Wayne D. Kempf

Wayne Daniel Kempf was born to Roy H. Kempf and Barbara Troyer Kempf on April 26, 1925 in rural Shickley, Nebraska, and passed away January 17, 2013, at his home in Shickley at the age of 87 years. He was the third of four children in the family. In his youth, Wayne was baptized at Salem Mennonite Church where he was a life-long active member. Wayne graduated from Shickley High School in 1941 at the age of sixteen. Two weeks later he began working at the local bank. At age eighteen he returned to work on his parent’s farm. He was then drafted and served in Civilian Public Service at Hill City, South Dakota, helping to build Deerfield Dam. When that project was finished, he transferred to Mennonite Central Committee headquarters in Akron, Pennsylvania. There he met Esther Lapp from Perkasie, Pennsylvania. Wayne and Esther were married on April 24, 1948, in Perkasie, after which they moved to Nebraska. Wayne resumed farming with his father along Highway 74 east of Shickley where they operated Highway Hatchery and raised turkeys. Over the next seventeen years, three sons and three daughters were born. Wayne was an active leader in his church and community. He served on numerous church-wide and local boards including Mennonite Disaster Service, Mennonite Mutual Aid, Mennonite Property Aid, Iowa-Nebraska Conference Mission Board, Grace Children’s Home Board, Nebraska Mennonite Mission and Benevolent Board, Shickley School Board, and Shickley Community Foundation Board, often serving as Chair. Wayne loved to sing and was a member of the Salem Mennonite Men’s Quartet for many years. He served his church as Sunday school superintendent, Sunday school teacher, song leader, treasurer, elder, and mutual aid representative. Wayne was also interested in the work of the church world-wide and traveled to Europe, Asia, and Africa. Wayne was preceded in death by his parents, and by and his sisters Doris Roine Birky and Bernice Steider. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Esther Kempf of Heritage Crossings in Geneva; sister Edna Lichti of Shickley; sons and daughters-in-law Donald and Shirley Kempf of Shickley, David and Susan Kempf of Hellertown, PA, and Dale and Kay Kempf of Libertyville, IL; daughters and sons-in-law, Ellen and Byron Miller of Waterloo, IA, Margaret and William Swartzendruber of Shickley, and Anita Kempf of Third Lake, IL; and by thirteen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Services for Wayne will be Monday, January 21, 2013 at 10:30 a.m. at the Salem Mennonite Church, Shickley, Nebraska. Interment will be in the Salem Cemetery. Visitation will begin Sunday at 2:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. with the family greeting friends from 2:00 until 4:00 at the Farmer & Son Funeral Home in Geneva, Nebraska. Memorials are directed to the Mennonite Central Committee or the Salem Mennonite Church Building Fund.

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Wayne D. Kempf

April 26, 1925 - January 17, 2013