Donald Lee Schweingruber, 75, of Bluffton, died Saturday, Sept. 12. Don had been living with multiple myeloma for the past 15 years and was in hospice care when he died.
Don was born April 4, 1940, in Ellwood City, Pa., to Russell and Dorothy Schweingruber and grew up on a farm in Butler County. He graduated from Zelienople High School in 1958 and Thiel College in 1963. He continued his education at Miami University, where he met Nancy Hoeltje. They married in 1965.
Don earned a master’s degree from Miami in 1965 and a Ph.D. in Student Personnel Administration in Higher Education from Michigan State University in 1971.
Don and Nancy moved to Bluffton in 1972 when Don was hired to be the first Dean of Student Affairs at Bluffton College (now Bluffton University), where he worked for the next 33 years until his retirement in 2005. His title when he retired was Vice President and Dean of Student Life.
Don built the student affairs department at Bluffton and created many of its programs, including the Leadership Development Program and Campus Judicial System.
Among his many other contributions to Bluffton University were starting (with Nancy) Bluffton’s Elderhostel Program and the Institute for Learning in Retirement, and proposing its Satisfaction Guarantee Program. He was chosen three times to give Bluffton’s baccalaureate address.
In 2001, he received Bluffton’s Larry W. Jones Memorial Award for his contributions to the college’s athletic program. Don and Nancy also participated in the Brothers and Sisters in Christ (BASIC) program, hosting many students in their home for over 15 years.
In addition to his involvement with undergraduates at Bluffton, Don was active in mentoring graduate student interns enrolled in Bowling Green State University’s Student Affairs program. He received a “Friend of the College Award” from BGSU in 1991 and the DeCrane Supervisor of the Year Award from its Student Development Association in 1999.
Don was recognized by state and national professional associations for his leadership in the field. He served as President of the Ohio College Personnel Association (1978-1979) and the Ohio Association of Student Personnel Administrators (1994-95), and won OCPA’s Phillip A. Tripp Distinguished Service Award in 1988, OASPA’s Gerald Saddlemire Leadership Award in 2001, and the Outstanding Performance as a Senior Student Affairs Officer Award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (Region IV) in 2003.
Don was a member of English Lutheran Church in Bluffton, where he served in many roles, including teaching the Senior Sunday school class for 36 years, serving on the church council, and singing in the choir. He also served on several committees for the Northwestern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
His many other contributions to the community included two decades of service on the Allen County Health Board. He and Nancy were named Citizens of the Year by the Bluffton Lions Club in 2001.
Don is survived by Nancy, his wife of 50 years; three sons and two daughters-in-law, David Schweingruber and Nancy Berns of Ames, Iowa; Douglas and Kristy Schweingruber of Bluffton; and Matthew Schweingruber of New York City; five granddaughters, Lydia and Chloe Berns-Schweingruber, and Makayla, Jordan and Addison Schweingruber.
Also surviving are his brother, Jerry (and his wife Judy) Schweingruber of Lebanon, Pennsylvania; three sisters, Patricia (and her husband Tom) Platt of West Chester, Pennsylvania, Marie (and her husband Tom) Grant of Zelienople, Pennsylvania, and Sally (and her husband Jack) Trump of Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania; and sisters-in-law Marie Schweingruber of Erie, Pennsylvania, and Charlynn Schweingruber of Evanston, Illinois.
He was preceded in death by his parents; a grandson, Zachariah Berns Schweingruber; and two brothers, David Schweingruber and Frank Schweingruber.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, Sept, 17, from 6-8 p.m. and Friday, Sept. 18, from 2-8 p.m. at Chiles-Laman Funeral and Cremation Services, Bluffton.
The funeral service will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19, at First Mennonite Church in Bluffton.
Burial will follow at Maple Grove Cemetery. A luncheon for family and friends will be held at Marbeck Center on the Bluffton College campus following the burial.
Memorial gifts can be made to the Don Schweingruber Scholarship Fund at Bluffton University or to English Lutheran Church in Bluffton. Online condolences may be expressed at www.chiles-lamanfh.com
