Reformed Presbyterian Minutes of Synod 1993

REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 159APPENDIXIN MEMORIAMREV. DONALD WILLIAM FELKEROn November 25,1992, the day before Thanksgiving, Donald WiUiamFelker was called to his eternal home in the presence of our lovingHeavenly Father. Don was visiting his children and had just arrived inPittsburgh when his heart failed. He had just timeto communicate his loveto his wife before he was with the Lord.Donald WUUam Felker was bom October 5, 1932, in Bower Hill,Pennsylvania. He was the son of Donald and Bertha Felker and the brotherof Shirley Can. He grew up in Pittsburgh attending its pubUc schools andgraduating from Taylor Allderdice High School.He enrolled at Geneva College, where Don received not only a degree,but a permanent change in his Ufe. It was here that he was exposed to themessage of the gospel. Don tmsted in the risenChrist as his personalSavior and for the firsttime began to live for God. After graduating fromGeneva College and the Reformed Presbyterian Seminary, he was ordaineda minister of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Orlando,Florida, in June 1956.Believing God was calling him to an educational ministry, he returnedto school and received a doctorate of Educational Philosophy and Psychologyfrom Indiana University in Bloomington. The remaining years of hisprofessional Ufe were given to equipping young men and women insideand outside the church to use the gifts God and given them.Don became Dean of Purdue University's School of Consumer andFamily Science in 1987. Before that he was the chairman of the EducationalPsychology Department at the University of South Carolina, aposition he had held since 1983. From 1980 to 1983 he served faithfullyas president of Geneva College in Beaver FaUs, Pennsylvania. He hadbeen head of Purdue's Department of Child Development and FamilyStudies from 1974 to 1980.He married Evelyn Harrington Felker in May of 1954 and fivechildrenwere given them; Donald, Linda, Ruth, Shirley, and Jeff. Don was also afather to many foster children. Out of these experiences came a desire toleam how children develop their view of God, themselves, and the world.It was his desire to help them unlearn the harmful messages they hadbelieved about themselves and leam the truth of God. He applied the truthof God's abundant grace and love in all his relationships. He was a son who