Pastor Don grew up in Falls City Nebraska and was baptized and confirmed at St Paul’s Lutheran Church. He attended Midland Lutheran College in Fremont Nebraska and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. He attended Luther Northwestern Seminary and graduated with a Master of Divinity. He was ordained in 1984. Prior to Bethany Lutheran Pastor Don served Christ’s Lutheran Church at Davenport, St. James Lutheran Church at Edgar (sadly now closed) and St. John’s Lutheran Church of Eustis. Pastor Don is married to Lori Hunzeker who grew up on a farm outside of Hooper Nebraska. She also attended Midland Lutheran College where they met. They have two adult sons, Jon and Nate.
Julie grew up in Minden, Nebraska and was baptized and confirmed at Saint Paul Lutheran Church in Minden. She graduated from Minden Public Schools and joined Bethany Lutheran Church when she got married. She attended Kearney State College (which is now the University of Nebraska at Kearney) and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. Julie has worked over 40 years as a Registered Nurse at Kearney County Health Services, most recently doing Cardiac Stress tests and Cardiac Rehabilitation. Those years of caring for all ages of people led to the caring and concern for the fellow members of Bethany Lutheran Church as a Parish Nurse. She took the Parish Nurse course in 1999. But that was not enough as the Holy Spirit led her to another calling. In 2019 Julie was certified as a Parish Ministry Associate in the Nebraska Synod of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). Julie continues to serve Bethany Lutheran Church and Fredericksburg Lutheran Church as Parish Nurse and PMA. She is married to Delvin and has 3 children and 7 grandchildren.
Lori Hunzeker administrative assistant. Lori Grew up on a farm outside of Hooper Nebraska. She was baptized and confirmed at Immanuel Lutheran Church just across the road from the home place. Lori earned an Associates Degree in Business Administration from Midland Lutheran College. She has served in her capacity at Bethany since 2002. She is married to Pastor Don.
