wfn.org | Don Holter, oldest United Methodist bishop, dead at 94

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Sept. 14, 1999 Contact: Thomas S. McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-33-71BP{465}

NOTE:  A photograph is available for use with this story. 

By United Methodist News Service

Don W. Holter, 94, the oldest bishop in the United Methodist Church, died
Sept. 11 at his home in Prairie Village, Kan.

A native of Kansas, Holter had served as a pastor, teacher, missionary and
president of two seminaries. He was elected a bishop in 1972 by the church's
eight-state South Central Jurisdiction and served four years in Nebraska
before retiring in 1976. 

He and his wife, Isabelle, married in 1931 and went to the Philippines in
1935 as Methodist missionaries. He served as pastor of Central Methodist
Church in Manila and professor at Union Theological Seminary.  In 1940, he
was named president of the seminary, where he served until 1945.

When the Japanese took control of the Philippines, the Holter family was
held in an internment camp. Their youngest daughter, Heather, was born two
months after their captivity began.

After a year, the family was released from the camp and allowed to live
outside confinement.  However, he was separated from his family and returned
to the camp after refusing to cooperate with the Japanese.  

When they were released, Holter weighed 105 pounds, 60 less than normal, and
his wife weighed 85 pounds. "Nothing is worse than seeing your children
hungry when you cannot do anything about it," he once said.  

Upon his return to the United States in 1945, Holter was appointed pastor of
Hamline Methodist Church in St. Paul, Minn. In 1949, he joined the faculty
of United Methodist-related Garrett Theological Seminary in Evanston Ill. He
was inaugurated in 1959 as the first president of a new National Methodist
Theological Seminary in Kansas City authorized by the church's 1956 General
Conference. Later the seminary became Saint Paul School of Theology.

Holter earned his undergraduate degree from United Methodist-related Baker
University, Baldwin, Kan., his bachelor of divinity degree from Garrett, and
his doctorate from the University of Chicago. He also had several honorary
degrees.

Holter wrote three history books: Fire on the Prairie: Methodism in the
History of Kansas, Flames on the Plains, History of United Methodism in
Nebraska; and The Lure of Kansas: The Story of Evangelicals and United
Brethren, 1853-1968.

Holter is survived by his wife; two daughters, Phyllis Dunn, Lee's Summit,
Mo., and Heather Ellis, Minot, N.D.; six grandchildren; and one
great-grandchild. Another daughter, Martha Hudson, died in 1992.  

Funeral services for Holter are scheduled at Asbury United Methodist Church
in Prairie Village at 2 p.m., Sept. 15. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts
may be given to Asbury Church, 5400 W. 75th St., Prairie Village, KS 66208.

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