Dean A. Preheim-Bartel, 79, died Feb. 5, 2026, in Goshen, Ind. He was born to Henry and Dora Ewert Bartel on Oct. 30, 1946, in Hillsboro, Kan.
After graduating from Tabor College in 1968, he did Voluntary Service at the Colorado State Home and Training School for the Mentally Retarded. He continued to work for the Colorado Department of Institutions and Social Services in Denver. In 1978, he moved to Elkhart, Ind., to attend Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. There he met and married Gwendolyn Preheim. A year later he became a consultant for the Developmental Disabilities Program of Mennonite Health Services. By 1988 he became the manager of church relations and advocacy programs at Mennonite Mutual Aid. He also coordinated the Mennonite Health Assembly national conference for health professionals. He graduated with an MSA in nonprofit administration from Notre Dame in 1988.
Eager to use his skills in an ecumenical setting, he developed a new program for Catholic Charities in Red Wing, Minn., in 1999. Called back to Indiana in 2005, he was the director of Church Community Services in Elkhart until his retirement in 2011 due to Parkinson’s disease. Work with the disenfranchised was dear to his heart.Known for his kind and gentle spirit, he enjoyed woodworking and gardening as well as studying his genealogy. His volunteer efforts included helping to develop God’s Eye Art, working at The Depot, Mennonite Archives and Greencroft.
Surviving are his wife; sisters-in-law Nina Preheim, Elizabeth Osborne, Anita Preheim, Justina Neufeld and Delores Bartel; and brothers-in-law William Preheim and Michael Preheim. Preceding him in death were brothers Floyd, Alfred and Marvin; sisters-in-law Pearl Schroeder Bartel and Dorothy Preheim; and brothers-in law Gary Goertz, Kirk Preheim and Mark Osborne. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. March 7 at Eighth Street Mennonite Church in Elkhart.
