NCC: Reuben and Magadalene Stauffacher Mueller papers

Reuben Mueller was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 2, 1897 and died in Franklin, Indiana on July 6, 1982. He received his B.A. at North-Western (now North Central) College in 1919 and his B.D. at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in 1926. Before ministry, he was a teacher in Wisconsin and an instructor at North-Western. He was a pastor in Minnesota for a few years before staying in the Indiana region. In 1954, he was elected Bishop and later was recognized as Bishop of the West Central Area and Indiana Area. Mueller was also President of the EUB Board of Bishops from 1958-68, National Council of Churches from 1963-66, United Methodist Council of Bishops, from 1969-70, and World Christian Education, Inc. in 1972. He was also author of His Church; The Living Word, Becoming a Christian, and a contributor to Lay Leadership in the Church, Herald of the Evangel, and In the Unity of Faith. He retired in 1972.

Magdalene Stauffacher Mueller was born in Wisconsin on March 11, 1892 and died in Naperville, Illinois on July 24, 1975. She received her B.A. at North-Western (now North Central) College in 1918. As a student, Stauffacher was social chair of the YWCA before becoming president of the organization. She was also part of the Kappa Pu Nu debate team where she practiced as part of the Intersociety Debaters in Philosophy. Stauffacher was a local editor, and later a senior assistant with the College Chronicle. In 1917, her junior year, she was elected May Queen for the college’s annual May Fete. She taught high school English in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. She became Director of the Intermediate Girls’ Camp for the Indiana Conference. Reuben Mueller and Magdalene Stauffacher married on December 26, 1919 and had one daughter, Margaret M. Hoesch. Magdalene Mueller was active in the church alongside her husband; she was the recording secretary of the Executive Committee of Indianapolis Church Federation. She was also co-chairman of the Regional M.E.M Institute. In the 1950s and 1960s, Mueller travelled abroad to the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and Africa. During these trips she went to churches, youth camps, youth homes, hospitals, conferences, and museums with hosts, friends, her parents, or her husband.