Honoring 80 Years: Reflections from Berean’s Class of 1966 Vice-President

Greetings from the Class of 1966! Berean’s 80th anniversary is our 60th; our graduating class of 33 is now 22, and we are glad to celebrate the impact Berean had on our lives.

Probably the most significant benefit for me in attending Berean Academy was meeting my wife, Elvina Busenitz. We had our first date was to the Berean Christmas banquet in the fall of 1963; we were 15 years old, which meant that I was not old enough to drive! So we had a double date with friends, chauffeured by our dads. Five and a half years later, we got married, the only couple in our class to do so.

Elvina and I benefited in many ways from our time at Berean, but one of the most outstanding was the excellent music program under the leadership of Peter Friesen. Mr. Friesen directed the choir, band, and several smaller ensembles. He also gave private lessons, which often provided the opportunity for meaningful personal discussions of issues we were facing in life.

It was during chapels here at Berean that I learned to lead congregational singing, with Elvina playing the piano and Mr. Friesen standing in the back, beating out the correct pattern with his arm. Down through the years, Elvina and I have led several church choirs and ensembles, and we still lead congregational singing in our home church today.

On a different note, as we celebrate the 80-year ministry of Berean, we should also be mindful of the significant personal sacrifices that have led to its success.

A couple of years ago, I came across an article written by John Steiner, who was Berean’s superintendent back in the early 1950’s.

In this article, he describes visiting some of the early supporters of Berean in their homes. Here is what he said about one of them…

“When I drove into the lane and parked the car, I noticed that between the house and the barn, Paul (not his real name) had a large herd of black Angus cattle. I knew that Paul was a man of some means, as he was a good farmer.

We had a modest meal for dinner and then retired to the living room. There stood a pot-belly stove into which they fed corncobs throughout the afternoon (this was 1951)! Paul may have noticed that I was trying to put things together. Why was his house not more up to date, more convenient, and why did they put up with an old stove in the living room? I did not ask these questions, but in my mind, I did wonder.

Paul must have suspected what I was thinking because he said to me, ‘We used to have a better stove, but when we started a mission in Wichita, we took our best stove down there to heat the facility where the church was being started.’

I later learned that Paul brought in $1,000 a month to the treasurer of the school, simply to keep Berean solvent in its daily operations. Needless to say, I was deeply impressed with the spiritual fervor of this family.” (Adjusted for inflation, today that would be over $12,600 every month, from one donor.)

Many have sacrificed much to make this school a reality, and to them we certainly owe a debt of gratitude as we celebrate these 80 years.

Vyron L. Schmidt, 

Vice-President, Berean Class of ‘66