Dean Clair Niswander, 81, died at 7:30 a.m. Jan. 5, 2010, at Mennonite Memorial Home, Bluffton.
He was born Feb. 6, 1928 in Bluffton to Carey F. and Lulu Hilty Niswander, who preceded him in death. On Aug. 20, 1950, he married Joanne Vercler, who survives.
Mr. Niswander was a 1945 graduate of Bluffton High School and received his bachelor's degree in 1949 from Bluffton College, with a major in business. He then joined his father in the C.F.Niswander & Son International Harvester dealership in Bluffton. After the dealership closed in 1961, he worked as a claims adjustor for Nationwide Insurance and Denton Insurance Co, both of Lima. In 1964 he joined Chemi-Trol Chemical Co. and the family moved to Okemos, Mich. where he was Michigan sales manager. In 1976 he moved to the home office in Gibsonburg, Ohio, where he retired as vice president for sales in 1991.
At retirement, he and his wife returned to Bluffton where they spent the next 10 years as volunteers in the development office at Bluffton College. Five of those years were spent traveling across the U.S. and Canada as good will ambassadors for their alma mater. They also spent two years planning and presenting displays for the school's 100th anniversary, celebrated in 1999-2000. He and his wife were named Outstanding Alumni of Bluffton College in 1996 and they were presented with the Ray Ramseyer Philanthropic Award in 2002.
He received his Eagle Scout badge in 1945 from Bluffton's Troop 256. He was a member of First Mennonite Church, Bluffton, where he served on various committees. He had also been very active in the United Methodist churches in Okemos and Gibsonburg. He was a member and officer in the Bluffton Lions Club, being awarded the Melvin Jones Fellowship in 2007.
Mr. Niswander had a fine tenor voice, and was involved in many music groups throughout his lifetime. Those groups included Bluffton Choral Society, Goldenaires, Swiss Male Chorus, Orpheus Male Chorus, Steiner Chorale, Toledo Symphony Chorus and Ben Locke Chorale. In 1976, the Niswander family was named American Amateur Music Family of the Year by the American Music Conference.
Survivors also include three sons, Rick (Debi) Niswander of Greenville, N.C.., Mark (Mike Phillips) Niswander of Commerce City, Colo., and Tom (Nancy) Niswander of Naperville, Ill.; three daughters, Jeanne (John) Manganaro, Carlsbad, N.M., Lee (Richard Davis) Niswander, Castle Rock, Colo., and Kay (Dan) Allan, Thomaston, Me. Also 10 grandchildren, Sara (Mark) Cowperthwaite, Jessie Allan, Jerry and Holly Ames- Allan, Alex, Greg, Graham, Rachel and Erika Niswander, and Elliott Davis; and three great-grandchildren, Nathaniel, Virginia and Naomi Cowperthwaite.
He was preceded in death by three sisters, Elvira Suter, Martha Franklin and Marcella Warren, and a brother, Ivan, who died in infancy.
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 10, at First Mennonite Church, Bluffton. Visitation will be from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. prior to the service and also follow the service. The body has been willed to the Medical University of Ohio, Toledo, and the cremains will be buried later in Maple Grove Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to Bluffton University, First Mennonite Church of Bluffton, or the Northwest Ohio Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. Arrangements through Chiles-Laman Funeral Home, Bluffton.
