Kauffman, Daniel (1922-2006)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2006 Nov 20 p. 6

Birth date: 1922 Jun 19

text of obituary:

Stewardship leader for church and colleges dies at 84

GOSHEN, Ind. — Daniel Kauffman, who developed stewardship programs for the former Mennonite Church and two of its colleges, died Nov. 7. He was 84.

A former director of development at Goshen College, Kauffman was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1995. He was a resident at Greencroft Healthcare.

Early in his career, Kauffman became business manager of Hesston (Kan.) College. Kauffman visited most Mennonite Church congregations west of the Mississippi River each year, telling about the college's programs at Sunday services and then visiting members to ask for money.

In 1956, while getting his master's degree in educational administration from Columbia University, he met with stewardship leaders in other churches. returning to Hesston, he began to talk about the necessity of more effective stewardship, suggesting it would be more efficient for congregations to pool their resources into a unified budget rather than collecting weekly offerings for various causes.

In 1961, he became secretary of stewardship for the General Board of the Mennonite Church. In 1971, he became the development director at Goshen, where he helped to increase the college's small endowment to more that $20 million by the time he retired in 1986 to take care of his wife, Edith, who was ill.

After retirement, he summarized his stewardship beliefs in a book, Managers With God: Continuing the Work Christ Began, published by Herald Press. He also conducted church stewardship workshops until illness made work no longer possible.

Kauffman took great joy in his family and music. As a young man, he sang in the Ambassadors, a gospel quartet.

Born June 19, 1922, at Hesston, Kan., Kauffman was a graduate of Hesston and Goshen colleges. He also was the business administrator at Southmoreland (Pa.) School District for a time.

His first wife, Edith Yoder, died in 1988 after a marriage of 44 years. His second wife, Anna martin, died in 2004, after a marriage of 12 years.

He is survived by a brother, Bob, of Seattle; two sons, Daniel of Hayes, Va., and Jim of Talledega, Ala.; two daughters, Debby Miller of Atlanta and Sally Green of Cranberry Township, Pa.; eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.