Gladwin Bartel
Obituary
Gladwin Earl Bartel, 81, died
peacefully on Sunday (Oct. 14, 2018) after living at Kidron Bethel in
North Newton since 2007. He was born Dec. 11, 1936, in Goessel, the
first child of Adolf and Olga Brandt Bartel; sister Rosalie was born
three years later.
Gladwin grew up on a farm near
Hillsboro. Gladwin was baptized as a teen and became a member of
Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church. Gladwin was involved with Future
Farmers of America and played basketball, graduating from Hillsboro
High School in 1954.
Gladwin enrolled at Bethel College the
same year he graduated from high school, and met Lois Franz her
freshman year in 1955. Gladwin and Lois married at Menno Mennonite
Church in Ritzville, Washington, in 1957 and moved to Smithville,
Ohio, where they spent two years with Mennonite Central Committee
Voluntary Service. They worked with boys who had troubled, delinquent
histories. Gladwin supervised the care of a large garden project.
Gladwin and Lois returned to Bethel and
he graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics
and began his teaching career in Newton schools. He received his
Master of Arts Degree in mathematics from Kansas State Teachers'
College, now Emporia State University, in 1964.
Their first son, Baron Craig (Barry),
was born in Newton in 1962. In 1964, the family moved to Madison,
Wisconsin, where Gladwin had a National Science Foundation
scholarship to study at the university. Their second son, Kelvin
Franz, was born in Madison in 1964. After that year, the family moved
for Gladwin to teach at Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington, and
then to pursue further education at Washington State University in
Pullman, Washington.
Gladwin and his family moved to La
Junta, Colorado, in 1970, where Gladwin was a Math and Computer
Science Professor at Otero Junior College until his retirement in
2001. Professionally, he served on committees relating to the State
Board of Community Colleges and edited and reviewed proofs for math
journals. Gladwin was active in Emmanuel Mennonite Church in La Junta
where, among other involvement, he chaired the "student aid
fund" committee.
In La Junta, Gladwin pursued several
hobbies. He enjoyed camping and summer traveling as a family. He
became an avid gardener, silversmith and woodworker. He organized and
pitched for his church's slow-pitch softball team. He always stayed
connected with his family farm, harvesting walnut and ash wood for
woodworking and fires, and helping trim the trees.
Gladwin and Lois moved to independent
living in the Kidron Bethel retirement community in North Newton in
2007 and joined the Shalom Mennonite Church community in Newton.
Gladwin enjoyed being closer to the family farm and continued
woodworking. Gladwin's Parkinson's, originally diagnosed in 1998,
progressed and he lived the last four years of life in the nursing
care unit. He died peacefully on October 14, 2018, with family near;
in the care of Kidron Bethel and Harry Hynes hospice; and in the
continuing embrace of God.
Survivors include his wife, Lois of
North Newton; two sons, Barry and his wife Brenda of Golden,
Colorado, and Kelvin and his wife Lisa of Newton; four grandchildren:
Jordan and his wife Kaitlin of Hillsboro, Oregon, Leah Schwarz and
her husband Gregory of Overland Park, Shaye of McPherson and Aubrey
of Newton; and one sister, Rosalie Neufeld and her husband Robert,
and two nephews, Keith and Kevin, all of North Newton.
A memorial service will be held at
10:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018, at Shalom Mennonite Church,
Newton, followed by a light lunch. A visitation will be held from 7
to 9 p.m. Nov. 9, 2018, at Menno Hall at Kidron Bethel, North Newton.
Memorial gifts may be made in memory of
Gladwin Bartel to: Memorial Garden at Shalom Mennonite Church, 800 E.
First St., Newton, KS 67114 or Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), 121
E. 30th St. N., Newton, KS 67117.