The following was written by Deaconess Jean Wildgrube. "Becoming a Deaconess" I was baptized at True Light Lutheran Church in Chinatown, NY when I was 10 years old.  Miss Mary E. Banta was our parish worker whom I admired greatly. ...

Elaine Albers Plackner was born in 1941 in Columbus, Georgia, daughter of Lutheran Pastor Edgar and Gertrude Albers.  In 1959, at the urging of her father, she enrolled at Valparaiso University in the deaconess program.  She graduated...

Through the years, there have been many questions regarding the relationship between the LDA and Valparaiso University (VU). This week’s article contains excerpts from a 1980 statement written to address some of those questions. 2018...

Margaret Heine was born in 1939, the oldest of ten children, in Pasadena, California and grew up on the plains of Kansas and Colorado.  She attended St. John’s College in Winfield, Kansas for two years before coming to Valparaiso...

This week we feature a current story about Deaconess Corrine Vogel and her ministry of caring for foster children. Following are excerpts from an article published May 2019 in the Fairfield, CA Daily Republic. "Corrine and Roger Vogel...

One of the most hotly debated issues in the history of the LDA was deaconess uniforms.  Following is the text of a letter sent to all deaconesses on October 30th, 1935 from Reverend H.B. Kohlmeier, Director of the Deaconess Association,...

Evelyn Middelstadt was born in 1928 in Anoka, Minnesota and grew up on a dairy farm near Elk River.  She learned about serving others from the beginning of her life, as her parents not only raised and cared for Evelyn and her brother, but...

Pastor Arne Kristo was born in Detroit, Michigan.  He graduated from Wayne State University in 1942 and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis in 1945.  He was the founding pastor of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in Harbor City, California and...

Much of the following history is excerpted from a paper written by Deaconess Wilma Kucharek in 1976 for a course at Valparaiso University, taught by Professor James Albers. In 1958, student enrollment was seventy-four students; already...

Deaconess Jean Hoover was born in October 1927 in Ontario, Canada. She attended various schools in Ontario and then enrolled in the deaconess training program at Valparaiso University in 1951. She was the first LDA deaconess from...