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Ziarko, Albert A.
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Albert A. Ziarko
By Fra nk l\f. Field
E
ARLY on Saturday, September 25,
death came to Rev. A lbert A.
Ziarko, pa stor of Van Buren St. and
!hoburn Methodis t Churches, Bay City,
111 Bay City General H ospital. H e was
out of his pulpit only t hree Sunda ys
w he_n release came f rom a f ast-growing
malignancy. Funeral services were conducted in the Van Buren St. Church
September 27 by District S uperintendent
F rank M. F ield, a ssisted by Bay City
Methodist pastors, Gordon M. ' Vood,
Charles F. Wolfe, Harry 0 . Ma rtin, Dona ld Porteous and Paul W. Plueddemann. Buria l was in E lm Lawn cemetery, Bay City.
Albert Ziark'O was born in Webster,
Massachusetts, March 19, 1892. As a
young man he came into a r ich Chris tian
e:cperience which led him to identify
hunseli whole heartedly with P r otesta nt
~
...,,,4'11 .
MICHIGAN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE
Christianity, a lthough his train ing and
background had been in the Roman
Church. Seeking to prepa re himself f or
the Christian mini stry, to which he fe lt
definitely ca ll ed, he studied in New York
Univers ity, g raduated f rom Biblica l
Seminary, New York City, and a ls o took
some work in Garre tt Biblical I ns t itute,
Evanston, Ill.
·
The fi rst 13 yeai'S of h is m ini s tr~r \\'as
in the Baptist church in New Yo r k City
until 1!>29 when Bis hop Thoma s N ichol son brought him to Detro it to become
pasto r of St. Pete r's Methodi s t Chu rch.
H e served St. Peter's unti l his appointment to the Me thodis t chUI'ch in St.
Cha rles in 1!>40. At St. Cha rl es he led
t he congregation in bu ilding a ne w,
moder n parsonage. From 1943 t o 1946 he
se r ved t he Ak ron and Bethel churches
a nd was appointed to Van Bure n St. and
Thobul'll, Bay City, in ]!)46, afte r the
dea th of t he pasto r, Rev. Bruce R. Davi s.
S ince Nov. 10, 1937, B1·othe r Ziarko
has h a d t he 1 he lpfu l co mpanions hip and
valu abl e leade 1·ship in chu rch activities
of his w ife, the forme1· Be rnice Ande rso n · of F alkenvi ll e, I a . An accomp lis heel
mus ician a nd an enthusiastic lea der in
mi ss ions she has proved a real he lper
i n the paris h as well as the parsonage.
She was recentl y a ppointed Mi ssionary
E ducation Counselo r of the De troit Conference. W it h he r is 'left th e ir young son,
Charles J erome, aged seven.
Albert Zia rlw was a "good mini ste1· of
Jes us Chris t." His Chri s t ian conv ictio11s
ran deep as t hey we re based upon a pe l'sona l ex perience of sav in g g race. The
joys of Chris tia n fa ith and of liberty in
Christ were so precious to him that he
de lighted in passing the m on to othe rs
by preachi ng the Gos pel. Th e evangel izatio n of the Pol ish people was m uch u pon
his hea rt a lt hough hi s minis try for som e
t ime had been with strictly American
cong re g ations, and he had vis ions o f
'ilt{:t s'i{ -5,,\u\ -aij~ ·- pa~Uot~~n•!Jqx~ ~ a 1 ul(fai:t
<ll{l Ol pua.t <l.l<l-11 ,t! JOR, <l!(l JO Slll<llUO;>
Ol{J, 'AtUOUO.l<lll1<lQ ll! paaunoumd fi:.IGA
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-.s noa:jt]2 \.£ p uu <Jauu.t adwal ,'s1.moa a 11'1 tq
fi:ls<Juotr a;>n s nf J !tttouo;>a .S.WAIO [[OJ 5 111
yn 'l.lr!'CI a u1 un 'l:lnnuo:-.
t n .1n u1 .J n T
s;::n 1n'!;u
M .C.R .
MRS. A. A. ZIARKO, of Bay City,
widow of Rev. A. A. Ziarko , is moving Hamtramck. In 1937 Bernice married thE
to 1431 Royer St., Des Moines, I owa.
BERNICE A. ZIARKO, a deaconess
who served Michigan churches, died in
Des Moines, Iowa, on June 26. She was
born to Gus and Hannah Larson Anderson on Feb. 22 , 1904, on a farm near Farnhamvi lle, Iowa. She attended the Music
Department ot <.:innnell (.;OIIege one year
and in 1928 graduated from Iowa National
Esther Hall as a Methodist deaconess. In
1930 she came to Michigan as director of
music and religious education at ·st.
Peter's Methodist Church and Community Center in th e Polish Russian section of
Rev. Albert Ziarko. They served St
Charles UMC, Akron, Bay City: Van Surer
and Thoburn churches. A son was borr
to them in 1941 . In 1948 she was ap·
pointed missionary education counselo
for the Detroit Conference. Albert died o
cancer at age 56 on Sept. 25, 1948. Ber
nice returned to Iowa and became direc
tor of the Iowa Esther Home for girls. ShE
also served as Iowa president of th1
Wesleyan Service Guild. Her funeral ser
vice was held on June 30 in the UMC o
Rockwell City , Iowa. 1o/1~/19?9'
OBITUARY
BernicP Anderson, daughter of Gus and Hannah
larson Anderson, was born February 22, 1904, on a farm
southwest of Farnhamville, Iowa. She passed away on
June 26, 1989, at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in
Des Moines, Iowa, at the of eighty-five years.
Berni ce attended schools in Farnhamville and
Rockwell City, and spent one year in the Musi c
Department of Grinnell College.
She entered Iowa
National Esther Hall in Des Moines, and was graduated
a Methodist deaconess in 1928. As such, she served
in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and Hamtramck, Michigan. Berni ce
was married in 1937 to Albert A. Ziarko, a Methodist
mi nister from Worcester, Massachusetts, and New York
City. The Zi arkos served as pari_sh pastors in three
l oca lities in Mi chigan -- St. Charles , Akron and Bay
Ci ty . Bern ice re tu rned to Iowa and worked for t e n
yea r s {1950-60) for the State of Iowa Depa r tment of
Soc i al Welfare in Rockwell City and Council Bluffs ,
r i sing to the post of County Director in each. From
1960 until her retirement in 1968, she served the
Methodist Church as Director of her alma mater, Iowa
National Es ther Hall, in Des Moines. In the 21 years
s i nce her retirement, Berni ce continued to live in Des
Moines , first in an apartment on University Avenue,
before moving to Heather Manor in June 1986.
Preceding her in death were her parents ; her
hus band, Albert, in 1948; and a sister, Helen
Ande r son, in 1987.
She is survived by one son,
Cha rles of Los Ange les, Californ i a; and other
r el atives and fr i ends.
In Memory Of
BERNICE A. ZIARKO
Fe bruary 22, 1904
June 26, 1989
Services From
United Methodist Church
Rockwell City, Iowa
Date
June 30, 1989
Friday- 2:00 P.M.
Minister
Dr. Ralph Kitterman
Organist
Marjorie Fr ey
Congregational Hymns
"Rock of Ag e s" #120
"Abide With Me 11 #289
Organ Selection
Casket bearers
Wendell Adam
Floyd Wilson
Leslie Mullins
Paul Mundt
Interment
Re ading Township Ce me t e ry
Farnhamville , Iowa
THE COMMISSION ON ARCillVES AND IDSTORY
DETROIT ANNUAL CONFERENCE
THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Ronald A. Brunger, Archivist
Home Phone: (5 17) 456-7992
Archi ves, Adrian College Library
Adrian, Mic higan 49221
Telephone: (517) 265-5161
First Log Church
on t he River Rouge
1818
Clin ton, oldest UMC
edifice in Conference
1837
I N I\1Er1IORI AM
Bernice A.Ziarko( l 904-1989 )
Berni c e Anders on , t ne daug hter of Gus and Hannah La rson Anderson ,
Swedish i mmi csrant s , \'~ a s born Feb. 22, 1904 on a f a r m ne ·r Farhhamville,
I 0 iia. She w·,.s brought up i n t he Church and at te nde d the r,~u si catx De nart ment of Gri nnell Colle ge one yea r. She fel t the call to religious ·
work , a nd in 1928 g r ad ua t ed from I owa Nati onal Es t her Hal l as a Methodis t Deac on ess . She ',\ orked i n a Church i n Dodge City, Iowa . In 1930
she ca me to Michigan as Direct or of Mus ic and Re ligi ous Educa tion at
St . Pe te r ' s Me t odi st Ghurch a nd Communi ty Center i n the Polish- Rus s i a n
s e cti on in Hamtra mc k . She live n in the De a cone ss Home on Putnam St .,
in De t r oit with othe r Deaconesses: t heir pay was Boa r d a nd Ro om ~and
$ 30.00 a month .
2NRxw:mxk ·s t. Pe t ers seemed a true missi on Church; t he re ware t wo
service s , o~in Engli s h a nd one in Poli sh each Sunday , wi th Sunday
3c hool in English . Bernice ha d a l a r ge gro u~ of· children in a Juni or
L e ~~ue on Sunday aft ernoons; a n d Sunda y Evenings a l a r ge gr oup of
youth i n Epwo r -th League . The Church ha d many ac tivitie s af t er s chool
and even i ngs in re creat i on , cla s se s , or c l ubs . At Christma s ti me s he
s upervised a l a r ge, c olorful pageant ; i n the s ummer a l engt hy Vaca t ion Bib l e School . ~he s a w lives c ha nged and s erve d a t St . Peters
for 10 yea rs.
Bern ice married Rev . Albert Zia rko i n 1937; he was the ~~ri~¥e~
of St. Peters 1930- 34, a nd 193 6- 40 . Bernic e began se rv i ~g God and
the Church in the capa city of pa . ·tor ' s wife . The Ziarko~ se rved
St. Cha rles 1940-4 3, Akron 1943- 46, and Ba y City: Va n Buren a nd
Thoburn Churches 194 6- 48 . A son Cha rle s wa s born t o the m in 1941.
Bernic e found her tra i ning a nd expe ri ence va luable . She worked with
many gro u~ s i n the se Churche s , h e l ~ing them ' a dvance in the i r progr ams , a nd ent er n ew one s such as Mi ss i on Study Clas s es and music. In
1948 she was au 0oi nted Mi ss i onar y Educa ti on Coun se lor fo r t he Detr oit
Conference.
Bu t tragedy be f e l l her on ~ epte rnb er 25 , 1 948 , vit h the death of
her husband a f ca ncer, at t he a ge of 56 . She ne ede d now to become
the breadwi nne r, and de cide d t o r e turn to Iowa . She was a social
worke r , later the direc t or of t he Iowa Es ther Horne, the l a r ge s t in
t hP nation wi th a capa city for 150 gi rls and s taff . She ser ved a
time as !mwa Pr • sident of the Wesleyan Service Guild , and afte r retirement i ~ Des Moine s , she di d much volunte e r wor k and was gmven
recognition for t hi s i n 1971 . In a communi ca tion t o t he a rc hi vE8 t
in 1986 s h e wrote ,"I a m move d with grea t gr at itude to God for t he
privileg e of being a Methodi st De a c ones s~'' Bernice passed away a t
t he I owa l\~ eth o dis t Med i cal Cent e r in Des Moines , I owa on June 26 , 1989 .
Her funera l ser vic e V'1 as held on J une 30 in the Unite d Me t h odist Church
i~ Roc ~ ~e ll C~t y , I owa .
I nt erment was in the Re ading Township Cewe tery
a
v
Far cl h ·~ ~ 1
1fe .
Ziarko, Albert A.