******Don & Dana As interviewed by Lee******

Prior to joining Ascension as charter members, they were members at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Wichita. Their family included their young children, Debbie and Doug.
Don and Dana are both life-long Lutherans who met at and graduated from St. John’s College in Winfield. When the family became “westsiders” in Wichita, they realized a west side church would be a good fit. Both Dr. L.H. Deffner (Pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church, the “mother church” of most Wichita Lutheran churches – Bethany, Grace, Holy Cross, Redeemer, Trinity and Zion) and Pastor Kerekes came to call on them to discuss the formation of a west side church. There was no doubt in Dr. Deffner’s mind that they should transfer to the new church. (Dr. Deffner was the pastor who encouraged the planting of other churches in Wichita.)
Dana’s fondest memory of the beginnings of Ascension was working with Clara in the kitchen and thinking how brilliant Clara was! (Clara was the Nancy of that day. She was a trained dietician who was very instrumental in furnishing the original kitchen and providing many recipes.)

Don’s special memory was serving on the first building committee with Earl , who was chairman, and Ralph , who was the architect.
The biggest changes at Ascension since 1960 are the size of the congregation, the tremendous worship facilities, and having pews instead of folding chairs (Tyler Sanctuary). The pastors mainly stayed in the pulpit rather than being “altar strollers” and parishioners wore traditional Sunday dress clothes to church and other events.

When the family moved to their first house on Peterson, there were no houses on the east side of that street and nothing north of Ninth St. They had a very clear view of the 4-H Building at Tyler and Central. The traffic in west Wichita has definitely changed, and there are now grocery stores! The family went to a Safeway store at West and Douglas.
Dana was firm in stating, “I’m glad I have a faith,” and emphasizing how important the foundation and growth of the Lutheran teachings and faith given them by their parents was and continues to be in their lives.