MARION KENNETH KAUFMANN, M.D.
Of 4921 Deeson Road, Lakeland, Florida 33810 was born on June 6, 1926 in Colebrook, Ohio. The Son of Albert Walter Kaufmann and Aldah Wynona Aiken Kaufmann graduated from Maple Heights High School in Maple Heights, Cleveland, Ohio in 1944. He enlisted in the United States Army and served in the U. S. Army Cavalry (1945) and then in the U.S. Army Air Force (Far Eastern Air Force – Pacific Theatre 1946) in World War II. He was Honorably Discharged in 1946 at the end of the war with the rank of Staff Sargent.
Kenneth as he preferred to be called, enrolled in Greenville College, Greenville, Illinois, (now Greenville University). Greenville College is where he met and married Stella Miriam Butcher in 1948. Ken graduated with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in chemistry from Greenville College in 1949. He attended University of Illinois School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois and received a Bachelor of Medical Science in 1951 and an M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) in 1953. He did his Internship at the Cleveland City Hospital in 1954. He did a Residency in surgery at Akron City Hospital in 1955. Dr. M. Kenneth Kaufmann was commissioned by the Free Methodist Church and assigned as medical missionary to India. While waiting to be sent to India as a medical missionary, Dr. Ken had a private medical practice in Akron, Ohio from 1955 to 1959.
After the Kaufmanns were unable to get visas to India, Dr. Kaufmann was asked to come back to Greenville and serve as Greenville College doctor on a volunteer basis. He also taught health and science classes at Greenville College.
Ken and Stella moved their family of six children to Greenville in 1959. (The seventh child was born in Greenville in 1961). Dr. Kaufmann opened a private medical practice in 1959 and served the Greenville College, Greenville, Illinois and Bond County community as a family physician for over 40 years. Dr. M. Kenneth Kaufmann was a charter founding member of the American Board of Family Physician specialty. He was a member of the American Medical Association, the Illinois Medical Association and the Bond County Medical Association. He merged his medical practice in 1974 with Dr. Max Frankel and Dr. Charles Daisy. Dr. Kaufmann was a partner/owner of Greenville Medical Associates until his retirement in 2000. Dr. Kaufmann served in many capacities at the local hospital, the local health department and Greenville College. The good doctor loved to deliver babies. He worked the on call shifts at the local hospital, emergency room shifts at neighboring cities’ hospitals and did house calls for his patients all of his career.
Dr. Kaufmann was included in the Who’s Who in the Midwest in 1972-73 and 1978-79. He was recognized with Greenville University’s President’s Award in 1974. Dr. Ken and Stella Kaufmann served the college on the Parent’s Cabinet, the Alumni Board and helped in many fundraising campaigns. He served on the Board of Trustees for Greenville College for many years. His medical office building became The Kaufmann Building, a part of Greenville University and housed the alumni office for many decades.
Kenneth married Stella August 24, 1948 at the Terre Haute Free Methodist Church in Terra Haute, Indiana. They parented seven children, all of whom attended and graduated from Greenville (College) University, Greenville, Illinois. Upon moving to Greenville, Dr. Kaufmann purchased 20 acres north of town and built a cabin, a one-acre lake and planted 60 cypress trees. Dr. Kaufmann loved the outdoors and fishing for relaxation. Ken loved to travel the United States and the world. He loved children and helped for many years with the local youth program, Bible Quizzing and Son Rose Bible Educational Games Company, which was founded by his sons Bruce and Donald. He had friends the world over. He was very popular for his chemical object lessons, chalk talks and Biblical character impersonations where he would tell a Bible Story and quote the scriptures. He often volunteered to serve as camp doctor for the church’s youth camps. Ken would read through the Holy Bible in a year and faithfully prayed for each family member and many friends. In 2003, Ken and Stella moved to Florida full-time to live with their Son and Daughter in Law – Bruce and Karyl Kaufmann.
The eldest Son and Daughter in Law, Dr. Rev. Kenneth and Rev. Linda Kaufmann live in Buchanan, Michigan. Dr. Bruce and Mrs. Karyl Kaufmann live in Lakeland, Florida. Rev. Dr. Donald and Mrs. Nanette Kaufmann live in Kissimmee, Florida. Dr. Gary and Mrs. Valerie Kaufmann live in Palm Bay, Florida. Dr. Stella (Kaufmann) and Dr. James Reinhard live in Salem, Virginia. Mrs. Sheryl (Kaufmann) and Mr. Glen Moore live in Clarkston, Michigan. Mrs. April (Kaufmann) and Mr. Rick Ness live in Sequim, Washington. Dr. Ken has 47 grandchildren and spouses and 20 great grandchildren. Dr. Kaufmann has been preceded in death by his wife, his parents, two of his siblings, and his granddaughter Stella Noelle Marie Lynn Reinhard Howard. Marion Kenneth Kaufmann has been a lifetime member of the Free Methodist Church and is a member of the Greenville Illinois congregation. His body will be buried next to his wife Stella Miriam Butcher Kaufmann in the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Greenville, Illinois.
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