Dorothy L. Harder

Dorothy L. Harder departed this life at home with her family at her side on November 4, 2020, in North Newton, Kansas. Dorothy was born on August 22, 1930, the youngest child of Dietrich and Katherine (Reimer) Regier. Dorothy grew up, along with her siblings Arnold and Alfrieda, on their farm in rural Harvey County, at a spot equal distance from civilization in Buhler, Hesston, and Moundridge, Kansas. Six days of the week were largely devoted to hard work around the farm. Sundays were a day of rest, spent at Hoffnungsau (“view of hope”) Mennonite Church and with her mother’s family. In 1936, the family built a new and much larger house that would become Dorothy’s home for much of her life. She first learned to care for others in the 1930s by watching her mother feed people that came wandering down the county road near the house during the depression. Dorothy and her siblings attended a one-room school a mile west of their farm, Paris grade school, where they studied with a handful of nearby children and spoke in English rather than the Dutch-German dialect spoken at home. A much younger classmate recalls that Dorothy transported her to school by pulling her in a wagon for a half-mile. In the later 1940s, she rode with the boys from adjacent farms to Moundridge for high school. While the boys fooled around after school to avoid going home and doing chores, Dorothy spent time at the drug store counter drinking Cokes that she always complained caused “my teeth to rot.” Dorothy graduated in 1949. Dorothy joined her sister Alfrieda at Bethel College. There she made important friendships for her life with other young women living in the dorm. After two years, she taught elementary school at Moundridge to test the water as a teacher and to earn money to continue her studies. Upon returning to Bethel, she met Willis Harder, while working in the dining hall. Willis graduated in 1953, and Dorothy graduated in 1954 with a Bachelor’s degree in Education. The next day they got married. Willis and Dorothy lived in Topeka and Lincolnville, Kansas for a year each, before they settled on Dorothy’s parent’s farm in the summer of 1956, when her parents retired to Buhler. After two years teaching first grade in Buhler, Dorothy and Willis began their family in 1958 with Kurt, David in 1960, and Lynn in 1965 (finally a girl!). Dorothy brought her teaching skills to her children’s young lives as she prepared them for key aspects of life—whether it was foundational reading and math skills, their Sunday School lesson on Saturday, competitive kick ball games (she sustained a head injury when she slid into the stock tank that served as second base), watching Walter Cronkite deliver the news at 5:30 while cooking supper, or subscribing to Ebony magazine to bring a larger view of the world down to the farm on Dutch Avenue. Dorothy also helped Willis with the farm as he expanded it by several times during the 1960s. Dorothy tended a big garden and cooked large amounts of wonderful food for the family and the “hired man” who assisted Willis with the farm work. In 1969, Dorothy returned to teaching and taught 3rd grade for the next 26 years at Buhler Grade School. She helped her students, as they improved their reading and math skills, including the dreaded multiplication tables! These experiences forged very positive relationships with many students. In later years, to provide some spark to social studies lessons, her class would send a stuffed elephant off into the world and it would return to her classroom after visiting other schools throughout the country. Dorothy also developed cherished friendships with fellow teachers that endured throughout her retirement. She treasured the lunches with the retired teacher friends. In 1996, she and Willis moved from the farm to North Newton where they have resided since. Dorothy stayed active in a variety of ways. She enjoyed walking around the paths in North Newton and in the pasture out at the farm. Dorothy joined Curves, a workout facility in Newton, and was an active member building community and earning a t-shirt for logging 1,000 workouts. Dorothy was very busy and nurturing with her grandchildren as they arrived from 1987 to 2008 and prepared plays with costumes around various holidays for the grandchildren to act out. She made activity books and small lessons for them to perform when they visited. Dorothy made quilts to mark special occasions. Dorothy was an active member of the Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church from 1945 to 2000 and thereafter the Bethel College Mennonite Church. Dorothy had a deep faith and expressed it by helping others, participating in many small groups, providing food and assistance, and inviting new people in. Less than a week before her death, she noted to Willis how they had not yet met the people in the adjacent duplex. Dorothy volunteered for several decades with the Bethel College Women’s Association and for 20 years at the Et Cetera Shop in Newton. Working at this thrift store every Thursday provided her with another working community and a chance to find more high-quality, gently used clothes. Dorothy’s favorite drink in retirement was tea. She liked to have people over for tea and collected tea pots from travels and from Et Cetera. A quote that she noted with emphasis from Three Cups of Tea was -- “The first cup of tea you share with us you are a stranger; the second cup you are a friend; and the third cup you become family.” She wisely interpreted this quote as requiring listening with humility. Dorothy lived a long and generous life. She and her siblings all reached their ninth decade. To do so, though, was not easy for her. In the last two decades, she overcame open heart surgery, the loss of her first child, a hip fracture, and she endured decreasing vision from macular degeneration. Her death ended a struggle with declining lung function caused by bronchiectasis, a lung disease contracted sometime in the past. Dorothy is predeceased by her parents, her siblings and their spouses, Arnold Regier (Mary) and Alfrieda Penner (Ervin), and her son, Kurt. She is survived by Willis, her husband of 66 years; daughter-in-law, Dorothy Janzen (Keith); son, David Harder (Michele Horn); and daughter, Lynn Schmidt (Steve); nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. On Saturday, November 14, 2020, at 3:30 p.m., Dorothy’s immediate family will have a celebration of life service at the Hoffnungsau Mennonite Church cemetery in rural Inman and they invite you to watch it by livestream. Go to the Dorothy L. Harder Memorial Service Facebook page to join the service. https://www.facebook.com/DorothyLHarderMemorialService/ Memorial contributions may be made to either the Kurt Harder Scholarship Fund at Bethel College or Good Shepherd Hospice, in care of Miller-Ott Funeral Home, P.O. Box 32, Hesston, KS 67062.

Dorothy L. Harder

August 22, 1930 - November 4, 2020