Tabor College Learning In Retirement Program

Historian and storyteller John Sharp will present “The Gravestone  on Old Highway 56″ at the Tabor College Learning in Retirement Program, beginning at 9:45 a.m. Monday, March 1, in the Wohlgemuth Music Education Center.

Sharp, who lives in Hesston, Kan. and teaches history at Hesston College, will tell the story of Henry and Suzanna Heatwole Brunk Cooprider, who arrived in Marion County in 1873. He will be accompanied by Herb Zook, a retired professor from Fort Hays State University and a direct descendant of Brunk.

“Many of us have been intrigued by the large headstone in the little cemetery between Hillsboro and Marion that reads ‘BRUNK’ in very large letters,” said Connie Isaac, Coordinator of the Learning in Retirement Program. “The tragedy behind that headstone is only part of their story. We will be particularly blessed to have John Sharp share their story with us.”

Sharp edited a collection of 28 stories of interesting people called, “Gathering at the Hearth.” More recently, Sharp was chosen to write the history of Hesston College for the celebration of its Centennial. The commemorative book is titled, “A School on the Prairie: A Centennial History of Hesston College, 1909-2009.” He also is active in leading tour groups to historical sites in Europe and Central Asia.

Sharp was raised in Central Pennsylvania and received his undergraduate education at Hesston College and Goshen College, Goshen, Ind. His post graduate work was done at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Ind. For 10 years he was director of the Mennonite Church USA Historical Committee and Archives, based in Goshen, Indiana.

The public is welcome to attend all Learning in Retirement programs. Fees are $3 per session or $15 per semester ($28 per couple). Registration and discount cards for lunch in the cafeteria will be available at the door during the half hour before the meeting. For more information, contact Connie Isaac, coordinator at (620) 947-5964, or conniei@tabor.edu.

New England residents Gordon and Doris Pierce will present a program titled “Land of the Pilgrim’s Pride” during a special Thanksgiving edition of the Tabor College Learning in Retirement Program, beginning at 9:45 a.m., Monday, Nov. 23, in the Wohlgemuth Music Education Center.

The Pierces, who live in Pocasset, Mass., will share a travelogue of historic sites they’ve visited in proximity to their home on Cape Cod, including the Mayflower, Plymouth Plantation, and others.

Doris (Balzer) Pierce was raised in Inman, Kan., the daughter of Dave and Margaret Balzer. After attending Grace Bible Institute, she transferred to Tabor College where she earned the Bachelor of Music Education degree in 1963. She married Tabor graduate Ron Funk of Reedley Calif. They taught music in Omaha, Neb., and raised two daughters, Julie and Jenelle, who were older teens at the time of Ron’s death.

Doris taught elementary, junior high and high school vocal music at a Christian School in Omaha for many years. Providentialy, a niece of Gordon Pierce taught with Doris and it was through the niece that she met the man who would take her from the midwest to the historic east coast.

Gordon’s paternal lineage in Massachusetts dates back to the 1600’s. His maternal side came to America in the Irish Imigration of the 1800’s.  He attended Gordon College, married his college sweetheart, raised three children, and worked in public education in the same town for 40 years.  His first wife died in 1991.

Doris and Gordon have been married for 10 years and live in the beautiful Cape Cod village of Pocasset, Mass., an hour away from Boston.  Their “blended” family includes 5 children and 11 grandchildren.

Of her husband Doris says, “He says he doesn’t talk funny, but Kansans will pick up that he does have a strange accent.  One thing he does love is sharing the stories of the foundations of our wonderful land.”

The public is welcome to celebrate Thanksgiving with this special session (non-member fee, $3). Registration and discount cards for lunch in the cafeteria will be available at the door during the half hour before the meeting. For more information, contact Connie Isaac, 620-947-5964 or Tabor College.

Tabor College Communications Professor Dr. Aleen Ratzlaff will share stories from her recent oral history project documenting black communities in Winfield and Arkansas City, Kan., during a program titled “Stories from Cowley County” at the Tabor Learning in Retirement Program, beginning at 9:45 a.m., Monday, Nov. 16, in the Wohlgemuth Music Education Center.

While on sabbatical last spring, Ratzlaff traveled to Cowley County and conducted interviews with men and women who were part of the area’s historically-significant black communities. Her research focused on life experiences of those were lived in southeast Kansas during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s.

“Rich stories of people’s experiences will be so easily lost if not captured, preserved and retold,” Ratzlaff said. “There’s so much to learn about an overlooked history from those who lived it.”

The goals of Ratzlaff’s ongoing research include preserving those stories by publishing a book, collecting photos for an exhibit at the Cherokee Strip Land Rush Museum, and writing an academic paper about the role of the Kansas City Call and the Black Dispatch newspapers, distributed in these communities during the 1930s to 1950s. Her co-researcher on the project is Heather Ferguson, executive director of the Cherokee Strip Museum in Arkansas City.

A 1974 graduate of Tabor College, Ratzlaff earned her master’s degree in communication at Wichita State University in 1994 and received her doctorate in mass communication from the University of Florida in 2001, where her dissertation focused on the black newspapers of Kansas published from 1878 to 1900.

Ratzlaff has been teaching communication courses at Tabor since 1997 and in recent years been active as a presenter on the Kansas Humanities Speakers Bureau. She serves on the advisory board of the Hillsboro Museums and is active in several professional organizations, including American Journalism Historians Association and Association of Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication.  Prior to teaching at Tabor, Ratzlaff worked more than 15 years as a community minister with World Impact, an urban mission organization, in Wichita.

The public is welcome to attend this session for $3. Registration and discount cards for lunch in the cafeteria will be available at the door during the half hour before the meeting. For more information, contact Connie Isaac, coordinator, 947-5964, or conniei@tabor.edu

Dr. Jim Goering, a Kansas-born economist who worked for a number of global organizations including the World Bank and World Vision will present “Christianity in China: 1,400 Years of Hope, Persecution and Joy” at the Tabor College Learning in Retirement Program, beginning at 9:45 a.m., Monday, Oct. 19 in the Wohlgemuth Music Education Center.

Goering, who lives in North Newton, Kan., has traveled to China nearly every year since 1980 in his work for the World Bank, and more recently as a tour guide. His deep understanding of China’s past and present will be apparent in his presentation, which he will illustrate with visuals and anecdotes.

From his roots on a wheat and dairy farm near Pretty Prairie, Kan., Goering would grow up to make a significant impact on the world of agriculture. Two of his early positions were as an Administrator of a Peace Corps project in Guatemala, and then as a staff economist for the Council of Economic Advisers, in the Executive Office of the White House.

From 1966-1974, Goering was an agricultural policy adviser with the Harvard University Development Advisory Service, providing advice to the Malaysian and Ethiopian governments. He spent most of his career with the World Bank, from 1974-1995, including a resident mission in Beijing during which he fell in love with China. His most recent position was Director of International Programs for World Vision Relief and Development, in Washington, D.C.

Goering received his bachelors degree from Kansas State University, and earned his masters and doctoral degrees from Michigan State University. He is married to the former Shirley Suderman, a Hillsboro native. They have five children.

The public is welcome to attend all Learning in Retirement programs. Fees are $3 per session for non-members. Registration and discount cards for lunch in the cafeteria will be available at the door during the half hour before the meeting. For more information, contact Connie Isaac, coordinator at 620-947-3121, 947-5964, or conniei@tabor.edu.

Family historian, educator, and author, Dr. Dwight Klaassen, will present “Writing Family History: Importance and Strategies,” during a ‘Special Homecoming Edition’ of the Tabor College Learning in Retirement Program, beginning at 9:45 a.m., Friday, Oct. 9, in the Wohlgemuth Music Education Center.

Klaassen, a 1958 graduate of Tabor College who lives in Platteville, Wis., has written several family histories about his ancestors and will illustrate his how-to presentation with personal experiences.

Using a database system called GRANDMA (Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) for which he has made numerous factual contributions, Klaassen compiled a history book for three sets of his great-grandparents (Klaassen, Jantzen, Friesen), with the book on his fourth set of great-grandparents (Buschman) now in process. He also has taken several Mennonite Historical Tours, including two trips to Ukraine and one each to Poland and the Netherlands, where his ancestors lived. His grandparents were all part of the Hillsboro community for a significant portion of their lives.

Klaassen retired in May 2000 after 36 years at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, where he taught chemistry and biochemistry and served in a variety of administrative posts, including Director of the Medical Technology Program, Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Director of Experiential Education, Assistant Chancellor for University Advancement, and Executive Director of the UW-Platteville Foundation. He received his doctorate in biochemistry from Kansas State University in 1965.

Among a variety of honors and awards, Klaassen received two major awards: The Underkofler Excellence in Teaching Award, in 1995, sponsored by the University of Wisconsin System, and, the Distinguished Service Award for his significant service to the University, in 2007, sponsored by the UW-Platteville Foundation.

Klaassen is a native of Weatherford, Okla., and is married to Sharon (Jost) Klaassen, a Hillsboro native whom he met while he was a freshman at Tabor and she was a high school senior and church pianist at Gnadenau KMB Church, near Hillsboro. They have two sons living in Illinois, one son living in Louisiana, and five grandchildren.

The public is welcome to attend all Learning in Retirement programs. Fees are $3 per session or $15 per semester ($28 per couple). Registration and discount cards for lunch in the cafeteria will be available at the door during the half hour before the meeting. For more information, contact Connie Isaac, coordinator at 620-947-3121, 947-5964, or conniei@tabor.edu.

Note: Because of the presentation on Friday, Oct. 9, there will be no Learning in Retirement Program on Monday, Oct. 12.

Dramatic historian David Clapsaddle of Larned, Kan., will present a first-person account of a Union soldier whose wife and son were captured by the Cheyenne Indians entitled, “A Visit With Richard Blinn,” at the Tabor College Learning in Retirement Program, beginning at 9:45 a.m. Monday, Sept. 28 in the Wohlgemuth Music Education Center.

Clapsaddle has developed a repertoire of talks and impersonations to help audiences see the Santa Fe Trail from the perspective of the Native American. Among many other engagements, he presented a first person interpretation of George Bent at the local Cottonwood Crossing Chapter meeting in 2001. He also spoke at the national Santa Fe Trail Symposium held in McPherson, Kan. in 2005.

A retired former Coordinator of Research and Training at Larned State Hospital, Clapsaddle also has written many articles and books on the Trans-Mississippi West. He earned his Ph.D. in Adult Education from Kansas State University, and held faculty positions at Wichita State University and the University of Montana at Missoula.

The public is welcome to attend all Learning in Retirement programs. Fees are $3 per session or $15 per semester ($28 per couple). Registration and discount cards for lunch in the cafeteria will be available at the door during the half hour before the meeting. For more information, contact Connie Isaac, coordinator at 620-947-3121, 947-5964, or conniei@tabor.edu.

Jon Wiebe, CEO of the Mennonite Brethren Foundation, will present “Finding Security during Hard Financial Times” at the Tabor College “60+” Learning in Retirement Program, beginning at 9:45 a.m., Monday, March 30, in the Wohlgemuth Music Education Center.

The Mennonite Brethren Foundation, headquartered in Hillsboro, Kan., provides financial and stewardship services to friends and ministries of the U.S. Conference of MB Churches. During his presentation, Wiebe will reduce the economic crisis into simple terms and suggest alternative ways to invest retirement funds with safety and confidence.

Wiebe earned his bachelors degree from Tabor College in 1986 and his MBA from the University of Denver in 1991. He joined the Mennonite Brethren Foundation staff in 1996 and became President and CEO in 1998. He was honored with a Tabor College Young Alumnus Medallion in 2001.

The public is welcome to attend all Learning in Retirement programs. Fees are $3 per session or $15 per semester ($28 per couple). Registration and discount cards for lunch in the cafeteria will be available at the door during the half hour before the meeting. For more information, contact Connie Isaac, coordinator at 620-947-3121, 947-5964, or conniei@tabor.edu.

Loretta Wiebe Jost will present “Going Afar Upon the Mountain: Grandma Lizzie and Grandpa Henry,” at the Tabor College “60+” Learning in Retirement Program, at 9:45 a.m. Monday, March 2, in the Wohlgemuth Music Education Center.

Born and raised on a Western Kansas farm, Jost was nine when her father, Pete Wiebe, died suddenly while driving tractor. Her grandmother, Lizzie Pauls Wiebe, helped to fill the void, leaving her a legacy of stories that made a deep impression. Six decades later, Jost is sharing these stories.

For example, at her grandmother’s knee, Jost learned how her grandparent’s took in black children at Elk Park, N.C., in the early 1900s, risking their lives in the face of white supremacist townspeople.

Jost is a 1960 graduate of Tabor College. She and her husband, Dean, are engaged in agri-business in Aurora, Neb. She has served on the Tabor College Board of Directors since 1994.

The public is welcome to attend all Learning in Retirement programs. Fees are $3 per session or $15 per semester ($28 per couple). Registration and discount cards for lunch in the cafeteria will be available at the door during the half hour before the meeting. For more information, contact Connie Isaac, coordinator at 620-947-3121, 947-5964, or conniei@tabor.edu.