News of marriages, births, deaths, job changes, and moves from fellow alumni
and former students.
If you would like to contribute alumni news about yourself, contact the Alumni office:
1-785-539-3571, or by email: alumni@mccks.edu

Newest entries are highlighted in blue.
1940s
Dr. Charles Gresham ('49) passed away on November 8, 2002. He and his wife Ruth (Smith, attended) lived in Grayson, KY. Dr. Gresham was an alum and former faculty member of Manhattan Christian College.

1950's
John and Eleanor Baird taught at MCC in the 1950’s. John Baird wrote to say his wife Eleanor died October 1, 2007. His address is: 5255 Crain Ave., Castro Valley, CA 94546.

Darel (’58) and JoAnn Boston retired from preaching ministry at First Christian Church in Junction City, KS in 2003. Now they are active on boards of Brazil Christian and North Burma Christian Missions. They have done some revivals, Interims, mission trips, conventions (World Convention in Brighton, England, 2004). They will be working with Farewell Avenue Christian Church in Fairbanks, AK in April and possibly returning for interim work in June. You can contact Darel at darel36@cox.net.

James Harris (attended) passed away on July 20, 2001. Jim left a legacy of love for God and others to many extended family and friends. His wife Clarice survives him and lives in Richardson, TX.

Rod (’57) and Margie (Moore, ’58) Hinkle are currently living in Lawrence, KS. Margie has her master’s degree from Western Illinois University and taught in public schools for 28 years. Rod has been in full time ministry for 49 years and currently is preaching at North Lawrence Christian Church. Their son Thadd has ministered with Mankato Christian Church since 1984. Brad and Chad are both leaders in home churches. They have 3 grandsons and two granddaughters. You can contact the Hinkles at preachrod45@aol.com.

Barbara Snyder (attended) passed away November 19, 2005.

Charlene (Shults, attended) Steinbrecher is currently living in Sidney, NE. Since her MCC days she was married in 1961 and had a son (Timothy Duane, ’63) and a daughter (Sandia Kay, ’67). Her husband (Clyde) passed away on January 13, 1991, then her son passed away on April, 23, 2006. Charlene says “the Lord continues to be my constant guide and friend.”

Wilbur White ('52) passed away on October 11, 2003. He served in WWII five years prior to attending MCC then, served as chaplain at the Stave Mental Health Hospital in Dayton, OH for 23 years. In retirement he and his wife Kathryn (Bauer, attended) volunteered with Habitat for Humanity for 10 years helping build more than 100 homes, as well as numerous other Christian service roles that they filled. Kathryn continues to live in Cape Coral, FL. The White's celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary in 2003.

1960's
David (‘61) and Patsy (Summers,’61) Benedict are now living in Mountain Home, Arkansas and are members of Memorial Christian Church. David recently retired from an 18-year ministry as Minister of Media/Publication at Eastside Christian Church, Fullerton, CA, and Patsy retired from 13 years with Lighthouse Christian Bookstore in Long Beach, CA.  David is semi-retired, giving time to fiction writing and free-lance media production. Patsy is fully retired.

Lynda (Bowman, attended) Graybeal and Julia L. Roller of Coronado,CA, are the co-authors of Connecting with God released on June 13. The book is the first in a contracted eight-volume series with the possibility of contracting for seven more. Learning from Jesus, the second book in the series, will be released in July. Lynda's past writing projects include articles for the Renovare Perspective, appendices in the book Streams of Living Water by Richard J. Foster, and a revision of A Spiritual Formation Workbook by James Bryan Smith. She was also one of the five General Editors of The Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible released in June, 2005, for which she wrote an essay and reflection questions, and worked with Foster and Roller on coordination and production. All of the books are published by HarperSanFrancisco located in San Francisco, California, a division of HarperCollins Publications of New York City. Lynda retired in June 2004 as Administrator and Editor of Renovare, an effort founded by Richard Foster and based in Englewood, CO, that works for the renewal of the Church. She continues to work with Foster as his Personal Assistant from her home in Canyon, TX, where she lives with her husband, Phil.

Ron (‘64) and Linda (Lown, ‘63) Grover have retired and continue to live in Wichita, KS. Ron continues to do part-time work for Central Christian Church and continues to work with Building Better Communities, the disaster recovery ministry in New Orleans. Linda can be contacted at lindagrover@cox.net and Ron at ronrgrover@cox.net.

Martha Jean (Robbins, attended) Komo passed away January 7, 2005 after a long battle with cancer. Marty faced death with courage and grace, knowing she would be with Jesus. Marty worked with the Manhattan Police Department as a “meter-maid” and worked for McDonald-Douglass. After her son was born she spent years as a homemaker caring for her family and also cared for developmentally handicapped adults. Her husband Nick and son Michael reside in O'Fallon, MO.

1970's
Edward Atkinson (attended) passed away on November 21, 2004. Dr. Atkinson lived with his wife Doreen in Aubrey, TX. Edward is the son of George and Delores Atkinson of Norton, KS.

John ('73) and Katherine (Elliston, attended) Beck have returned from serving for 21 years with HCJB World Radio in Quito, Ecuador. John is now Network Development Manager with the Bott Radio Network based in Kansas City. They can be contacted at wb0rxl@yahoo.com.

Cal ('79) and Loretta (Porter, '79) Habig have been ministering in Portland, OR for the past five years. Cal serves as the senior minister with the Tigard Christian Church and Loretta works for Edward Jones Investments. The Habig's have two college age sons both of whom attend college in southern California. Cal's email address is cal@tigardcc.org.

Steve Heckman ('78) lives in Long Beach, CA and can be contacted at lbcasteve@aol.com.

Rod Hoffman ('79) lives in Manhattan, KS with his wife Becky. Rod is the Rental Manager at Dick Edwards Ford. He has acquired Rental Excellence status in his position at this dealership. Rod's email address is defrent@kansas.net.

Robert ('77, '78) and Beverly (Hanna, '78) Hovorka live in Kansas City, MO. Beverly is teaching elementary in the inner city Kansas City, Kansas school district. Bob is the new full-time Preaching Minister at Outreach Christian Church (www.outreachchristianchurch.org) in Smithville, Missouri. They would love to hear from you, email them at jc1pastor@yahoo.com.

Ron (‘73) and Haven (‘73 ,Oberhelman) Howard have a music ministry which involves singing and preaching in revivals, concerts and camps all across the United States as well as New Zealand and Jamaica, W.I. They’ve directed adult and children’s choirs, conducted music workshops, sung for thousands at conventions, and small groups in back yards. In addition to music Ron has written Daily Discovery, an interactive Bible study series. Ron and Haven have two sons — Errett who is married to Beth (and grandson Ethan), and Travis who recently married Jennifer. Ron and Haven can be contacted at ron@ronandhaven.com or visit their website www.ronandhaven.com.

William (attended '74) and Shirley Hodges would love to hear from anyone that attended during this time. They have 1 grown child and will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary this. Their son Andrew is married and is a campus minister at the University of Missouri at Rolla. Bill has worked as a Radio TV Engineer at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK for 23 years. Shirley and Bill teach youth classes at the Glencoe Church of Christ. You can contact Bill at one of his email addresses: william.hodges@okstate.edu or bill_hodges@hotmail.com.

Larry Jansen ('72) passed away on April 11, 2002 at UCLA Hospital while waiting for a heart transplant. His wife Debbie Jansen (Crockett, attended) still lives in Wichita. Larry retired from full-time ministry in 1992 when diagnosed with his heart condition. He held numerous ministries in Kansas and Indiana, and also authored a children's book entitled My Sister is Special published by Standard Publishing in 1984.

Johnny Messer (‘75) became the minister of Council Grove Christian Church in November, 2007. 

Rebecca (Johnson, attended 77-79) Moller graduated with honors from Wichita State University with a B.A. in Education in May of 2007. She is now teaching 5th grade at Colvin Elementary in Wichita and working on her Master's Degree in Curriculum & Instruction through the distance learning department at K-State. Rebecca is married to Lynn Moller of Lincoln, NE. Their daughter Katharine is a freshman at Maize High School, which is close to Wichita. Her email address is rmoller@usd259.net.

Christine (Grantham, '78) Munn currently lives in Gainesville, GA with her husband, Edgar, and two children Rachel 15, and Ryan 7. She volunteers in the children’s minister at their church, Brown’s Bridge Community Church. She recently served as Children’s Minister in Greensboro, NC at Friendly Ave. Baptist Church.

Roy (attended) and Collete Nevil are living in Poneto, IN where Roy serves as a United Methodist Pastor. They have 5 children ages 19-26 and enjoy fishing, driving their '66 Mustang, and Roy enjoys playing his guitar. Roy is active in many conference activities for youth, men, and bible studies. He will enjoy corresponding with anyone who remembers him during his time at MCC and the Household of Faith gospel team. Roy can be contacted at rnevil@mchsi.com.

Ed ('71) and Diana Preston have had ministries in Florida, Tennessee, and Kansas in the last 35 years. They were in Kansas for almost 25 years: at Dodge City for 9 years, Kansas City for 3 and Wichita for 14. Ed graduated from Emanuel School of Religion with a masters degree in 1980. Also during that time he have served as a board member and chairman of the International Network of Children's Ministries based in Colorado. They have seen it grow from 30 children's workers to drawing over 4000 children's workers each year in conferences. He also served as President of the Kansas Leadership and Sunday School convention for 10 years until they left in 2005 to accept a new children's position in Zanesville, OH, just outside of Columbus. Ed and Diana have invested over 25 years in children's ministry with many independent Christian churches.

Ron Ratliff ('79) is currently serving the new Reference Librarian at Manhattan Christian College's 'B.D. Phillip’s Library. A graduate of MCC in Bible Ministries, Ron also has a ThM in Old Testament Exegesis from Dallas Theological Seminary, as well as an MLS (Library Science) from Emporia State. He has had experience in school and public libraries, but for the past six years has been a Humanities Reference Librarian at Hale Library at K-State.

Janice Kay (Atkinson, '70) Towne passed away, she was previously married to S. Edward Towne ('70) who died in March of 1992. Memorial services were held at Christ's Church of the Valley in San Dimas, CA on December 20, 2005. Janice is survived by her son Philip Towne of Glendora, California and his family. Philip can be reached at philt@ccvnow.com.

Willis M. "Bill" ('76) and Katherine (Young, attended) Watt reside in Fayetteville, NC. Both are employed at Methodist College where Katherine is the Administrative Assistant for the Vice President for Business Affairs and Bill is a Professor of Speech Communication and Dean of the School of Information and Technology. They are members of the Fayetteville Christian Church. You can contact them at kwatt@methodist.edu or wmwatt@methodist.edu.

1980's
Joe Anstett (attended) lives in Denver, CO where he works at Porter Hospital repairing medical equipment. He attends the Church in the City. He may be reached at joeismejoeisme@hotmail.com.

Todd ('89) and Davinna (Bradshaw, '90) Beale reside in New Palestine, IN with their children David and Delaney. Todd is the minister at Community Christian Church. In July 2005 he will be teaching a class at the International Christian College of Manila in the Philippines. Davinna keeps busy with the kids as well as church praise team, bible study, and Sunday school. The Beale's can be contacted by email at wtbeale@yahoo.com.

Michael (’87) and Debra (attended) Bigelow are currently living in Fallon, NV with their two children Michaela (‘96) and Isaac (‘04). Michael is transitioning into becoming the Command Chaplain for the Naval base.

David Burke ('82) served with Council Hill Christian Church in Peck, KS before leaving the located ministry for 17 years. He is now serving as the Minister of Living Word Christian Church in Mulvane, KS. David also works for Sprint AeroSystems (formerly Boeing) in Wichita, KS. Email David at david.l.burke@spiritaero.com.

Terry and Darci (Crockett, attended 1986 through 1989) Douglass are celebrating 19 years of marriage this year. They are expecting their fourth child in April of 2007. Terry has been working for E-Z Drill for the last 9 years. With the birth of their third child, they decided to send the older children to Public School instead of home-schooling. Darci is still the local contact for the home-school group. They have attended New Beginnings In Christ Worship Center for five years. Contact Darci at JesusInMe4Ever@sbcglobal.net

Drew ('89) and Diana (Plotner, attended) Follmer moved to Earlham, IA where Drew is serving as the Camp Director for Central Iowa Bible Camp. The Follmers moved from Hill City, KS where Drew was the Minister at the Christian Church. Their children are Jenette, Rachel, and Seth. The camp's e-mail address is cibc@iowatelecom.net.

David ('81) and Margot Frymire are celebrating 20 years of Marriage on February 28, 2007. They are currently living in Riverside, CA. David and Margot have 2 children, Daniel (17) and Malena (13). His email address is dlfrymire@charter.net

Mike ('81) and Tammy Geisert have moved from a 9 ½ year ministry in Salisbury, NC with the Rowan Christian Church to Hot Springs, AR where Mike is now the Minister of the Hot Springs Christian Church. Mike and Tammy have three boys, Nicholaus, Benjamin, and David- ages 20, 11, and 9. Nicholaus is a student at Johnson Bible College. You may reach the Geisert's at melopia@aol.com.

Lisa Hardin (attended) lives in Tulsa, OK where she is the President/CEO of e2 Worldwide, Inc a corporate event planning company that she launched two years ago. The company handles corporate events, tradeshows, non-profit fundraising events as well as private parties, weddings, etc. To reach Lisa email her at lisa.hardin@e2worldwide.com.

Bruce ('82) and Penny (Lyons, attended) Martin live in Orlando, FL. Penny home schooled their three children Monte, Amanda, and Mason for 19 years and has recently become a licensed Mortgage Broker. Bruce served in vocational ministry until 1985, retired from the Naval Reserve in 1996, and currently works for Lockheed Martin as a PC Technical Analyst. The Martin's can be reached by email at bmartin5@aol.com.

Mark ('88) and Tami May live in Rose Hill, KS. Mark is the president for "Distinct Identity, Inc." an Econcepts marketing company in Wichita. Mark can be contacted at mark@ifsgroup.net.

Jenette (Rockey, attended) and Paul McEntire have moved to Joplin, MO where Jenette is serving as Graphic Designer for the Conference Department at Christ In Youth. Paul continues to work as a photographer and Landman. Jenette can be contacted through the CIY website, www.ciy.com.

Cindy (Ballard, attended) Merritt is now working at the correctional facility near Stockton part time as a kitchen supervisor, and going to school online full-time. Her family is expanding: Matthew Benjamin (1986), and wife Andrea live in Anderson, IN with one daughter, Chloe Breanne (2007), and another, Jubilee Grace, soon to come. John Billy (1996) and Caitlin Janae (1997) are still doing well in school and growing like weeds. They are currently still in Stockton, KS, although plans are in the works to move in the not too distant future. Any and all friends are welcome to contact Cindy at ck_merritt@hotmail.com or caityjae@ruraltel.net.

Tim ('02) and Colette (Haas, '81) Moore are serving at Trinity Church in Lubbock, TX. Tim is the Pastor of Membership & Small Groups and Colette is the Director of Early Childhood/Special Events. Email Tim at timco@sptc.net or Colette at cmoore@trinitytoday.com.

Kurt ('88) and Stacy (Smith, attended) Mortensen are living in Oklahoma City, OK. Kurt is ministering at Cherokee Hills Christian Church. They have 3 daughters, Chelsey (90), Paige (92) and Gentry (98). You may reach them at Stcbigmamma@cox.net.

Dirk (’82) and Shelley (Cogswell, attended) Scates are currently living in Tonganoxie, KS with their three children Drew (‘89), Dylan (’92) and Sagan (’94).  Dirk is serving as the Senior Minister at Tonganoxie Christian Church and Shelley is a business teacher in the Tonganoxie School District.  Dirk and Shelley can be contacted at dirk.scates@tonganoxiechristian.org.

Christina (Sumner, attended) and Alan Schaefer live in Java, SD on a small hobby farm. Their children Darwin and Cheryl attend Selby Area High School where Christina is the Secondary Secretary.

Steve ('85) and Sheryl (Kraft, '86) Slack live in Wichita, KS with their three children. Steve serves on the staff of Westlink Christian Church. They would enjoy hearing from friends and classmates and can be reached through ssslacks@sbcglobal.net or steve.slack@westlink.org.

Dave Slayton (attended) recently accepted the opportunity to minister at First Baptist Church in El Dorado, KZ. He will be serving as the Associate Pastor of Youth and Church Activities. Prior to joining the church staff Dave worked in law enforcement for 23 years. He can be reached at dave@eldoradofirstbaptist.com.

Travis (‘88) and Dee Dee (Priest, attended) Strong has completed 12 years of local youth ministry in Olathe (KS), Des Moines (IA) and Norton (KS). He has also completed 8 years with City Union Mission in Kansas City, MO; in which the last 3 years as the Youth Administrator. Travis has also served for 5 years with Olathe Christian Church as their worship pastor. You can contact Travis at TravisS@cumission.org.

Dr. James Taylor "JT" (‘80) and his wife Dr. Cindy Taylor answered the call to pastor University Christian Church in Norman, OK in June of 2007. Previously they spent 7 years as pastor of Lawrence Heights Christian Church in Lawrence, KS. Prior to that we were in Abilene, TX for 4 years. You can reach Dr. Taylor at taylorriot@yahoo.com.

Terry (attended) and Sandy (Northup, '81) Worcester live in Mesa, AZ and are active in Central Christian Church of the East Valley. Terry is a partner with SSPW Architects and Sandy is a school teacher in a public Montessori school. They have two children Raleigh who attends the US Navel Academy and Brooke who is a senior in high school. The Worcester's email address is tworcester@cox.net.