Former optometrist pursues love of woodworking
Staff writer
Ken Neufeld of Hillsboro pursues his love of woodworking, remodeling and repairing after retiring from his optometric practice.
Born in Goessel, the Neufeld family lived in Inman before moving to Hutchinson, where Neufeld grew up and went to school.
He graduated from Hutchinson High School and then Hutchinson Community College.
While attending Bethel College, he met his future wife Carolee Balzer who was the school nurse from the Bruderthal community in Hillsboro. They were married on Nov. 26, 1960.
In 1961 he graduated from Bethel with a bachelor of arts degree in biology. He then went to school at the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago, Ill., and graduated in 1964.
He and his wife moved to Hutchinson where he set up his practice as an optometrist from 1964 until 1989.
In June of 1989, they moved to Hillsboro where Neufeld purchased the practice of Franklin Harms located on Main Street. When the building was sold, he re-located his practice to a building on West Grand. He stayed there until his retirement in May of 1999.
"I think I may have served between 2,500 to 3,000 patients throughout the years that I practiced," Neufeld said.
Before retiring, Neufeld had worked at the MCC Sale since its inception. He also has worked in the Sunflower Building auction for more than 25 years where they have sold items from grandfather clocks to horses and automobiles.
Neufeld has volunteered to work in several locations for the Mennonite Disaster Service.
In 1972, he helped with the clean up and rebuilding of homes in Rapid City, S.D. He also helped in the cleanup efforts after tornadoes in Little Rock, Ark., Hoisington, Augusta, and the Hillsboro area.
"The Little Rock experience was a unique one," Neufeld said. "We went into an all black area that was devastated by the tornado to help clean up and rebuild some of the homes that had been destroyed."
"This was an area where whites didn't go after dark," he said.
Neufeld said that he and some others stayed there for about a week, and there was much enlightenment on both sides.
"The blacks there were amazed that we were there to help rebuild their community, he said. "We had two different cultures coming together."
"I got my first taste of sweet potato pie, " Neufeld said smiling. "Boy, it was good."
Along with his many activities, Neufeld also volunteers at the Et Cetera Shop and serves on the Main Street Ministries board of directors. He is involved, along with Don Penner, with the remodeling of the new office area and doing repairs for the upkeep of the building when needed.
Neufeld has been a member of the Hillsboro Lions Club for four years.
He has served on the alumni board at Bethel College and has been active in setting up booths for the Fall Festival.
He has been a member of the First Mennonite Church since 1989 and has served on numerous boards throughout those years. Currently, he serves on the church and trustee boards.
Neufeld also said he has been an amateur photographer for more than 30 years.
"I love to do wildlife photography. I have pictures of grizzly bears, big horn sheep and mountain goats, which are hard to photograph," Neufeld said.
Neufeld and his wife live in Hillsboro. She is a nurse at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita.
They have two daughters, Kathy and husband Michael Dunn of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Lori Neufeld of Talkeetna, Alaska. Both daughters are Hillsboro High School and Bethel College graduates.
