Kidron Bethel Village Auxiliary memorabilia, left, includes the Deaconess dinner bell, at left on the table, as well as photographs and uniforms. Hanging above the table is a wheat straw rendition of the Bethel Deaconess Home for Aged, handcrafted by Kidron residents Marie and Martha Voth. At right, Kidron resident Bertha Fern Gerber, left, visits with 100th birthday celebration speaker Karen Penner. Gerber's aunt, Catherine Voth, was one of the first three deaconesses ordained to serve at Bethel Deaconess Hospital.
Compiled by Susan Almond
Kidron Bethel Auxiliary is celebrating a century of service. Auxiliary president Doreen Harms hosted 100-year anniversary festivities March 2 at Kidron Bethel Village in North Newton . Karen Penner was guest speaker, discussing the auxiliary’s history and impact on the community and its ties to the Bernard Warkentin family, known for bringing turkey red hard winter wheat to Kansas
Auxiliary members viewed historical documents, photographs, uniforms and other memorabilia from various sources, including the Kauffman Museum in North Newton . Guests included past members of the auxiliary. Those attending the party enjoyed birthday cake as well as tea made using a favorite recipe from Wilhelmina (Mrs. Bernard) Warkentin, the auxiliary’s founding president.
The Women’s Auxiliary organized March 22, 1910, with 26 charter members, two years after Bethel Deaconess Hospital opened in Newton
The 26 charter members were Anna Destler, Lizzie Wirkler, Mary W. Regier, Clara Tangeman, Helen Warkentin, Anna Claassen, and the mesdames C.F. Claassen, Bernard Warkentin, J.J. Krehbiel, S.S. Haury, Abraham Quiring Sr., Max Miller, Chr. Wirkler, G.A. Haury Sr., Chr. Schmutz, K.M. Krehbiel, H.E. Suderman, R.A. Goerz, R.S. Haury, A.O. Haury, J.E. Entz, P.J. Wedel, John G. Regier, D.A. Hirschler, Edgar Krehbiel and Jacob Suderman. By the end of the first year, there were 136 members.
The auxiliary contributed the first $10,715 – more than half the cost – toward the addition of a maternity ward at the new hospital. The group also purchased a $1,200 pergola in 1913 to connect the hospital with the deaconess sisters’ home, and contributed $500 in 1915 toward the purchase of hospital x-ray equipment.
The following year, the auxiliary took the first step toward providing a visiting nurse to the city of Newton Newton Newton Newton
In response to an increasing number of urgent requests for temporary or permanent care for older people, the auxiliary met to discuss those needs and search for a solution. A request to begin planning a separate building as a home for older people was presented and approved May 11, 1920, by the Bethel Deaconess Home and Hospital Society. Deaconess mother and sister-in-charge Frieda Kaufman and auxiliary president Warkentin enthusiastically promoted the project to “furnish to many a comfortable home for the sunset years of life and a blessed entrance into the eternal home above.”
The women’s auxiliary members were tireless in their efforts to raise funds to build the home, hosting more bazaars, food sales and paper drives. A half block of land south of the hospital was purchased and two homes moved to clear a building site. Later, the street between the two parcels was closed. Construction began March 25, 1925. The auxiliary raised $4,000 to install an electric elevator in the planned building. The Bethel Home for Aged opened in 1926 at a final cost of $114,000. The home received nondenominational “life members” and temporary residents. Life members paid on the basis of their means and life expectancy and were assured their needs would be met. Temporary residents paid a monthly rate for room, board and nursing care.
In 1927, the auxiliary initiated its annual Gift and Fellowship Day, with members preparing and serving a meal and hosting a bazaar. Proceeds were used to underwrite costs of care and resident activities at the home. The funds also were used to purchase equipment for the hospital and home.
A Junior Women’s Auxiliary was formed in 1936 with 58 charter members, and the original organization became the Senior Women’s Auxiliary. Gradually, the Junior Auxiliary concentrated on the hospital and the senior group on Bethel Home for Aged.
The auxiliary’s tradition of service in those early years included numerous gifts to the hospital and home for the aged, volunteer canning of fruits and vegetables, and sewing 1,500 or more items such as lap robes and infant gowns for those institutions each year.
When Bethel Home for Aged came under governance of Kidron Bethel Retirement Services Inc., in 1984, Kidron Bethel Auxiliary organized to serve the new community. The first meeting on the Kidron campus was June 6, 1989. All 59 residents of Bethel Home moved to the new campus Sept. 12, 1991.
The auxiliary continues to raise funds to benefit the benevolent care of residents in Bethel Health Care Centre at Kidron Bethel Village
Personal involvement with residents continues to be a vital part of the auxiliary’s focus. Members visit healthcare residents on their birthdays and at Christmas when they and assisted living residents are invited to a music program and reception.
Emphasis now is on generating money to purchase equipment for Health Care that is not included in the Village’s operating budget. Items recently provided include refrigerators and microwaves in dining rooms, therapy equipment, wheelchairs, an ice cream machine and dining tables. The group is currently contributing toward a full lift.
A century after its inception, the Kidron Bethel Auxiliary continues to embody the Deaconess sisters’ motto: “I serve neither for reward nor praise; my reward is that I am permitted to serve.”
