USA > Ohio > The Church of the Brethren in northeastern Ohio > Part 17
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At the district conference held in August 1962, Brother Blough was elected Standing Committee delegate for a two-year term. Mrs. Blough is the former Mae Hersch; they have three children.
John H. Blough
RUSSELL V. BOLLINGER, son of John and Nora (Cripe) Bollinger, was born in Shipshewana, Indiana, on October 5, 1901. He was licensed to the ministry in 1922 and ordained in 1924. The same year he married Martha Cripe; to them were born nine children. Brother Bollinger was graduated from Manchester College in 1926 and later received a Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin. While serving the New Paris church from 1922 to 1939 he taught in one-room schools for two years and in a high school for three years; then followed eight years as a high school principal. From 1939 to 1946 he was a professor of psychology and education at Ashland College, becoming the dean of students in 1943. Since 1946 he has been dean of students and professor of psychology at Manchester College. He has been a frequent lecturer since 1939. Brother Bollinger rendered wide service to Northeastern Ohio during his years here as reading clerk, 1942; moderator, 1945; member of the board of Christian education, 1943 to 1946; Standing Committeeman, 1943; speaker on numerous occasions.
WILLIS BOSSERMAN, son of Harry F. and Gladys M. Bosser- man, was born on August 24, 1919, in Hancock County, Ohio. He was married to Virginia E. Sweeney on June 28, 1946; three children were born to the couple. Brother Bosserman received a B.A. degree from Adrian College, Michigan, and a B.D. degree from Bethany Biblical Seminary (1955). Ordained a minister
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Willis Bosserman
at Adrian on August 15, 1951, he held summer pastorates in South- ern and Northern Illinois and in Pennsylvania during his student days at Bethany. From 1942 to 1946 he served in the medical corps of the United States navy. He came to the Reading church as pastor on September 1, 1957, from Fairchance, Pennsylvania. On September 1, 1959, he became the pastor of the Waka church, Texas.
GLENN H. BOWLBY, the son of William H. and Kathryn (Horner) Bowlby of Meyersdale, Pennsylvania, was born on April 2, 1918. He was elected to the ministry on December 28, 1937, in the Middle Creek, Pennsylvania, congregation; on December 30, 1939, he was ordained to the ministry, and in 1945 to the eldership. Brother Bowlby was graduated from these schools: Juniata College (1941); Bethany Seminary (1944); West Virginia University (M.A., 1947); Oberlin Graduate School of Theology (S.T.M., 1954); University of Pittsburgh (M.Ed., 1960). He married Helen S. Hackman on August 5, 1944; they are the parents of four children. After acting as an assistant to the pastors at Wichita, Kansas, and Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, he became the pastor at Morgan- town, West Virginia, in 1944. From July 1947 to September 1951 he was with the Canton City church, Ohio. From there he went to the Pittsburgh church, Pennsylvania. Since 1958 he has been the district executive secretary for Western Pennsylvania. While in Northeastern Ohio, Brother Bowlby was a member of the ministerial and Christian education commissions, assistant moderator once, and Standing Com- mitteeman once.
DANIEL M. BRUBAKER, son of Daniel and Harriet (Martin) Brubaker, was born October 22, 1858, in the turbulent period shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War. He was baptized
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January 20, 1878, at the Wooster Paradise church. He married Mary Bowser on November 23, 1879; six children were born to them. Brother Brubaker was elected to the ministry November 8, 1882, in the Chippewa congregation and was ordained to the eldership in 1896 at Williamsport, Indiana. From 1896 to 1899 he was the pastor of the Williamsport church, before moving to Liberty, Illinois, his field of work until 1907. He then became the part-time pastor of the Hadley Creek, Lorain, and Camp Creek churches, continuing with them until 1924 when he took over the full-time pastorate at the Maple Grove church, Ashland, Ohio. He remained there until 1929. The decade from 1930 to 1940 he spent in supply work for the Wooster Paradise church. Brother Brubaker died in July 1943, and Sister Brubaker on September 28 of that year.
HARVEY A. BRUBAKER served the greater part of his pastoral career in California - in the Pasadena church from January 1, 1920, to September 1, 1925, and in the Oakland church from September 3, 1925, until his death on October 25, 1927. The son of S. S. and Mary (Harshbarger) Brubaker, he was born April 2, 1886, in Virden, Illinois. He was married on August 5, 1912, to Iva Rohrer; three sons came into their home. Brother Brubaker was called to the ministry June 28, 1913, at Columbiana, Ohio; was ordained in September 1915; and became an elder in November 1921. He received his education at Bethany Seminary, Manchester College, and the University of Southern California. From 1916 to 1919 he ministered to the Akron church, Ohio. He was a member of the committee of arrangements for the 1928 Annual Conference.
DANIEL M. BRUMBAUGH was born to Daniel and Elizabeth (Guthridge) Brumbaugh in Saxton, Pennsylvania, on May 17, 1911. He united with the Stonerstown congregation at the age of eleven, was called to the ministry July 7, 1930, and was ordained August 31, 1932. He attended Juniata College and Bethany Seminary. Ruth M. Ross became his wife on August 25, 1936; four children were born to them. Brother Brumbaugh served as assistant pastor in Battle Creek, Michigan, from June 1937 to August 1938, and as full-time pastor at Marion, Ohio
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(September 1938 to September 1939), and at Danville, Ohio (September 1939 to March 1947). While in this district he was a member of the board of Christian education (1942-1946), the promotional committee (1942-1946), and the program com- mittee (1943-1947), and was a teacher in young people's camps (1940-1945). At present he is living on his home farm at Saxton and is teaching in the high school.
ELMER ISAAC BRUMBAUGH, oldest son of Theodore Amos and Minerva (Fausnight) Brumbaugh, was born at Suffield, Ohio, on July 11, 1903. On August 1, 1924, he was married to Averie Elizabeth Fenstermaker; they are the parents of three daugh- ters. After graduating from high school, Brother Brumbaugh was employed by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company for a little more than five years. On April 1, 1930, he was appointed superintendent of the boys' receiving home in Portage County, which position he held for seven years. While there he was appointed probation officer by the juvenile court; this position he held for about twenty years, for fifteen of which he was the chief officer. On April 1, 1950, he accept- ed a position as Protestant youth counselor, sponsored by the Akron Area Council of Church Women. In this position he is associated with the the Summit County juvenile court. He has been a member of numerous state committees on juvenile delinquency and was a member of the governor's juvenile delinquency committee to study and activate the provisions of the President's White House Confer- Elmer Brumbaugh ence of 1950. On April 23, 1933, Brother Brumbaugh was licensed to preach. About one year later he was ordained as a minister, and, on October 24, 1937, he was ordained into the eldership. He has contributed to the work of North- eastern Ohio as a member of the district board of Christian education for three terms and as its president for several
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years; director of adult work and dean of the homemakers camp for twelve years; Standing Committeeman three times; moderator of district conference once. He was the pastor of the Kent congregation on a part-time basis from 1945 to 1960. Since 1960 he has been pastor of the West Nimishillen (now called Mt. Pleasant) congregation on a part-time basis.
THEODORE AMOS BRUMBAUGH was born in Stark County, Ohio, on October 15, 1881, the son of Isaac D. and Sarah (McDaniel) Brumbaugh. He was married May 4, 1902, to Minerva Fausnight; to this union were born five daughters and six sons. Brother Brumbaugh was baptized at the age of nine years in the Center Church of the Brethren. Called to the ministry in the Akron First church in 1919, from 1921 to 1926 he served as a part-time pastor of the Bristolville church. Then he preached at various places until 1939, when he began his pastorate at the Evangelical United Brethren church at Windham, Ohio, where he remained until retirement. Brother Brumbaugh has been largely self-educated, having gone to high school but one year. In his early life he was a farmer; then he spent a few years as a factory worker in Akron. From there he moved onto a farm in Portage County; during his time there he acted as a part-time pas- tor. He has made his living for the last twenty-eight years selling household products in the northern half of Trumbull County. During this time he has been preaching and serving the Lord in various other capacities. At the latest available count he had a record of two hundred thirty-three marriage cer- Theodore and Minerva Brumbaugh emonies and four hundred sixty- eight funeral services which he had conducted.
WILBUR E. BRUMBAUGH was born December 11, 1931, in Ohio, the son of Ralph L. and Erma L. Brumbaugh. Following
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his graduation from Kent State University in 1953, he attended Bethany Biblical Seminary, from which he was graduated in 1957. Married to the former Eula P. Rohrer, he has four children. He has served as assistant pastor of the Valley View Community church, Whittier, California, and as pastor of the Klamath Falls church, Oregon. He is now the assistant editor of Christian education publications of the General Brotherhood Board, Elgin, Illinois.
Wilbur Brumbaugh
Guy R. Buch
GUY R. BUCH, the son of William and Sadie (Daubert) Buch, was born in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, on May 17, 1925. At the age of ten he united with the church by baptism in the Schuylkill congregation. He was graduated from Elizabeth- town College in 1942, and from Bethany Biblical Seminary with a B.D. degree in 1945. Brother Buch was ordained to the ministry in the Schuylkill congregation in 1943 and to the eldership in the Lake Ridge church, New York, in 1953. He was pastor at Lake Ridge from 1948 to 1955. In 1955 he began his present pastorate of the East Chippewa church in Northeastern Ohio. In June 1946 Brother Buch went to Bremerhaven, Germany, on a cattleboat. He married Jeanne Hamme on July 22, 1945; they are the parents of three children.
GORDON W. BUCHER came to Northeastern Ohio on May 1, 1958, as the executive secretary of the district. He was born in Astoria, Illinois. Having united with the Church of the
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Brethren at Canton, Illinois, he was licensed to preach by the Rockford church, Illinois, in 1943. He was graduated from Manchester College and from Bethany Seminary and holds a master's degree in religion from Northwestern University. During a year's interlude between college and seminary, Brother Bucher was a part-time pastor of the Bethel Center church near Hartford City, Indiana, and taught school. During his years at the seminary, he was the summer pastor at Liberty, Illinois. He ministered to the Springfield, Illinois, church, from 1951 until he came to Ohio. While at Springfield, Brother Bucher served as district conference mod- erator, was a member of the district board of administration of Southern Illinois, and was the chairman of the administrative department of the Springfield Council of Churches. His wife, the former Darlene Fair, is a graduate Gordon Bucher of Manchester College; she at- tended a summer session at the National College of Education in Evanston, Illinois, and taught two years in the elementary schools of Cicero, Illinois, while her husband was in the seminary. Sister Bucher took an active part in the work of the Springfield Council of Church Women, heading the World Day of Prayer in the community for several years and serving on the radio and television publicity committee of that organ- ization. The Buchers with their three sons live in the new district parsonage at Hartville.
JOHN A. BUFFENMEYER, son of John and Matilda (Adams) Buffenmeyer, was born March 27, 1887. He was reared in the Conestoga congregation, Pennsylvania, where he was baptized November 4, 1889. Following his call to the ministry in the Elizabethtown congregation on May 8, 1919, he entered pastoral work April 1, 1920, at Uniontown, Pennsylvania, going from there to Connellsville on April 1, 1922. There he was ordained
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to the eldership May 31, 1923. Subsequent pastorates have been Scalp Level, Pennsylvania, from November 1, 1927, to March 1, 1933; Alliance, Ohio, from 1941 to 1942; Lost Creek and Newville, Pennsylvania. He served on a number of district committees and held many evangelistic services. He met Stella Hoffer while they were students at Elizabethtown College. They were married December 24, 1907; six children were born to the union. Brother Buffenmeyer died July 7, 1943. A licensed minister, Sister Buffenmeyer completed his term as pastor of the Newville church. On June 4, 1950, she was married to H. B. Markley, the elder of the West Conestoga congregation in Eastern Pennsylvania.
SAMUEL J. BURGER, the son of John S. and Sophia (Kensler) Burger, was born in Baltic, Ohio, on March 23, 1844. He was married to Mary Fox on May 31, 1866; they were the parents of three children. He was an elder in the Baltic church. Sister Burger died in 1913; Brother Burger in 1916.
DAVID BYERS, born in 1822, was one of nine children of John and Elizabeth (Shaffer) Byers. He married Susan Shively; they were the parents of three children. Little is known of his life. He owned three different farms along the Beechwood Freeburg road. Love feasts were held at times in the barn on his farm. He frequently assisted in council meet- ings in the Reading (Sandy) congregation and apparently was a member of it since he was appointed to represent it at the Annual Conference. Sister Byers died on January 31, 1890; Elder Byers on January 28, 1906.
JOHN IRA BYLER, son of Joseph and Nancy (Zook) Byler, was born in Allensville, Pennsylvania, on June 17, 1881. Reared in the home of a Mennonite minister, Brother Byler took the examination for full-time missionary work in the Mennonite Church and was given his first regular preaching appointment in Gar Creek, Indiana. After his marriage on August 12, 1908, to Amanda Ellen Troyer, Brother Byler was appointed super- intendent of the Youngstown, Ohio, mission. For five years he was the superintendent of the Toronto, Ontario, mission, re- turning in 1914 to Youngstown, where he organized the Wood-
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worth church. Ten children were born to Brother and Sister Byler. Brother Byler organized the family into a singing group which toured thirty-two states, Mexico, and Canada. In North- eastern Ohio, Brother Byler ministered to the Woodworth, Reading, East Nimishillen, and Kent churches. He was the part-time pastor at Long Run, Pennsylvania, from 1937 to 1940; full-time pastor at Martinsburg, West Virginia, from 1940 to 1944; and full-time pastor at University Park, Maryland, from 1944 to 1948. For a time he preached in the Sheffield Mennonite church, resuming his Mennonite affiliation. He is now retired.
G. A. CASSEL was a resident of Ashland County all his life. In 1894 he was united in marriage to Clara Stone; in 1944 they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. Brother Cassel received his education in the Ashland County schools, Savannah Academy, and Ada College (B.S. degree). He was a member of the Ashland City church nearly all of his life. His busy and useful life included schoolteaching; farming; an insurance agency; a mer- cantile business; a director- ship of the Ashland Bank and Savings; the deacon- ship for many years; being a delegate to the World Sunday-School Convention which was held in Glas- gow, Scotland, in 1924; service as the president or as the secretary of the Ohio Council of Religious Edu- cation for twenty-one years; membership on the church's national committee of men's work; membership on the Committee of Personal Evangelism in America; be- ing a life advisory Sunday- school superintendent of the Ashland church; the G. A. Cassel
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presidency of the board of directors of the local Y.M.C.A .; membership on the mission advisory board of the General Brotherhood Board; membership on the district mission board; and the position of solicitor for the board. The Cassels were supporting John Detrick on the China mission field at the time of Brother Cassel's death on June 29, 1950.
JOHN A. CLEMENT was born November 10, 1837, in Stark County, Ohio. He attended school at North Georgetown and at Mount Union College. He spoke French, German, and English fluently. Elected to the ministry by the Sandy (Reading) congregation in 1862, he taught school and did general farming while serving in the free ministry in that congregation from 1862 to 1882. His first wife, Emeline (Bowman) Clement, died on June 27, 1875. His second marriage was to Ella Kahler. Elder Clement was the father of eight children. He was moderator of the district conference several times. No record of his death was found.
AUBREY R. COFFMAN, son of John Morgan and Mary (Flory) Coffman, was born March 10, 1892, in Lacy Springs, Virginia. He united with the church in August 1905 at Massanetta Springs, Virginia. His education was secured at Bridgewater College, Bethany Seminary, Princeton University, the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, and the Dallas Theological Seminary. Called to the ministry in March 1915, he was installed into the full ministry in June 1917. Carrie Cassel became his wife on June 7, 1916; four children were born to them. Brother Coffman's pastorates were in the Coventry church, Pottstown, Pennsylvania, from May 1920 to August 1926; Dixon, Illinois, from September 1926 to June 1927; Girard, Illinois, from September 1932 to June 1933; Martinsburg, Pennsylvania, from June 1933 to March 1945; Hartville, Ohio, from March 1945 to August 1946. He served on the ministerial board of Middle Pennsylvania from 1940 to 1945, the ministerial board of Northeastern Ohio from 1945 to 1946, the Annual Meeting Program Committee from 1932 to 1934, and the Standing Committee at three Annual Conferences. He is the author of Sunday School Lessons for Intermediates, Christian Workers'
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Outlines, 1932 and 1934, and a number of articles for the Gospel Messenger. Brother Coffman has been teaching at La Verne College, California, since 1946.
WALTER E. COLDREN, son of Guy E. and Minerva (Walters) Coldren, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 20, 1920. He united with the Church of the Brethren by baptism in the Connellsville congregation, Pennsylvania, on November 18, 1928. He was graduated from the Connellsville high school in 1938. Brother Coldren served as a 1-AO in the army medical corps from 1943 to 1945 in the South Pacific islands and in Japan. Upon his return to the States, he worked as a glazier for the B. F. Goodrich Company, Akron, Ohio, 1945-1951. Dur- ing this period he attended night school at the University of Akron. On September 2, 1951, he was united in marriage to Roberta G. Wiles; to this union one daughter was born. In 1951, Brother Coldren entered the Bethany Bible Training School, receiving a B.S.L. degree in 1953. He was ordained to the ministry in the Eastwood Akron church, Ohio, on September 9, 1952. In June 1953 he began the pastorate of the Bristolville, Ohio, church, continuing there until 1959, when he went to the Canton Maple Avenue pastorate.
ALVIN C. COOK was reared in Bridgewater, Virginia, where he was born to Linden Dorsey and Myrtie (Dinkle) Cook on
Alvin Cook
Clinton Copeland
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March 26, 1928. Brother Cook was baptized in 1938 at the Bridgewater church. He received a B.A. degree from McPherson College and a B.D. degree from Bethany Seminary. Called to the ministry by the Waynesboro church in 1945, he was ordained in 1952. He married Philippa Lee on May 29, 1951; they are the parents of four children. Brother Cook was part-time pastor at Gravel Hill, Kansas, from December 1948 to May 1949; summer pastor in 1950 at Ozawkie, Kansas; summer pastor in 1951 of the Baltimore fellowship, Maryland. From August 1, 1952, to September 1, 1960, he worked as full-time pastor at Woodworth, Ohio, and since then at Naperville, Illinois. He was ordained to the eldership in 1954.
CLINTON E. COPELAND was born on April 6, 1891, near Mansfield, Ohio, the son of Albert C. and Nettie E. (Powell) Copeland. He was baptized in the Richland Church of the Brethren on Christmas Day, 1909. Following graduation from the Mansfield high school, he completed a course of study with the Alexander Hamilton Institute. In 1913 he was married to Kathryne E. Huck and established his home in Ashland, where he was employed. In 1917 he moved to Cleveland to accept employment. While there he took an active part in the organization of the Cleveland church. Returning to Mansfield in 1925, he organized his own firm, the Velcrest Company. Wherever Brother Copeland lived he took an active part in the work of the church. After he came back to Mansfield, he cooperated in the Lincoln Heights mission in this city when the Richland church began the work. Then, when the Mans- field church was organized as a separate congregation, Brother Copeland became a deacon by transfer of membership from Richland. He served the congregation in various capacities and took a very commendable part in the building of the new church which was dedicated on December 17, 1961. He was privileged to share in the dedication service before his death in the early part of 1962. From 1940 until 1957 Brother Cope- land served continuously on the district council of the men's fellowship. In 1956, he was elected to a three-year term as national men's fellowship councilman from the Central Region.
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ANDREW W. CORDIER, son of Wellington J. and Ida May (Anstine) Cordier, was born near Canton, Ohio, on March 3, 1901. After attending Kent State University for a year, he went to Manchester College, from which he was graduated in 1922 with a B.A. degree. He holds an M.A. (1923) and a Ph.D. (1926) from the University of Chicago and has received fifteen honorary degrees. One year was spent studying in the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. From 1927 to 1944 he was the head of the history and political science department at Manchester College. Leaving Manchester, he spent two years in the Department of State as an expert on international security and later served as a technical expert on the United States delegation at the founding conference of the United Nations in San Francisco. He was appointed by Paul-Henri Spaak, the first president of the United Nations, to advise him on parliamentary matters and was then retained by Secretary General Trygve Lie and Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold as the executive assistant with the rank of Undersecretary. In this capacity he was an adviser to the General Secretary, was the director of the General Assembly, traveled widely throughout the world on United Nations missions, and carried a variety of other responsibilities. In February 1962 Brother Cordier resigned from the United Nations and became the dean of the Graduate School of International Affairs, Columbia University. He is a member of the commission of international affairs of the National Council of Churches and also of the World Council of Churches. Other significant service is rendered as a consultant for the Department of State; as a trustee of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Foreign Policy Association; as a member of the board of directors of the American Association for the United Nations; as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the Century Association, New York City; and as the president of the United States Committee of the Dag Hammarskjold Founda- tion. In 1920 Brother Cordier was licensed to the ministry by the East Nimishillen congregation and in 1938 was ordained to the eldership in the Walnut Street church, North Manchester, Indiana. On May 23, 1924, he was married to Dorothy Butterbaugh; they have two children. The Cordiers live in Great Neck, New York.
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MERVIN CRIPE, a graduate of Bridgewater College and of Bethany Biblical Seminary, assumed the pastorate of the Brookpark church on September 1, 1961. Brother Cripe served the Swan Creek church of Northwestern Ohio for five years and completed seven years as pastor at Eel River, near North Manchester, Indiana, prior to coming to Brookpark. He worked on various boards and committees in both districts.
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