BROOKLYN - The only parishioners left at Evansville Peace United Methodist church are resting in its cemetery, but the memories of life in the church live on.
The little county church, built in 1835 on County C near Brooklyn, closed its doors in June.
Unable to maintain the expenses of the building and a pastor, the 25 members of the congregation decided to merge with the 200 members of the United Methodist church in Albany. The congregations celebrated Wednesday in Albany with a hymn sing and pie.
"I had two helpings, with ice cream," laughed Orrie Kraus, Brooklyn.
At "somewhere around" 92 years old, Kraus was the oldest member at Evansville Peace, and now he holds that distinction in the Albany church.
Albany pastor Pat Soddy said Kraus took a keen interest in the future of the congregation when the Evansville church closed.
"He had a concern for the next generation. He's always looking ahead," she said. "It's not all about him."
Kraus has never been very far from the Evansville church, in spirit or in distance. He lives on a farm "three miles across the fields" from the church, and most of his family is buried in the cemetery next to it.
His grandfather, William Kraus, donated the land that the church is built on.
"People went to church with a horse and buggy, and they said it was just taking too long to get to town to go to church," Kraus said.
Lightening struck the first Evansville Peace church building four years after it was built in 1831. Undeterred, the congregation rebuilt in 1835 on the same spot.
A school house, next door to the church, was also built in the early 1800s.
Kraus and Leona Gransee both attended school there. Krause said he walked to school, and after school, he went home and worked in the fields.
"The thing is, after we graduated, she went to high school, and I stayed home to work in the fields," Kraus said.
But they always saw each other in church.
Eventually, Orrie and Leona were married, and as time went on, the little school house closed. The church used it for children's Sunday school classes.
The Krauses lived on Leona's family farm, had three boys and two girls, and attended Evansville Peace church. One son even became a minister.
Just before Leona died in 1990, they celebrated their 50th anniversary.
"I think she held on just for that," he said softly.
The biggest change Kraus has seen in the church started about eight years ago, when there were "not enough people to meet expenses," he said.
"We got these students, a lot of them were ladies, from the (ministry) school to come and preach. But once they got ordained, they'd leave, and we'd get another one," he said.
There was a time when Kraus thought the congregation would "give up and split," he said. "Some would go to Evansville and some to Brooklyn and some to Albany."
But the congregation choose the Albany church for their new home and stayed together, after 175 years of building family memories.
Perhaps they stayed together just for those.
The little county church, built in 1835 on County C near Brooklyn, closed its doors in June.
Unable to maintain the expenses of the building and a pastor, the 25 members of the congregation decided to merge with the 200 members of the United Methodist church in Albany. The congregations celebrated Wednesday in Albany with a hymn sing and pie.
"I had two helpings, with ice cream," laughed Orrie Kraus, Brooklyn.
At "somewhere around" 92 years old, Kraus was the oldest member at Evansville Peace, and now he holds that distinction in the Albany church.
Albany pastor Pat Soddy said Kraus took a keen interest in the future of the congregation when the Evansville church closed.
"He had a concern for the next generation. He's always looking ahead," she said. "It's not all about him."
Kraus has never been very far from the Evansville church, in spirit or in distance. He lives on a farm "three miles across the fields" from the church, and most of his family is buried in the cemetery next to it.
His grandfather, William Kraus, donated the land that the church is built on.
"People went to church with a horse and buggy, and they said it was just taking too long to get to town to go to church," Kraus said.
Lightening struck the first Evansville Peace church building four years after it was built in 1831. Undeterred, the congregation rebuilt in 1835 on the same spot.
A school house, next door to the church, was also built in the early 1800s.
Kraus and Leona Gransee both attended school there. Krause said he walked to school, and after school, he went home and worked in the fields.
"The thing is, after we graduated, she went to high school, and I stayed home to work in the fields," Kraus said.
But they always saw each other in church.
Eventually, Orrie and Leona were married, and as time went on, the little school house closed. The church used it for children's Sunday school classes.
The Krauses lived on Leona's family farm, had three boys and two girls, and attended Evansville Peace church. One son even became a minister.
Just before Leona died in 1990, they celebrated their 50th anniversary.
"I think she held on just for that," he said softly.
The biggest change Kraus has seen in the church started about eight years ago, when there were "not enough people to meet expenses," he said.
"We got these students, a lot of them were ladies, from the (ministry) school to come and preach. But once they got ordained, they'd leave, and we'd get another one," he said.
There was a time when Kraus thought the congregation would "give up and split," he said. "Some would go to Evansville and some to Brooklyn and some to Albany."
But the congregation choose the Albany church for their new home and stayed together, after 175 years of building family memories.
Perhaps they stayed together just for those.