Ralph Claude Kauffman, 94, of Freeman, S.D.,
died Nov. 15, 2004. He was born to Charles and Fannie (Schrag)
Kauffman on a farm nine miles from Freeman.
From a one-room schoolhouse a mile from his home to Freeman
Junior Academy, Bethel College, Colgate Rochester Divinity
School and finally Yale University, his educational career
evolved. He obtained a master of divinity degree and a
doctorate in psychology of religion.
His professional career included teaching in a one-room
schoolhouse, serving as professor and dean at Bethel
College, and as assistant professor of psychology and
assistant dean at the University of Arizona. He was adviser
to foreign students at Bethel and adviser to premedical
students in Arizona. In retirement, he worked as curator and
developer of Heritage Hall Museum in Freeman.
Between 1944 and 1946, he provided alternative service as a
conscientious objector with the Bengal Famine Relief Fund in
India. He considered these years among the most fulfilling
of his life.
He married Marion Lorenz in Rochester, N.Y., in 1937. After
she died in 1985, he married Dorothy Preheim.
He enjoyed restoring washing machines, bicycles, motorcycles
and many other mechanical items. Other hobbies included
chess and checkers, violin playing with Marion on the piano,
pool, hair cutting and listening to classical music.
He was a contributor to many charities and causes. He was a
member of Salem Mennonite Church of rural Freeman.
Survivors include his wife, Dorothy; two children, Bonnie
Kauffman Hemry of Anchorage, Alaska, and Edward Charles
Kauffman of Sedona, Ariz.; six grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Marion; and
siblings Lloyd Kauffman and Rose Kauffman Goering.
A memorial service was held at Salem Mennonite Church.
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