Buhr, Gerhard (George) (1918-2005)

Newton Kansan obituary: 2005 July 28 p. 2

Birth date: 1918 Jul 28

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2005 Aug 8 p. 3

text of obituary:

2005 Aug 8 p. 3

Former Bethel basketball coach dies at age 86 Led teams to first KCAC titles in 1956, ‘57 seasons

By Robert Rhodes

Mennonite Weekly Review

NORTH NEWTON, Kan. — George Buhr, who coached the Bethel College men’s basketball team to their first Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference championships, died July 24 at age 86 after a six-month illness.

Buhr, who grew up speaking Low German in the Mennonite community around Mountain Lake, Minn., led the Bethel teams to KCAC championships in 1956 and 1957. He coached basketball at Bethel from 1955-65, as well as serving a seven-year stint as athletic director and as football, track and golf coach when needed.

Milton Goering of Moundridge was Buhr’s assistant during those championship basketball seasons. He remembered Buhr as a good Christian who opened coaching sessions with a prayer.

“He just had a way of dealing with students,” Goering said Aug. 1. “He was a real student of basketball who did a lot of scouting.”

According to Bethel athletic director Diane Flickner, Buhr accumulated a career record of 132 wins and 117 losses in his 10 years as basketball coach.

The championship team of 1956, then known as the Graymaroons, had an impressive 22-4 record. They scored 1,899 points and held their opponents to 1,663.

During his year as football coach in 1957, he accumulated a 5-2 conference record on the way to a third-place finish over all, Flickner said.

Buhr stepped into the Bethel coaching job almost by happenstance, Goering — who saw a good season shaping up with a healthy roster of incoming players — said Bethel had hired a basketball coach in 1955, but previous contractual obligations squelched the deal.

“We were desperate for a basketball coach and I knew we had an influx of some really fine players,” Goering said. “We looked around, looked around. . . . We sort of favored the possibility of getting a Mennonite.”

At the time, Buhr, who had been a trainer for the Bethel team during his college years, was coaching high school sports at Lehigh.

“We suddenly thought about George Buhr and he was just delighted to take it and there it went,” Goering said. “He hadn’t even applied for the job, but he was delighted.”

Goering said the team Buhr and he coached lived up to their expectations, and then some.

“We just won games early,” Goering said. “He was very lucky because we had some of the best basketball players we ever had.”

In 1965, Buhr moved to Kansas City, where he taught elementary school physical education in the Shawnee Mission district.

In 1995, Buhr and his wife returned to North Newton, moving to Kidron Bethel Retirement Community. Buhr was often seen making the rounds of sports practices at Bethel and checking on the progress of the school’s various athletic teams.

Born July 28, 1918, at Mountain Lake, Minn. the son of Peter and Marie Neufeld Buhr, Gerhard “George” Buhr attended Mennonite schools in his early years.

After high school, he attended Mankato (Minn.) State College for a year and then Freeman (S.D.) Junior College, where he met Mildred Waltner, whom he married in 1945. Their marriage initially was delayed by World War II and Buhr’s work in Civilian Public Service camps in Denison, Iowa, Fort Collins, Colo., and North Fork, Calif.

After their marriage, the Buhrs served more than two years in Paraguay, where Mildred taught and George helped resettle Mennonite refugees form Europe.

After seven years of voluntary service, Buhr completed his degree at Bethel and began teaching.

Buhr was preceded in death by his parents, wife and two grandchildren. Surviving are three sons, John Buhr of Newtown, Pa., Bruce Buhr of Wichita and Paul of Goodland; seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Aug. 25 at Bethel College Mennonite Church, where Buhr was a member.

Memorials may be made to Kidron-Bethel Village, Bethel College and Mennonite Central Committee.