Obituary: Rev. Alvin L. Daetwiler Jr.
KS_Newton -- Rev. Alvin L. Daetwiler Jr., 91, of Parsons,
died Wednesday, March 6, 2013, at the Parsons Presbyterian Manor. He was a
retired minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
He was born Aug. 2, 1921, in a farm home close to Lost
Springs to Alvin A. and Leah G. (Notson) Daetwiler. He graduated from Herington
High School in 1939 and for the following seven years worked on the family
farm. In the fall of 1946, he entered Manhattan Bible College.
On May 20, 1948, he married Vida Jean (Muhs) Hahlbeck in
Manhattan. Later they moved to Enid, Okla., where he attended Phillips
Theological Seminary, receiving a bachelor of Divinity degree in 1953.
After completing seminary, the couple moved to Oberlin,
where he pastored a Federated Church, a combined Christian and Baptist
congregation. Next he served the First Christian Church in Neodesha, and from
1963 to 1973 was pastor of the Central Avenue Christian Church in Parsons. He
then served churches in Garden City and Newton, and in Stroud, Okla. The
Daetwilers returned to Parsons in 1987 and in retirement he served as interim
minister at churches in Fredonia, Sedan, Wichita, Erie and Sedalia, Mo.
Throughout his years of service, he never missed a Sunday in
the pulpit. He also served as a board member and board president of the Axtell
Christian Hospital in Newton and as a board member of the Kansas Christian Home
in Newton.
He delivered Meals on Wheels and was a member of the Parsons
Amateur Woodworking Society. In 2010, he was honored at the annual meeting of
the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas as a recipient of the Olive Ann Beech
Kansas Factual Story Award. His life story was featured in their annual booklet.
Alvin donated many gallons of blood at the Red Cross
Bloodmobiles. He and Jean had served as foster parents and sponsored a
Vietnamese family.
Survivors include wife, Jean Daetwiler of the home; three
daughters, Rhonda Buckles and her husband, Doug of Independence, Deborah Depew
and her husband, Doug of Neodesha, and Kyla Daetwiler of Parsons; six
grandchildren, Rebeccah Buckles, Danielle Pippitt, Reagan Buckles, Doug Buckles
Jr., Philip Depew and Emily Depew; two great-grandchildren, Landon and Nora
Pippitt; brother, Rev. Dr. Richard Daetwiler of Aurora, Colo.; sisters,
Geraldine Hodson of Herington, Anita Davis of Topeka, and Jacqueline Rood of
West Des Moines, Iowa.
Preceding him in death was a sister, Patricia Sager, and a
seven week old son, Philip, who died in 1956 of polycystic kidney disease.
Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at First
Christian Church in Parsons. Burial will be Monday afternoon at the Mt. Hope
Cemetery in Independence. The family will receive friends at the Carson-Wall
Funeral Home in Parsons from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Sunday.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the
First Christian Church of Parsons or the PKD Foundation (polycystic kidney
disease). They may be left at or sent to the funeral home at Box 942, Parsons,
KS 67357, www.wallfuneralservices.com.
