Bethel announces three board members

Bethel College has announced the appointment of three new members to the college’s Board of Directors.

Donovan Nickel, Windsor, Colo., will represent Mountain States Mennonite Conference, a first-time appointment for MSMC. Nickel grew up in Moundridge and is the son of Bethel graduates, including a former Bethel board chair. After attending Bethel two years, Nickel graduated from Kansas State University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering. He went to work for Hewlett Packard, where he has now been for more than 25 years. He also has a master’s of business administration, with emphasis on technology business management, from Lehigh University.

Donovan and Jewel Nickel have three daughters, including Andrea, a 2008 Bethel graduate now in a doctoral program in computer science at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. The Nickels are members of Greeley Mennonite Church.

The second Bethel Board appointment is Joe Friesen, Towanda, representing Mennonite Education Agency, another new position. Friesen is a businessman whose interests range from investments to farming. He is the owner of Friesen Tool Co., Wichita, and his wife, Lois (Weaver) Friesen, is part owner of Faith and Life Bookstore, Newton. The Friesens are strong supporters of Bethel College’s Kauffman Museum, with Lois Friesen currently serving on the board. They are members of Zion Mennonite Church, Elbing.

Friesen is a post-World War II immigrant to the United States from Germany. He attended Bethel College for two years, 1956-58, while learning English. The Friesens have two sons, both Bethel graduates — Karl, assistant professor of computer science at Bethel, and Kurt, owner of an internet business.

The third appointment is Debbie Schmidt, Newton, for Western District Conference, to fill the unexpired term of James Voth. Schmidt is lead pastor of First Mennonite Church in Hutchinson. She recently announced her resignation effective in June after almost 14 years at the church.

Schmidt and her husband, Don, are Bethel graduates, as are their three sons, Phil, Matt and Mark, and three daughters-in-law, Marla, Amy and Emily. Schmidt has a bachelor of science degree in elementary education from Bethel College and her registered nurse degree from Hesston College.

She worked at Bethel Deaconess Hospital and then for 13 years in cardiac rehab at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita before earning her M.Div. at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Ind. Don Schmidt taught in the social work department at Bethel for several years in the late 1970s and early 1980s.