Education and for seven years was a member of the trustee board of the Brethren Home, being its chairman at the time of his death.


KEITH HOOVER


Keith Hoover, the only son of Ora L. and Marie Kindell Hoover, was born to them in Iowa City, Iowa, on July 31, 1925.


He grew up at Sugar Grove, near the present site of Camp Sugar Grove, and attended the public schools of Miami County. He entered Manchester College, graduating in 1947, and fol- lowing graduation studied a semester each in the Universities of Hamburg, Germany, and Zurich, Switzerland. He was granted the M.A. degree in 1950 by Northwestern University. He took his B.D. at Bethany Biblical Seminary in 1953. At present he is pursuing graduate study in psychology at North- western University and also teaching psychology, counseling, and speech at Wright Junior College, Chicago.


The Pleasant Hill church installed him into the ministry in 1947. Previously he had been on the District Youth Cabinet and on the Brethren Student Christian Movement as well as on the Brotherhood Youth Cabinet.


On August 10, 1952, he was married to Waltrand Gerda Wolff, daughter of an East Prussian landowner, near Angeburt, Germany.


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J. EARL HOSTETTER


J. Earl Hostetter comes from Pennsylvania; he was born May 20, 1917, in Lancaster, to J. Clarence and Leah Etter Hostetter.


He completed his high school training at Cornwall, Penn- sylvania, and attended Herzel College, Chicago, one winter and Manchester College one year. Then he was in the Bethany Bible Training School for three years.


His marriage to Pearl Jean Staley occurred on June 13, 1939, at Anderson, Indiana. They have four children: Judith, Larry, Gloria, and Sylvia.


Elected to the ministry August 4, 1943, by the East Petersburg church, Eastern Pennsylvania, he was advanced


Earl Hostetter and Wife


to the eldership by the Eel River church, Middle Indiana, in December 1950.


In 1953 he came from the Eel River church to the Oakland church, of which he is now the pastor.


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OBED HOVATTER


The parents of Elder Obed Hovatter were Henry B. and Virginia Hovatter, members of the Shiloh church, Tucker County, West Virginia. Three years after his birth the family


Obed Hovatter and Wife


removed to Preble County, Ohio, within the Prices Creek territory.


Brother Hovatter was baptized in 1912 by Elder Joseph Longanecker. In 1913 he went with the family to Greenville. The church here called him to the ministry in August 1921. After a brief period at Manchester College he moved to Hamilton, Ohio, and assisted in services at the local church.


On May 30, 1926, he married Velma Buechly, at Covington, Ohio. After spending some time in the Fort Mckinley and East Dayton churches the couple located at Troy, Ohio. The Troy church ordained him in 1942. Since 1947 they have resided near New Carlisle and have been active in the church there.


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ARTHUR HUNN


Arthur Hunn was born April 22, 1932, at North Man- chester, Indiana, to George A. and Dorothy M. Hunn.


He completed his high school training in the Jefferson Township high school, Montgomery County, Ohio, and enrolled in Manchester College, Indiana, graduating, A.B. degree, in 1954. Then he enrolled in Bethany Biblical Seminary, Chicago, where he is at this time.


He married Phyllis J. Heeter, of Elkhart, Indiana, on December 19, 1953.


The Bear Creek congregation licensed him to the ministry in 1952.


DAVID HUNN


David Hunn, of the Trotwood church, was born at Trot- wood on December 30, 1933, to George A. and Dorothy M. Hunn.


His education was received at the Trotwood high school and Manchester College, where he is enrolled with the class of 1955.


He was elected to the ministry by the Bear Creek church in December 1952. He has been a member of the local, district, regional, and national youth cabinets.


GEORGE A. HUNN


George A. Hunn, son of Adolph and Blanche Sortman Hunn, was born near Dayton, Ohio, on November 25, 1906.


He finished his high school training at Trotwood and later spent two years at Manchester College, Indiana.


The Trotwood congregation licensed him to preach in 1931 and installed him into the full ministry in 1933. The Bear Creek congregation ordained him an elder in May of 1940.


He was married to Dorothy Metzger on June 23, 1928.


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They have two sons and two daughters. The two sons are both ministers, Arthur a student in Bethany Biblical Seminary, Chicago, and David a student in Manchester College.


After teaching four years he became a plumber and a plumbing contractor.


On January 1, 1953, he located in Wisconsin as pastor of the Chippewa Valley parish, near Mondovi.


PERRY L. HUFFAKER


Perry L. Huffaker was born to Harrison L. and Alice L. Huffaker on March 28, 1902, at Decatur, Illinois. He was baptized into the Church of the Brethren at Cerro Gordo, Illinois, in 1912.


Perry Huffaker and Wife


He completed his high school training at John Marshall College, Chicago, in 1919; his college work, A.B. degree, at Manchester College in 1923; and the work for the B.Mus.


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degree at Northwestern University in 1933. He also spent two years at Bethany Biblical Seminary.


Brother Huffaker taught school in Indiana for thirteen years, the last eight of which were in the high school in South Bend. He was afterward director of religious education and music in the Hagerstown church, Maryland. He spent eight years as pastor of the Pine Glen and Spring Run churches at McVeytown, Pennsylvania. In 1949 he became pastor of the West Milton church, this district, and continues there at this time.


In the field of music he has held many responsibilities: music director at state conferences in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, at preaching missions, and at Annual Conference some eighteen times. He has conducted schools of music in many places throughout the Brotherhood, and in several youth camps. He has been on the Music and Worship Committee of the Church of the Brethren since 1929, and was a member of the committee commissioned to compile the new Brethren Hymnal. Since coming to Ohio he has annually directed the Southern Ohio Choral Society in preparing and rendering the Messiah.


Wherever he has lived he has been active in inter- denominational church work and in the district. He was a member of the Board of Christian Education in Northern Indiana, in Middle Maryland, and in Middle Pennsylvania. He was the district youth adviser in the latter district. At present he is a member of the District Board of Southern Ohio.


On August 12, 1923, Brother Huffaker married Lauree L. Whitehead, of Warsaw, Indiana. She has been active in district and national Women's Work, directing homebuilders conferences at Bridgewater, Virginia, and Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, and as homebuilder director for the districts of Middle Pennsylvania and Southern Ohio. She has also been a camp leader and a member of the Women's Work Cabinet of this district.


They have three sons: Keith Lee, David Lowell, and John Lawrence,


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THOMAS E. HUNTER


Thomas E. Hunter was born in Madera, Pennsylvania, on September 14, 1890, to Robert C. and Elsie Stugart Hunter.


He was licensed to preach in 1944 by the Springfield church after being a deacon for over thirty years. He served the Charleston church, this district, for several months and has held meetings in Pennsylvania. He has supplied at Springfield and Donnels Creek.


On March 8, 1911, he was married to Mildred M. Findley of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.


He has been employed in a factory in Springfield, from which he will retire soon hoping to give more of his time then to the ministry.


JOHN C. HURST


John C. Hurst was born in Birmingham, Alabama, to Calvin D. and Louie A. Hurst, on June 14, 1914.


He attended high school at Shoopman, Kentucky. He


John C. Hurst and Wife


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married Marjorie Jean Kincaid on January 3, 1937. They have three children, Judith, Paul, and John.


The East Dayton church elected him to the ministry in 1945. He served the Gratis church for two years and then was called to pastor the Circleville congregation, where he still labors.


JESSE CALVERT INMAN


Jesse Calvert Inman (1886-) was born near Bradford, Ohio, the son of Isaac L. and Ella Fry Inman. He did his high school work at Bradford, and later attended Mt. Union College, Ohio. Following this he taught school for one year at Beams-


J. C. Inman and Wife


ville, Ohio, and then entered Y.M.C.A. work, serving at Rich- mond, Indiana, and at Bradford and Hamilton, Ohio.


He married Sophia Schwartz of Piqua, Ohio, on May 17, 1911. They have four children.


Brother Inman was elected to the ministry by the Coving-


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ton church in 1914, and was ordained an elder in 1920 by the Springfield church.


He served as pastor of the Springfield church, 1916-24; the Canton, Ohio, church, 1925-40; and the Ashland, Ohio, church, 1941-51. He became pastor of the Sidney church in October 1951 and continues there at the present.


While in Northeastern Ohio he was the moderator of district conference several times and at other times was assistant moderator and writing clerk. He was on the District Ministerial Board for sixteen years and was the chairman of the Joint Board for a number of years.


As pastor of the Sidney church, Brother Inman is directing the work there in a commendable way.


SAMUEL S. KELLER


Samuel S. Keller comes from Defiance County, Ohio, the son of John and Lucretia Keller.


Samuel Keller and Wife


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His education was received in the Hicksville, Ohio, public schools and in Defiance College.


On September 11, 1923, he was married to Alma Buirley at Deshler, Ohio. They have one child, John William.


Elected to the ministry by the Hicksville church, North- western Ohio, on November 9, 1942, he was advanced to the eldership in 1952.


He served the Hicksville and Sugar Creek churches in that district before coming to his present pastorate in the Piqua church in 1953.


PAUL W. KINSEL


Paul W. Kinsel was born just west of Brookville, Ohio, to Daniel L. and Elizabeth Dafler Kinsel on March 15, 1910.


Paul Kinsel and Wife


At the age of two years, he moved with his parents to Brookville, where he grew up, uniting with the church at ten and finishing high school in 1928. Entering Manchester


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College, North Manchester, Indiana, he graduated, A.B. degree, in 1932. He received his A.M. degree from Ohio State Uni- versity in 1935.


Returning to his home town he taught in the high school for twelve years.


He was called to the ministry by the Brookville church on August 26, 1931. In 1932 he was installed into the ministry and on May 19, 1939, was ordained to the eldership.


On June 7, 1941, he was married to Naomi V. Erbaugh, daughter of C. G. and Mrs. Erbaugh of the Eversole church. They have three children, Barbara Ann, Susan Elizabeth, and John Daniel.


Brother Kinsel began his pastoral work as part-time pastor at West Charleston in 1936, remaining here for about two years. In 1941 he became part-time pastor of the West Alex- andria church, continuing there for five years. In 1944 he resigned teaching and began seminary training. After one year at Bonebrake Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio, he entered Bethany Biblical Seminary, Chicago, graduating with the B.D. degree in 1946.


On September 1, 1946, he became pastor of the Frederick church, Eastern Maryland, continuing there until October 1950, when he became pastor of the Trotwood church, this district. Just now he is leading the congregation in the en- largement and modernization of the church building.


His services in this district have been many. Before going to Maryland he was on the Youth Cabinet for six years, three of these as president, and was a member of the Board of Christian Education for five years. He was also manager of Camp Sugar Grove for three years prior to his leaving the district. In 1946 he was moderator of district conference, and that same year was elected on the Standing Committee.


While in Eastern Maryland, he served as moderator of the district conference, as Standing Committeeman from the district, as chairman of the committee which developed a new plan for district organization, and also as chairman of the newly formed District Board.


Returning to Southern Ohio, he was again elected moderator of district conference and again elected on Standing


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Committee. He was elected to the new District Board in 1953 and is at present its vice-chairman.


In the larger field of service he has been a member of the General Brotherhood Board, being assigned to the Brethren Service Commission. He served on the Heifer Project Com- mittee of the Church of the Brethren and at present is the national vice-chairman of Heifer Project, Inc.


MOYNE LANDIS


Moyne Landis, the son of Noah and Lydia Landis, residents of Kosciusko County, Indiana, was born on May 2, 1890.


He was educated in the public schools of Indiana, Man- chester College, A.B. degree 1927, Bethany Seminary, and


Moyne Landis and Wife


Indiana University. In 1953 the seminary conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity.


Brother Landis was installed into the ministry by the


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Plunge Creek Chapel congregation, in Wabash County, Indiana, in the year 1909. He was made an elder in 1919.


He married Kate Martin in 1911. There were five children, two of whom are deceased.


For twenty-five years Brother Landis was a teacher and public-school administrator in Indiana. For a longer period than that he was the pastor of the Spring Creek church in Middle Indiana-nineteen years as part-time and seven as full-time pastor.


In 1944 he came to Southern Ohio as pastor of the Oakland church. After nine years in this parish he accepted the in- vitation of the District Board to become the executive secretary of the district, taking up these duties in September of 1953.


In the two state districts in which he has lived he has served in a number of district offices: as a trustee of Man- chester College, moderator of district conferences, member of district boards, and representative on Standing Committee.


The Landises occupy the district parsonage recently erected at West Milton. His duties as executive secretary of the District Board are heavy and exacting.


OTIS I. LANDIS


Otis I. Landis became the son of Forest C. and Ola Kreider Landis on November 17, 1917, at Red River, within the territory of the Painter Creek and Red River churches. He graduated from the Newton Township schools, at Pleasant Hill, in 1935. Then followed one year in a business college, after which he was employed by a furniture company in Springfield, Ohio.


He married Myrth Karns of Covington in 1943. They have two daughters.


Brother Landis united with the Church of the Brethren at Pleasant Hill, being baptized by Elder John A. Robinson. The church licensed him to the ministry on November 3, 1940, and ordained him to the full ministry the following year.


After attending the Training School at Bethany Seminary


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for two years, he enrolled at Manchester College, graduating in 1944, A.B. degree. Returning to Bethany he completed the seminary work, graduating in 1947.


While in college Brother Landis acted as part-time pastor at Portland, Indiana, and in the summer of 1945 as the pastor of the Turkey Creek, Kentucky, church. From 1947 to 1951 he was pastor of the Cleveland church, and was then called to become pastor of the Springfield, Ohio, church in September 1951. There he continues to work at this time. He is at present a member of the District Board.


Otis Landis


Philip Lauver and Wife


PHILIP H. LAUVER


Philip H. Lauver was born August 3, 1906, near Paola, Kansas, the son of George M. and Sarah Hawk Lauver. George M. Lauver was at that time and until his death in 1912 a member of the faculty of Bethany Bible School, actively representing that institution in Bible institute work through- out the Brotherhood.


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Brother Lauver was baptized in the Chicago Church of the Brethren on April 24, 1917. He was licensed to preach by the same congregation on December 1, 1929, and ordained to the office of elder in Tampa, Florida, on May 26, 1940.


He was educated in the public schools of Maywood, Illinois, at Elizabethtown and McPherson colleges, and at Bethany Biblical Seminary, where he received the B.D. degree in 1945.


On May 27, 1932, he was married to Mary Lou Williams, of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. They have two sons, Philip J. and David.


After his graduation from McPherson College in 1932 Brother Lauver continued in the free ministry in Florida during the ten years he spent as a teacher in the public schools. In 1942 he discontinued public-school work to attend Bethany Biblical Seminary. At his graduation from that institution he became the pastor of the Fort McKinley congregation, which he served until 1952, when he became pastor of the church at Greenville.


At the 1948 district conference he was elected secretary of the district conference, and continued in this capacity until 1953. During this period he was secretary of the District Board and of the Council of Boards, and was a member of the com- mittee which drafted the plan for reorganization of the District of Southern Ohio. He also represented the district as a member of the Central Regional Council. He was a member of the Standing Committee in 1951. At present he is the secretary of the District Board.


CARL B. LEHMAN


Carl B. Lehman was born July 23, 1898, on a farm in Cherokee County, Iowa, the son of Frank and Helena Sheeler Lehman. His mother was a native of Hesse Cassel, Germany, and came to America when she was fifteen years old.


His early life was spent in this same county, where he completed his high school work. Afterward he spent one winter in Mount Morris College, Illinois, and later attended Bethany Biblical Seminary.


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He united with the Church of the Brethren at Mount Morris and in 1923 was licensed to preach by the Kingsley church, of the Northern Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota


Carl Lehman and Wife


District. The Troy church, Southern Ohio, installed him into the ministry in 1931 and ordained him an elder in 1942.


Brother Lehman was the interim pastor at Pleasant Hill in the spring of 1928 and the part-time pastor at Troy during 1929-30.


While in Bethany Seminary he met the lady he later married, Mary Grisso. Their marriage took place in Troy on July 11, 1926. They lived in Iowa for a short time but later came to Troy. They have three children, Clyde Beryl, Dorothy Marie, and Joyce Elaine, the latter an adopted child.


CHARLES EUGENE LENKER


Charles Eugene Lenker, son of G. C. and Ruth DeWeese Lenker, was born February 24, 1923, at Greenville, Ohio,


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He graduated from the Jackson Township high school. He was in civilian public service during World War II. He and two brothers were on a cattle boat to Greece in 1946.


Entering Manchester College he graduated, A.B. degree, in 1949; then he enrolled in Bethany Biblical Seminary, graduating in 1952 with the B.D. degree. He held summer pastorates in Southern Virginia and in the fall after gradu- ation returned to that district to become the full-time pastor of the Snow Creek congregation, where he now serves.


He married Hannah May Withers of Newberg, Oregon. They have three children.


Licensed by the Pleasant Valley church, Southern Ohio, he was later ordained to the full ministry by the same church.


ROBERT KENNETH LENKER


Robert Kenneth Lenker was born in Darke County, Ohio, on October 24, 1929, the son of G. C. and Ruth DeWeese Lenker.


He graduated from the Jackson Township high school, spent a year in Bethany Biblical Seminary, and then entered Manchester College, purposing to complete his seminary work after graduation here.


On December 30, 1951, he was licensed to preach by the Pleasant Valley church, this district. He does summer pastoral work during school vacations. He made a trip to Greece on a cattle boat when sixteen years old. Two older brothers were also on this boat.


He married Joan Louise Stickleman of Rossburg, Ohio, on January 7, 1950. They have two children, Mona Kay and Jonathan Dean.


JOHN D. LONG


John D. Long was born at Meyersdale, Pennsylvania, to Daniel W. and Susie Elizabeth Long on August 14, 1914. His father is a minister.


He graduated from the Meyersdale high school in 1932;


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from Juniata College, Pennsylvania, A.B. degree, in 1936; from Bethany Biblical Seminary in 1941 with the B.D. degree; and with the S.T.M. degree from the Yale Divinity School in 1945.


In July 1932 the Meyersdale church, Western Pennsyl- vania, licensed him to preach. He was ordained an elder by this church in December 1941.


John D. Long and Wife


On March 6, 1943, he was married to Inez Goughnour, of Des Moines, Iowa, who had been the editor of youth publica- tions at the Brethren Publishing House, Elgin, Illinois. She was graduated from Manchester College in 1939. They have two children, David Warren and Mary Kathryn.


From June 1936 to August 1938 he served the Salisbury, Maple Glen, Beachdale, and Garrett circuit of churches in Western Pennsylvania. While in Bethany Seminary he was the student pastor, 1938-40, of the Liberty Mills church, in Middle Indiana. Following his graduation from the seminary he became pastor of the University Park church in the suburbs of Washington, D. C., in the Eastern Maryland Dis-


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trict, remaining here until August 1944. In September of 1945 he came to the District of Southern Ohio as pastor of the West Dayton (now Mack Memorial) church, where he led the congregation in the erection of a splendid new build- ing, dedicated October 12, 1952. A new parsonage was also purchased during this time.


He was on the board of directors of the Church Federation of Greater Dayton, was once moderator of our district con- ference, was twice the representative of this district on Stand- ing Committee; and was for a five-year term a member of the General Brotherhood Board. Sister Long was for a time a contributing editor of the Gospel Messenger.


The Longs moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in January 1955, to become the pastors of the church there.


KENNETH GUY LONG


Kenneth Guy Long is a native of Ohio, having been born to Elder Ira E. and Della Landis Long near Mansfield on May 26, 1913.


He completed his high school work at Akron, Ohio, and entered Manchester College in 1931, graduating in 1935 with the A.B. degree. He completed his seminary training at Bethany Biblical Seminary, receiving the B.D. degree in 1939.




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