The late Fred Liechty played three sports at Bluffton after graduating from Berne High School. At Bluffton, he lettered twice in football and four times each in basketball and baseball.
He was the leading hitter all four years and posted a high batting average (.577 in 1948). His other extracurricular activities included Student Christian Association, Men’s Glee Club, chairman of May Day in 1949 and Most Popular Man in 1950.
Most of Liechty’s career has been at First Bank of Berne, where he served 16 years as cashier, 23 years as a director and 12 years as president. He retired as president in 1993.
He was active on the Adams Country Migrant Committee, First Mennonite Refugee Resettlement Committee, taught Sunday School for 41 years, is past president of the Mennonite Choral Society and was a board member for Mennonite Biblical Seminary for 17 years.
Liechty credits Bluffton with helping him grow and mature. He said he was impressed with the friendly attitude of everyone at Bluffton. He also noted that his exposure to Mennonite thinking in regard to service and peace issues changed his position on the military draft. “Bluffton became my family for four years and gave me values that have shaped my life and that of my family,” Liechty said.
Liechty died in 2012.
