Eleanor Ruth Hiebert

Eleanor Hiebert was born Eleanor Ruth Claassen on September 16, 1930, in Beatrice, Nebraska, to Menno Claassen and Sara D. Goertz. They were part of a close-knit Mennonite farming community that instilled values of Christian discipleship, peace, and service, and whose ancestors had emigrated to the United States from Ukraine and Germany in the 1870s. Second of four children raised on a small cattle farm, Eleanor developed skills in frugality, resourcefulness, gardening, and handcraft both on the farm and in her local 4-H club. Her father's religious fervor, exemplified in his fierce stance as a World War I conscientious objector, helped to form Eleanor's own outspokenness for principled causes. Singing in her home church imbued Eleanor with a love of four-part harmony, leading her to eventual study and mastery of voice and piano.

Eleanor studied music and liberal arts at Bethel College in Kansas. After receiving her BA in 1952, she taught music in a public school for one year before marrying Kenneth John Hiebert, a Bethel classmate who hailed from another small Mennonite community, in Mountain Lake, Minnesota. Within the first two years of marriage, which coincided with the Korean War, Ken was drafted. He received status as a conscientious objector and was assigned an alternative service post with the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Basel, Switzerland, to work as a printer of children's textbooks. On arrival in Basel in 1954, Eleanor learned that her position was to be manager of the eight-apartment household where she and Ken would live. It was a small supportive community of rotating MCC service workers and their families, which generated contacts for the young couple in other parts of Europe. Eleanor continued her position in the Basel household until their departure in 1964.

In Basel, Eleanor studied voice at the Basel Conservatory and participated in the Bach Choir. Eleanor and Ken fed their mutual love of music by attending major musical events and otherwise taking in Basel culture, often by invitation, since their MCC allowance was so limited. They also connected to the rural Mennonite community nearby and traveled to neighboring countries, spending holidays on farms, in the mountains, and on the Mediterranean coast. During their 10 years in Switzerland, Eleanor gave birth to three daughters. In 1960, Ken shifted his position to full-time student at the Allgemeine Gewerbeschule Basel (Basel School of Design). Eleanor continued to use her creativity and ingenuity to raise their young family on her limited MCC income, putting to use her great skills in sewing, cooking, and managing logistics.

Eleanor and Ken returned to the United States in 1964, settling after a couple of years in Elkins Park, a suburb of Philadelphia where they lived for forty years. While maintaining their connections to Mennonite communities and organizations, they became active in the Society of Friends. Eventually, they became members and active participants of Gwynedd Friends Meeting. Identifying strongly with the music traditions of her childhood and her family heritage, Eleanor always thought of herself as both Mennonite and Quaker.

In 1966, Ken founded the Graphic Design Department at the Philadelphia College of Art (later University of the Arts). Eleanor continued to manage the family and organize their home life with great gusto and creativity, arranging music study for her daughters, as well as maintaining a garden, sewing studio, and health-minded kitchen. She also taught private piano lessons for many years and continued her own study of voice, focusing on German Lieder and contemporary classical art songs. She studied with Master Voice Teacher Florence Berggren (of Temple University), and went on to give multiple solo recitals. As a member of Singing City Choir of Philadelphia, Eleanor sang under many prominent conductors, performing, among other places, at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and touring in Egypt, Palestine, and Israel.

While continuing to raise her family, Eleanor also taught German language in the public school system. After the children left home, she took on various secretarial positions, including with Singing City Choir. In 1982, Eleanor became the administrative assistant for the Graphic Design Department at University of the Arts, a position she held until her retirement in 1998. During that time she took courses in the Ceramics Department, becoming a prolific creator of pottery.

Travel played a large role in Eleanor and Ken's life. They introduced their daughters to the joys of nature through many camping trips, which, owing to Eleanor's resourcefulness, included clambakes over the campfire, ad hoc picnics in the rain, homemade shampoo, and the yellow and blue canvas tarps that she had sewn, which Ken specially arranged as a functional art installation at each new campsite, giving it pizzazz and a sense of home. In 1970, a three-month camping trip across the United States was a transformative experience for the entire family. In later years, Eleanor and Ken enjoyed extensive international travel, to Greece, Spain, Turkey, Japan, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Russia, and eastern Europe.

Eleanor and Ken were a devoted unit, steadfastly committed to a marriage that supported each other's interests in education, classical music, the arts, travel, nature, and spiritual practice. At the same time, they recognized and respected each other's strong-minded, spirited individuality.

In 2004, Eleanor and Ken moved to Foulkeways, a retirement community in Gwynedd PA with a Quaker heritage. They participated actively in Foulkeways life, met and continued friendships with many residents there, and relished the many musical, cultural, and educational events available to them in this vibrant community. As their mobility became more limited, they looked forward each day to watching streamed evening concerts by artists from all over the world.

Eleanor passed away on April 4, 2025. She was 94. Ken preceded her in death by just a few months, in December 2024. She is also predeceased by her two brothers, Jake Claassen and Mark Claassen. She is survived by her sister, Sara Ann Claassen of Hesston KS; three daughters: Stephanie Hiebert of West Creek NJ, Christine Hiebert of Brooklyn NY, and Sara Hiebert Burch and son-in-law Elliot Burch of Friday Harbor WA.