Kaufman, Edmund G. (1891-1980)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1980 Feb 21 p. 3

Birth date: 1891 Dec 26

Text of obituary:

President Emeritus of Bethel College Dies at 88

Guided School through the Depression

NORTH NEWTON, KAN. — Dr. Edmund G. Kaufman, president emeritus of Bethel College, died Thursday, Feb. 14, at Bethel Deaconess Hospital in Newton. He was 88.

Kaufman was Bethel's president for 20 years, from 1932 to 1952, and continued teaching religion and philosophy on the North Newton campus until 1964. As an administrator, he is credited with guiding the school through the extreme financial difficulties of the Depression years and gaining North Central Association accreditation in 1938 — the earliest such recognition achieved by a Mennonite college.

Funeral services were conducted Monday afternoon at the Bethel College Mennonite Church with Pastor John Esau officiating. Among those giving reflections on the life of the president emeritus were: H. A. Fast, former Bethel professor and a contemporary of Kaufman; Robert Kreider, dean of the college and former president of Bluffton (Ohio) College; and Harold Schultz, current Bethel president. Kaufman's daughter Mrs. Karolyn Zerger of Kansas City, Mo., spoke on behalf of the family.

BETHEL COLLEGE was heavily in debt when Kaufman was named president, and through a combination of stringent cost control and persistent fund raising he managed to generate the support necessary for its survival during the early years of his administration.

Principal buildings added during his presidency were Memorial Hall, dedicated in 1942; the Franz Farm Shop, 1947; and the Library, completed in 1952. Kaufman was instrumental in founding a number of Bethel enterprises, including the Mennonite Historical Library and Archives, the Bethel College Press (which later became Mennonite Press) and in securing the Kauffman Museum collection from the Kauffmans of South Dakota.

He authored seven books, including Basic Christian Convictions, a summary of the required Christian ethichs course he taught to several generations of college seniors.

BORN Dec. 26, 1891 near Moundridge, Kan., Kaufman grew up in the Eden Mennonite Church community. After graduating from Bethel Academy in 1909, he taught for three years in Kansas public schools. He received the A.B. degree in 1916 as a member of Bethel's fifth college graduating class.

Kaufman earned the master's degree at Bluffton (Ohio) College in 1917 and then served for eight years in China as an educational missionary under the foreign mission board of the General Conference Mennonite Church. In 1927 he received the B.D. degree from Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston, Ill., and in 1929 earned a Ph.D. in sociology and comparative religion at the University of Chicago. Just prior to joining the Bethel administration, he was professor of education at Bluffton College, 1929-31.

After leaving the Bethel staff in 1964, he taught for a year at Spellman College, Atlanta, Ga. He traveled in India in 1967, and spent two years teaching at the Punjab Agricultural University in Cairo, Egypt, 1950-51.

He held various positions in the General Conference Mennonite Church and was chairman of its board of education for 18 years, 1935-52.

Kaufman was married in 1917 to Hazel Dester, who died in 1948; in 1950 to Anna Miller Baumgartner, who died in 1961; and in 1965 to Edna G. Ramseyer. A resident of North Newton since 1932, he moved with his wife to Schowalter Villa in Hesston in 1978.

Survivors include his wife, Edna; a son Dr. Gordon D., Lexington, Mass.; a daughter, Karolyn Zerger, Kansas City, Mo.; two brothers Ray J., Newton, and Paul D., Moundridge; a sister, Elsie Schrag, Moundridge; seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

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The Mennonite obituary: 1980 Mar 11 p. 174

Text of obituary:

Edmund G. Kaufman, president emeritus of Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas. He was 88. Kaufman was Bethel's president for 20 years, from 1932 to 1952, and continued teaching religion and philosophy on the North Newton campus until 1964. Born 26 December 1891 near Moundridge, Kansas, Kaufman grew up in the Eden Mennonite Church community. Kaufman earned the master's degree at Bluffton (Ohio) College in 1917 and then served for eight years in China as an educational missionary under the foreign mission board of the General Conference. Survivors include his wife, Edna; a son, Gordon D., Lexington, Massachusetts; a daughter, Karolyn Zerger, Kansas City, Missouri; two brothers, Ray J., Newton, and Paul D., Moundridge; and a sister, Elsie Schrag, Moundridge.