George Bettenbrock Estate
Beginning on October 15, 1995 with a bequest of $40,000.00 and ending with the Final payment on April 23, 2006, of $30,020.33, the George Bettenbrock estate totaled $178,144.91 that was St. John Lutheran Church’s portion of this estate. The breakdown of the payments over the years is available on the back of Pastor’s Annual Report page. The total on the will for St. John was $152,339.43, but with the additional $25,805.48 of interest over the eleven years period, the above total was the actual money received. The Lawyer fee to Mr. John Sherman was $31,600.00. $15,000.00 was taken from the estate before distribution and St. John made two payments, one of $10,000.00 and one of $6,600.00. This made the bill paid in full. Mr. Sherman gave St. John a break by not asking for a portion of each succeeding land payments. He said in his letter to St. John that his bill would be paid in full when the final $16,600.00 was paid. After lawyers fees were paid, the remainder of the money $161,544.91 has been invested in the Memorial/Endowment Fund. With the blessing of God the investments in the Memorial/Endowment Fund have increased this amount through the years.
The jumpstart for the Memorial/Endowment Fund was the transfer of $35,000.00 from the Wilfred Zier estate. Later there were donations from the Alma Wachs estate of $7,451.95 and the Lena Wachs estate of $11,189.24. $500.00 was given by the Laura Wolting estate in memory of Mr. & Mrs. Henry Wolting, Jr. From the William Weseloh family $9,000.00 was given. The Zientarskis also gave a like amount to the General Fund as they did to the Cemetery Fund ($36,484.30). The money to the General Fund was used for debt reduction and the remainder was put into CD’s, which have been used periodically to keep the General Fund from borrowing. As of 12/19/06 there is $13,442.00 left in CD’s for the General Fund. The list could go on and on with Alvin and Dorlene Lohmann, Luella Oppliger, Lee Achterberg, Marlin Oppliger, Oscar Plinsky (Digital Piano/Organ), Myrtice Plinsky, Bill and Della Lohmann, Gladys Cage, Mildred Reinert and many more. These are just a few contributions. There are many more from memorials and bequests and outright gifts to the Memorial/ Endowment Fund. From 1991 through December 2005 $60,859.16 has been given in Gifts received category and from January 1993 through March 2006 $76,221.01 has been given in memorials. The Lord has truly blessed these gifts to St. John Lutheran Church.
Cora Hildebrandt gave through her estate $55,000.00 to be used for the general repair, maintenance and new building programs for St. John Lutheran Church. From an AAL Annuity Policy Cora gave $65,209.53 to St. John Lutheran Church for the same purpose as her estate gift. From these gifts of $120,209.53 the Memorial/Endowment Fund at the direction of the voters’ kept out some for current projects and invested $105,000.00 into a mutual fund, which was designated the Cora Hildebrandt Fund. Over the years that fund generated $99,036.00 that was used for projects at St. John Lutheran Church and as of October 1, 2006 there was still $72,950.54 in the fund, which has now been diversified to 10 different mutual funds under Waddell and Reed, Inc. That would total over $60,000.00 in interest that was used for the maintenance of St. John Lutheran Church, plus the initial $15,000 + that was used immediately. Only $32,000.00+ has been used of the principal amount. The Lord has truly blessed this gift of Mrs. Cora Hildebrandt.
The giving to the General Fund the last two years through envelopes has been near $80,000.00 per year. Many individuals have sacrificed to make these substantial gifts to the Lord throughout many years. We are thankful for all of these gifts as well. St. John Lutheran Church has been blessed for many years to have faithful people willing to support the Church and Ministry of St. John and the many different types of educational avenues over the years. We pray that these faithful people will be able to continue to support St. John and that more faithful people will join our congregation to serve the Lord in the future. To God alone be the glory!
Through the grace of God almost $10,000.00 was given to the Kansas District/Missouri Synod by members of St. John this year. Our goal for 2007 is $4,000.00 to the Kansas District/Missouri Synod and anything over that amount will go toward the Vicarage Program at St. John—Home Missions.