Dwight Lyman Ganzel was born on Jan. 26, 1924, on the “Home Place” east of Otoe, NE. He was the middle child of five siblings born to Chester Arthur and Clara Hackman Ganzel. His siblings included Virgil, Eileen, Stanley and Gwen. Dwight died March 25, 2023, at age 99.
He attended District 70, the “Maine School,” named after the battleship that was sunk in Havana to start the Spanish-American war. It was located one-and-a-half miles north of the Home Place. It was the same school that Dwight’s parent’s generation attended. After graduating from the eighth grade, he attended Otoe High School. In 1941, he was one of eight students who graduated. In the fall, he enrolled in Nebraska Wesleyan, just before the U.S. entered WWII in December, 1941.
Dwight was drafted during the spring of his sophom*ore year, but by then he was committed to the cause of peace. WWII was the first war that the U.S. legally recognized conscientious objection to violence, so Dwight registered as a conscientious objector. He was “sentenced” (the draft board’s words) to perform “work of national importance for the duration of the war.” The program was called CPS, Civilian Public Service. He was first assigned to fight fires at a forest service camp in California for nine months. His second assignment was as a ward attendant at the State Mental Hospital in Cherokee, Iowa. In 1946, he completed his CPS assignment and volunteered for a new program shipping donated livestock to Europe and Asia to rebuild agriculture in war-torn areas. That “cattle boat” project evolved into UNRRA, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, and the nonprofit Heifer International. He completed two trips to Poland before being discharged in June, 1946.
Dwight returned to his parent’s farm for a year, and then decided to register again at Nebraska Wesleyan in a pre-ministerial program. In preparation for the return, he wrote to the college asking what programs they had for returning veterans. Student government representative Margaret Winquest (of Holdrege) responded to his letter, and that began a relationship that lasted 75 years. As a ministerial student, he began serving as a weekend Methodist pastor at Lewiston, NE. At Wesleyan, he was member of Blue Key Honor Society and Phi Gamma Men, a social service group. Dwight and Margaret were married in Lewiston on September 2, 1947, and Dwight graduated in 1949.
He completed graduate studies in divinity at (what was then known as) Garrett Biblical Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. On the weekends, he served a parish in Loami, IL, over 230 miles south of the school. That meant that Margaret was alone with two small children, Bill and Julie, for most every week. He graduated from Garrett in 1953.
Together, Dwight and Margaret served United Methodist Churches in Loami, IL; Alma, NE, (from 1953 to 1961, where the couple welcomed two more children to the family, Alice and Catherine); Waverly (from 1961 to 1967, where he was named Rural Methodist Pastor of the Year in 1962 and led the design and construction of a new building); Oakland (from 1967 to 1971, where he led the unification of a rural congregation with the town and encouraged youth members to participate); Grace UMC in Lincoln (from 1971 to 1981, where he unexpectedly had to build another new building after the old sanctuary burned down); and Fairbury (from 1981 to 1987, where he led the unification of another pair of rural and town churches). They retired from formal service in 1987 and moved to Lincoln. In 1985, they were part of a six-week-long clergy exchange with a Methodist congregation in Rushden, England. Dwight and Margaret served High Street Church in Rushden, while Reg and Marjorie Taylor served Fairbury UMC. In 1997, they returned for a visit to Rushden, and then travelled to Margaret’s ancestral home ground in Sweden with mom’s sister Betty and her husband Ken Cooper. In 2000, they returned to Sweden and Denmark with daughters Catherine (and Allen) Amis and Julie Willnerd, Julie’s daughter Sarah, Betty Cooper and her daughters Debby and Carol.
Highlights of his service through the years included –
• Dwight and Margaret worked with American Friends Service (AFS-USA) international high school exchange program. It was through AFS that Martha Traverso joined the family in 1966 from Guayaquil, Ecuador.
• Dwight served on the UMC conference youth services committee and led dozens of youth summer camps, most at Camp Fontanelle north of Fremont.
• He served on the Nebraska UMC Historical Center/Archives and updated sections of its history. He also served on the Board of Ordained Ministry.
• At every church he served or attended, he participated in the choir and music program.
• Over the years, he donated over 10 gallons of blood to various blood banks.
• He and Margaret served on election boards in Alma and Lincoln.
• He volunteered for community groups including the Lincoln Police Chaplin Corps, several food pantry organizations, CROP Hunger Walk programs in several towns, Ten Thousand Villages fair-trade store in Lincoln, the Jefferson County Historical Society, Region V Mental Health Committee, the board of Home Services Independent Living Committee, and Nebraskans for Peace.
• In 1993, he was recognized as the Peacemaker of the Year for Nebraska.
• In 2013, he and Margaret received the KFOR Living Legacy Award for their volunteer work, particularly with Ten Thousand Villages.
Dwight’s hobbies and interests included –
• Wood working, especially refinishing antique furniture and caning chairs.
• Gardening, as he wrote, “especially beets!” That was a legacy of growing up on the farm.
• Canning vegetables, “especially beets!”
• Family history on both his and Margaret’s sides of the family. He updated his older brother Virgil’s work and maintained frequent correspondence with his extended Ganzel/Hackman clan.
• Attending every two years – and planning several – Ganzel/Hackman reunions. The two families were closely tied when three Ganzels in Dwight’s parents’ generation married three Hackmans. He was one of 10 “double-cousins” who were the descendants of those unions.
• Singing and listening to music, especially organ music.
• The Sunday paper each week, but only after he was finished preaching and visiting with parishioners. He particularly enjoyed the Sunday funnies.
• PBS Newshour every night.
Those who have “gone ahead of him” include his parents Chester and Clara, his wife Margaret (on April 10, 2022), and his siblings Virgil, Eileen Tomlinson, Stanley and Gwen Pegler.
Those who “remain behind” include –
• Sister-in-law Janet Cook of League City, TX, and her sons Shannon, Dennis and Michael with their families.
• Brother-in-law Bill Tomlinson of Indianola, Iowa, and his family.
• Son Bill & Nancy Childs, his granddaughter Katie Chapin and great-grandson Titus William Henderson of Lincoln.
• Daughter Julie & Charles Willnerd of Bennet, his granddaughter Sarah/Chris Ferdico, with great-grandkids Josh, Gabi, Alex and Dawson; and grandson David and his fiance Wendy Stahlnecker and great-grandkids Katalyna, Annaleigh, and Jaxon.
• Daughter Alice Ganzel of Mt. Vernon, IA, and granddaughter Hannah Ganzel.
• Daughter Catherine Amis of Longmont, CO, former son-in-law Allen Amis, grandson Andrew/ Sophia Amis, with great-grandkids Nathan & Kaylee; and grandson Cameron.
• Exchange student daughter Martha Traverso/Keith Pike of Newfoundland, her sons Omar Jaramillo and Ronald/Nina Jaramillo with her grandkids Hannibal & Olivia.
• Many nieces and nephews on the Winquest, Ganzel and Hackman sides of the family. He was especially close to Debby Cooper and Carol Cooper/Steve Wall (both of Maryland) with Carol’s kids Sam and Amy.
• Nigerian foreign student son Cyprian/Roseline Okeke, now from Louisville, KT, and their kids Uju, Nkechi, Chidum & Kene.
For those who are counting, he was blessed with 12 grandchildren and nine greatgrandchildren.
Dwight’s final act of giving was that he willed his body to the Anatomical Board so that medical students can learn human anatomy on actual bodies. He will be inurned at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery at a later date.
In lieu of flowers or cards, memorials should be donated to Aldersgate United Methodist Church, Lincoln, and Heifer International.
Aldersgate UMC will be celebrating 125 years of mission and ministry this May 21st at 10:30 a.m. After the service, there will be a ham dinner and the church is requesting RSVPs for the dinner.
Services will be at Aldersgate UMC, 84 & South Streets, Saturday, April 1, 2023, at 11 a.m.
The church will livestream the service at:
https://www.youtube.com/@aldersgateunitedmethodistc8463
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