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 Evangeline Bahnson Smith (Vangie), one of the Seminary’s most ardent supporters and generous benefactors, died at the age of 86 on September 13, 2008 in Winston-Salem, N.C. Her life and generosity was honored at a community Chapel Service on November 18.
[Photo taken in 2000 at Vangie's final Seminary Trustees meeting. She is on right and pictured with Seminary students Margaret Wellert '00 (left) and Mary Bielke '00.]
Glen Stoudt '77, assistant professor of Pastoral Theology and interim Chaplain, wrote a commemorative liturgy that was led by the members of the fulltime faculty. The sermon was given by The Rt. Rev. Wayne Burkette '69, life-long friend of Vangie who presided over her memorial service and serves as President of the Provincial Elder’s Conference of the Moravian Southern Province. The service honoring Vangie was schedule to coincide with Burkette’s 3-day visit to campus where he served as Bishop-in-Residence.
Active Moravians from Winston-Salem, Vangie and her first husband Paul Bahnson took particular interest in Moravian clergy and the educational institutions that nurtured them. In the 1960s after a visit to his alma mater, Moravian College, Paul Bahnson recognized the need for Moravian Theological Seminary to no longer share building space with the undergraduate school, as it had for nearly 170 years.
Sincere people of action, Paul and Vangie established a fund, to be used in concert with funds provided by the Northern and Southern Provinces of the Moravian Church to build an academic home for Moravian Seminary. Though Paul Bahnson died 3 years before ground was broken for the new facility, in 1976 Bahnson Center was dedicated — a cutting edge, self-contained, academic center that became the heart of Moravian Theological Seminary.
From the early 1970s through the 1990s, Vangie served as an active, devoted, out-spoken member of the Board of Trustees of the Seminary. The board honored her service in 1989 by naming her a Life Trustee of Moravian Theological Seminary.
Dean Frank Crouch '80 speaks of Vangie’s legacy, “we at the Seminary benefit from Vangie’s generosity every day. She and her husband provided the money to build the Bahnson Center, a setting for preparing people for ministry. She also established an endowment fund in honor of a beloved pastor and Moravian Church leader, R. Gordon Spaugh '27, so that we have always had money to make repairs and even major renovations without breaking the budget. All that being said, the most important part of her gift is not that she was interested in providing a building, but she was interested in excellent and faithful ministry. That’s the part of her legacy that we seek most to carry forward.”
Even as her generosity was bestowed on the Seminary, Vangie’s benevolence extended far beyond this institution. She was devoted to a learned clergy, the world-wide Moravian Unity, her own congregation Home Moravian Church, and Salem Academy and College in Winston-Salem. Her generosity and life’s activities were beautifully captured in the memoir written by Bishop Wayne Burkette and delivered at her memorial service held at Salemtowne Retirement Community where she had resided for more than twenty years. The full version of her memoir follows.
We praise God for her witness, and the way her generosity inspires us.
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The Memoir of Sister Evangeline Butner Bahnson Smith
written by The Rt. Rev. Dr. Wayne Burkette
On last Saturday morning, September 13, 2008, our sister Evangeline Butner Bahnson Smith, was called into the more immediate presence of our Savior. The doctrinal text of the Daily Texts for that day was Jesus’ promise that has now been fulfilled for Vangie, “Anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.” John 5:24 We rejoice today in a promise made and a promise kept. We give thanks today for a life well lived and life completed. We reflect today upon God’s gift of grace and a woman who manifested that gift in so many remarkable ways.
Vangie was born in Pilot Mountain, North Carolina on November 4, 1921. While Vangie was a child, she and her mother, Irene Butner, moved to the north side of Winston-Salem where they became active in Burkhead Methodist Church, and where later Vangie would graduate from Hanes High School. The lasting friendships which Vangie formed as a young person at Burkhead Methodist and the warm fellowship of that congregation remained a source of lifelong joy and gratitude for Vangie, and she spoke often of the positive, formative experiences she enjoyed during those years. She received the sacrament of baptism at Burkhead in 1934.
Vangie excelled academically in high school and gave evidence of the keen intellect that would characterize her personal and business life in years to come. She graduated from Hanes at age 16 and enrolled in Draughn’s Business School. Her training at Draughn’s led her to employment at Fogle Brothers Lumber Company, a prominent company founded in Winston-Salem in 1871. This company would become and remain such a large part of Vangie’s life for the next 47 years. In those early years at Fogle Brothers, Vangie was mentored by her boss Mr. H. A. Pfohl, for whom she always expressed great admiration and respect, referring to him at “Mr. H. A.” Her first job at Fogle Brothers was keeping the books, and she did it well.
During the first few years at Fogle Brothers, Vangie met her future husband, Paul Gerhard Bahnson, known to his friends as “Tiny” Bahnson. They were married on August 6, 1943 by the Rev. R. Gordon Spaugh. Their marriage of 29 years was a unique partnership formed and shaped by their love for each other and their mutual devotion to the growth and success of Fogle Brothers. Eventually, Vangie and Paul became majority owners of the company, with Paul serving as President and Chairman of the Board and Vangie as Secretary-Treasurer. Paul died on January 17, 1973, and Vangie eventually assumed the office of President of the company.
In an interview with the Winston-Salem Journal in 1999, Vangie was quoted as saying that Fogle Brothers, “...furnished lumber, as well as staircases, moldings and doors to some of the city’s finest houses.” Vangie continued, “We had these wonderful craftsmen, as Paul used to say, who could make anything out of wood but money.” Need I add that Vangie had not only a keen intellect but a sense of humor to go along with it?
During her 47 years with Fogle Brothers, Vangie made many friends, lasting friends, in the construction business. Honesty, integrity and quality were the hallmarks of her work and the company she served. Vangie also used her management skills in service to the larger Winston-Salem community by serving as president of the YWCA and the Altrusa Club, and as a board member of Goodwill Industries.
Shortly after her marriage to Paul, Vangie joined Home Moravian Church on November 21, 1943 by transfer of membership from Burkhead. She became an active member of Home Church, teaching in the Sunday School and working in the Women’s Fellowship. She often spoke of the guidance and support given her as a new member of Home Church by Miss Alice Rondthaler. Vangie was loyal in attendance at almost every church function and activity and always seemed to be looking for the opportunity to meet and greet someone new.
Along with Paul, Vangie took a special and generous interest in Moravian educational institutions and Moravian clergy. They provided the means whereby the Bahnson Center was constructed to house Moravian Theological Seminary in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Vangie continued her interest in and support of the Seminary throughout her years. She served on the Board of Trustees of the Seminary and was subsequently named a Life Trustee. She also provided scholarships for students at Salem Academy and College and later gave properties to Salem to provide housing for faculty and additions to the campus.
Vangie was truly a generous and caring friend to the clergy and church educators of the Moravian Church, particularly those serving in the Southern Province. For many years, Vangie has provided funds to support the Annual Retreat for Moravian clergy and church educators at Laurel Ridge Camp and Conference Center, and she created and endowed a fund to support that program in years to come. Even those clergy who may not have had the opportunity to know Vangie personally during her active years are well aware of her care and support for the work of pastors and the ministry they provide.
Vangie did well in business life and she did ‘good’ in her larger life. Vangie’s generous spirit is reflected in a comment she made to this writer many years ago, when she said, “I really wish that everybody could experience the joy of giving that I’ve discovered.”
After Paul’s death, Vangie became reacquainted with a friend, Norman Stanley Smith, who was the nephew of a Salem professor and friend, Dr. Minnie Smith. Their friendship led to even deeper affection and on September 15, 1973 they were united in marriage in the chapel of Home Church by the Rev. Richard Amos. This writer remembers that marriage ceremony well, being in attendance while serving as associate pastor at Home Church. It was the first wedding I had ever attended at which at the close of the benediction, and as the bride and groom started down the aisle and out of the chapel, the congregation burst into spontaneous applause. It proved to be the harbinger of many joyful times yet to come. Norman and Vangie enjoyed a happy life together, dividing their time between Winston-Salem and Palm Beach, Florida. They enjoyed traveling and meeting new people and adding to their ever growing circle of friends.
Vangie embraced Norm’s children, Norman Smith and Harry Smith and their families, and they in turn held her close. Norman shared Vangie’s devotion to the Moravian Church as well, and for all their life together they were supportive of both Moravian Theological Seminary and Salem Academy and College. Not too long after Vangie and Norman moved to Salemtowne in 1991, Norman’s health declined, and Vangie remained very attentive and faithful to his care until his death on December 29, 1996.
Our Lord chose to bless Vangie Bahnson Smith with an extraordinary gift of hospitality, and Vangie used that gift well to befriend people near and far. It was as though, having no children of her own, she decided to bring into her adopted family circle numerous individuals and their children, whether they were persons she met through Moravian Church connections, persons who rented an apartment or residence from her, persons she knew through business contacts, or simply persons in whom she took a special interest. There are Moravians from all over the “Moravian world” who knew Vangie, and she knew them, their spouses, their children, and maybe even a few of their cousins! Many of these folks were frequent visitors or guests in her home, and they were regularly the objects of her inquiries about their well-being and the subjects of her correspondence and conversation. Vangie’s home on Cemetery Street, just north of God’s Acre in Salem, and now part of the campus of Salem Academy and College, was a warm and welcoming place for international students, visitors from abroad, local friends and so many others in her adopted family.
Upon hearing of Vangie’s death, the Rev. William E. Gramley '62 wrote to Mallie Graham that he recalled “...the longstanding friendship Vangie and Tiny Bahnson, and, later, Vangie and Norman Smith had with his parents Dale and Caroline Gramley, really from the time when Dr. Gramley became president of Salem Academy and College in 1949. The southern hospitality that Vangie exuded never wavered across the years.....Vangie’s home and yard up on Cemetery Street was a focal point for gatherings, sometimes in their backyard for croquet and lemonade and regularly for Easter morning breakfasts. Vangie’s interest in international students created lifelong friendships and several of these women honored her upon 80th birthday with a meal at the Salem College Club Room. This momentous occasion allowed us to re-tell the funny stories and experiences with Vangie from yesteryear. But if we were in and out of Vangie’s home, she was equally ‘at home’ with my parents and enjoyed social times with them and an occasional trip. I would have to describe Vangie as one of those ‘strong Southern women’ who knew how to run or help run a business, voice her opinions on many subjects, and care about important issues of the day. Side by side with her outspokenness was the depth of her generosity. She had been given much or had earned much, but she with her husbands also gave away much to the great benefit of the Moravian Church and those who served within it.” (from a letter from William Gramely to Mallie Graham, September 14, 2008) Bro. Gramley echoes the sentiments of many of us here today.
Early in the morning of Saturday, September 13, at the age of 86 years, Vangie found release from a debilitating illness and received the promise of our Lord, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master.” She is survived by Norman Smith’s family: Harry and Joy Smith, Ann Smith, Annie Jo Griffin Smith Gardner and their children. Also surviving are her “adopted” children Hans and Brigitte Mittemeijer, Faith and Wolfram Fliegel '56, Carole and Reinhard Martin, Mallie and Bill Graham, and Felicity Craig. It should also be noted that Vangie was godmother to most of the children of the adopted family named above.
Please allow me the opportunity for a brief personal reflection here at the close of this memoir. I had the privilege of serving as Vangie’s pastor for many years and also of being closely associated with both of the educational institutions for which she cared so deeply and generously – Moravian Theological Seminary and Salem Academy and College. Knowing her as her pastor, as one of many Moravian clergy for whom she cared so deeply, as an associate of educational institutions which were beneficiaries of her generosity, and as a friend, I found her to be the same person in every context or conversation - consistent in her caring about people and their welfare, compassionate in her response, unquestionable in her character, and as Bro. Gramley noted in his letter, frequently outspoken in her points of view. I always knew where Vangie stood on most any question or topic. And, I know where Vangie stands today – wholly within the love and grace of her Savior.
Servant of God, well done! Rest from your loved employ;
The battle fought, the victory won, enter your Master’s joy. |
