In the summer of 1987, Jean Armstrong began noticing that a lot of people in their late 50’s to early 60’s age bracket were not attending a Sunday School class (John and she included).
In September Jean approached Linda Dixon, the Sunday School director at the time, about starting a class for this age bracket. She agreed with the idea. Jean sent out letters to 30 or more people about the new class. Hope was that the class would start the first Sunday in November with teachers in place, ready to go. The class was to meet in the southwest corner of Fellowship Hall. There were portable bulletin boards around the class so it didn’t disturb the class that met by the kitchen; however, things didn’t go quite as planned. John and Jean went to visit her sister and brother-in-law in Iowa in October. While on this trip, there were involved in an automobile accident, Jean was severely injured and spent five days in an Iowa hospital and later came home in a van and stayed another five days at St. Joseph Hospital. Jean was released from the hospital to her home, where she spent the next six weeks in a hospital bed. During this time the class was put on hold.
After many prayers and a strong faith in God, and the will to get better, we were finally able to have an organizational meeting on January 3, 1988. During this meeting Doris Benjamin suggested the name Keystone for the class. The name was approved, and officers were elected.
These were the 17 charter members; John and Jean Armstrong, Floyd and Doris Benjamin, Walter and Carol Branch, Eldon and Esther Hunt, Evelyn Kessinger, Jake and Nadine Schoenthols, Bob and Ann Smith, Wayne and Mary Testerman, and Bob and Lily Walker. At our first class on January 10, Dick and Elaine Hall joined the group. The officers were Jean Armstrong, president; Doris Benjamin, vice-president; Jake and Nadine Schoenhols, secretary/treasurer; and Wayne and Mary Testerman, social activities. The teachers for our class were Esther Hunt, 1st Sunday; Jean Armstrong, 2nd Sunday; Evelyn Kessinger, 3rd Sunday; Mary Testerman, 4th Sunday; and Ann Smith, 5th Sunday.
