Leaving a legacy of service

The Rev. David O. and Darlene Birkey Byler Memorial Scholarship Fund

David and Darlene (Dottie) Birkey Byler spent their whole lives in service to others. Dave, a pastor and musician, was well loved for faithfully serving those in his congregation, and Dottie was a tireless mother, teacher and church member. Passionate about their Christian faith, they lived lives that witnessed to Jesus’ teachings, quietly manifested in repeated acts of everyday kindness shown to friends and strangers alike. It is for that reason that Dave and Dottie’s four children established a scholarship fund to honor and remember their parents.

In the fall of 1941, Dave Byler and Dottie Birkey met at Goshen College. Dottie was studying elementary education and Dave studied Bible. At Goshen, Dave honed his musical talents by singing in a men’s gospel quartet that gave concerts at churches throughout the upper Midwest. They were married on March 29, 1945. After graduation, Dave began his life-long calling to ministry at a Baptist church in South Bend, Ind., and Dottie took leave from her job as a teacher to give birth to Michael, the first of their four children.

Dave earned a bachelor of divinity degree at the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He also served as the part-time minister of music at the nearby Crescent Hill Baptist Church. Dottie, meanwhile, served as a church secretary at Crescent Hill until the birth of their daughter, Cynthia, in 1948.

In 1950, Dave was called to minister at First Baptist Church in Kingsport, Tenn. During the next 35 years, he also served at Brainerd Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tenn., and at First Baptist Church in Hickory, N.C. until his retirement in 1985.

During his ministry, Dave planned music, directed the choirs, led the singing at Sunday worship and developed a choir program. Dave was also known for faithfully visiting newcomers to town, the sick, the homebound and those grieving the death of a loved one.

Meanwhile, as a homemaker, Dottie kept the home fires burning. Two more sons, Patrick and Timothy, were born in 1952 and 1956. Throughout the decades, she regularly served as a Sunday School teacher and often as a leader of the Women’s Missionary Union (WMU). In the mid-1960s, after their youngest child entered school, Dottie returned to teaching children at a local kindergarten.

In February 1985, Dave and Dottie officially retired, but continued as active church participants, especially when it came to music. Dave died on May 20, 1999. In 2004, the congregation of First Baptist Church Hickory dedicated their magnificent new pipe organ in memory of their beloved pastor and in honor of his wife.

In 2005, Dottie moved from Hickory to Raleigh, N.C. to live near her daughter and her second son. She died on August 25, 2011.

In 2012, the children of Dave and Dottie decided to initiate this scholarship fund as a way to honor the memories of their parents and the many enduring connections to Goshen College of both the Byler and Birkey families. Because of David and Darlene’s dedication to ministry, music and education, the recipients of the Byler scholarship can be Bible and religion majors who plan to enter the ministry at some point in their lives, youth ministries minors, music/ music education and/or elementary education majors.

The three sons of David and Darlene wish to acknowledge their sister’s desire to see this fund established. Cindy Byler Yelton died in September 2012 after a short bout with cancer, but she had made it very clear to her brothers and to her husband David that she wanted this fund at Goshen College set up to honor and pay tribute to their parents.