Harder, Kurt (1858-2007)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2008 Aug 4 p. 10

Birth date: 1949

text of obituary:

Bethel scholarship to continue teacher's legacy of inspiration

By Melanie Zuercher

Bethel College

NORTH NEWTON, Kan. — Kurt Harder grew up on a farm in the Buhler-Moundridge area, and his curiosity about the world blossomed early.

Harder, a teacher and farmer who died of cancer Dec. 4, 2007, at age 49, never lost his inquisitive nature or his desire to inspire others to be curious.

His family and his Bethel College modmates, in consultation with him before his death, have set up an endowed scholarship at Bethel in his memory, to help young people who also want to inspire through teaching.

Harder's mother, Dorothy (Regier) Harder, who taught third grade in the Buhler schools for many years, used to make her three children, Kurt, David and Lynn, watch the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite to keep them out of the way while she made dinner.

Years later, Harder's desire to keep exploring the world put him on a bus to Meridian, Miss., for a week of work camp. Harder and Dwight Peters, a farm kid from Hillsboro, first met on that bus and "found that we had a lot in common, including our sense of humor," Peter said.

They decided to room together at Bethel. Also at the work camp, Harder met Dorothy Stucky from Moundridge, who would one day bec9ome his wife.

At Bethel, Harder played trombone in the orchestra and jazz band — as his son, Benjamin, who will be a junior at Bethel, now does. He participated in forensics, going to the national competition one year.

He graduated with a major in history and went on to teach history and social studies and coach basketball at Newton High School (1982-86), Santa Fe Middle School in Newton (1986-87), Maize High School (1987-91) and Hesston High School (1991-2005). In 1991, he took over his family's farm in addition to teaching.

"Since he knew he could not take all the students literally back to the events they were studying, he did it figuratively, by going into historical character," said Peters, of Sugar Land, Texas. "I found it to be a very profound way to teach."

Among Harder's historical characters over the years were Johann Sebastian Bach, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), Christopher Columbus, "the Fonz" from TVs Happy Days,Sigmund Freud, Ulysses S. Grant, Lyndon Johnson, Karl Marx, pacifist A.J. Muste, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Socrates and figures from Kansas history. His mother-in-law, Milly Stucky of North Newton, Mad many of his costumes.

"I miss Kurt terribly, but not just because he was a great friend," Peters said. "I miss him because I know he had such a positive impact on the people around him. A great teacher can set a direction for a student, and I know he cared deeply to help those students."

The Kurt A. Harder endowed Scholarship will be given to a junior or senior majoring in history education or, if no student meets that criteria, a junior or senior in history or in education.

"Kurt's was a legacy that I felt could be an inspiration for years to come," Peters said. "We from [Mod 9A] all pitched in what we could to establish the endowment."

Harder's extended family members also contributed, and the scholarship was quickly endowed fully. Additional contributions will enable more than one scholarship to be given each year.

"I hope and dream that this money will impact students in ways they never imagined," Peters said. "Kurt was an inspiration and a true friend."