The Ralph J. and Opal Barkey Gunden Business Education and Entrepreneurship Endowment Fund

Ralph Gunden described his life as truly illuminated by the family into which he was born.  In her diary, his mother, Agnes Albrecht Gunden wrote on June 10, 1923, “At 5:00 pm an eight and one-half pound boy came to live with us.  May God help us to teach in the way that will bring Him the most honor and glory”.  As a result of their teaching, Ralph said “At some later date I was to realize the importance of being born into a family with such a goal and to accept it as my own.”

In 1929 at the beginning of the Great Depression, Christian and Agnes Gunden left their farm in Flanagan, Illinois and moved to Goshen, Indiana.  They made the move in order to be able to send all their nine children to a financially struggling Goshen College.  Those were also the days when there was still widespread anti-education sentiment in the Mennonite Church.  All nine Gunden children attended GC and six graduated.  Ralph Gunden was one of them, although it took him nearly a decade to complete his degree because of World War II and his alternate service in Civilian Public Service (CPS) and Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) rather than active military duty.

Throughout Ralph’s five-and-a-half years of service in CPS and with MCC he was engaged to Opal Barkey, whom he had met at Goshen College.  Opal grew up on a farm in St. Joseph County, Indiana with her parents and two sisters.  At a time when few people from her community were going to college, her parents raised turkeys in order to have the funds to send her to Goshen.  Opal graduated from GC in 1945 with a degree in teacher education and her younger sister, Fern Barkey Henderson, also graduated from GC.

In June of 1948, Opal crossed the Atlantic to marry Ralph in Switzerland.  “It took me a long time to decide to go,” she said.  “It was a long 10-day trip then.”  After Ralph and Opal returned to Goshen, Opal taught first grade in nearby Jimtown, Ind. and Ralph finished college.  Even before Ralph earned his degree in 1950, he had been appointed Controller of the College.  He later recalled that “It seemed a bit strange to be signing the paychecks of my professors!”

In 1957 the positions of Business Manager and Controller were combined, and Ralph was asked to become Business Manager.  For the following 13 years he served as Business Manager, having a leadership role at a time when many significant changes were being implemented at GC.  He found great satisfaction participating in the planning and construction of the College Church Chapel, the then-Seminary Building (now the Newcomer Center), Yoder, Kratz and Miller dormitories, the heating plant and the Good Library.

In 1960 he was invited to join the Goshen Rotary Club.  That gave him an opportunity to become better acquainted with many of Goshen’s business and civic leaders.  He was elected President of the local club in 1967.  Ralph was then offered a position as trust officer at First National Bank of Goshen in 1970 (which after numerous mergers ultimately became part of JPMorgan Chase). It was a difficult decision for him; he still enjoyed his work at Goshen College and remained convinced of the importance of Goshen College and appreciated the quality and dedication of his staff and colleagues.  But he accepted the position of trust officer and after a short tenure was promoted to president in 1974.   The bank had a strong and interested Board of Directors, many of whom were very supportive of Goshen College and were members of the GC President’s Advisory Board.

His work in a locally owned, community-oriented bank reinforced his interest in encouraging entrepreneurship and helping small business owners and farmers thrive.  Ralph’s travels during his MCC service spurred a lifelong interest in traveling and the travel business. He was involved with the start of the then-MCC owned Menno Travel Service, served as a member of the agencies’ board and purchased the Goshen office when it was divested.

Ralph continued to support Goshen College in his banking career and entrepreneurial pursuits and was particularly interested in finding opportunities for his banking clients to benefit from joint educational opportunities with the College’s Business Administration Department.  The bank sponsored seminar speakers for the benefit of GC’s students and faculty and the bank’s clients.  They also sponsored a long-running seminar series for local business owners, moderated by Carl Kreider of Goshen College with licensed content called “Sound of the Economy”.

Ralph and Opal served and donated to both Mennonite and local charities.  Opal’s love for young children motivated her involvement in a breakfast program for school-age children in North Goshen.  She has been a Meals on Wheels volunteer since the beginning of the Goshen program for over 35 years.  Life-long members of College Mennonite Church, both served in various capacities over the years; Ralph on various committees and Opal as a Sunday School teacher for young children and creator of beautiful floral arrangements for the sanctuary for the Sunday morning worship services.

The list of Ralph’s community service over his lifetime is extensive.  It includes:  Director of Greater Goshen; Director of the Goshen Chamber of Commerce; Director and Chairman of the Goshen Hospital Board; Elkhart County Chairman for United Way’s fund drive; Director and Chairman of the Board for Greencroft; member of the Finance Commission and Chairman of the Fund Raising Committee for remodeling and adding to the College Church-Chapel building; member of Administration and Resources Committee of the Mennonite Board of Missions; member of the Alumni Board of Goshen College; member the Goshen College President’s Advisory Board; Director and Chairman of the Goshen Hospital Foundation; board member of Mennonite Mutual Aid (now Everence); board member of Oaklawn; board member of the Finance Commission of Indiana-Michigan Conference; Mennonite General Board’s Salary Policy Committee; Bethany Christian Schools Building Committee; and an active member of MEDA.

Goshen College has played a significant role in the lives of Ralph and Opal Gunden throughout the years.  In appreciation of the many ways that Goshen College has enriched their lives and the lives of their children and grandchildren, Opal chose to establish this fund in 2013, in order to assist students to study at Goshen College who would face a significant challenge to finance their tuition if scholarship funds weren’t available to them.  Their children Elizabeth, Mary Jean and James are all Goshen College graduates, and all have carried on their parent’s example and GC’s motto “Culture for Service”.  Their grandson, Andrew Gunden Landis graduated from Goshen College in 2009.