To the Last, Devotion to Schweitzer

Kurt Bergel and I were scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon at Chapman University’s Albert Schweitzer Institute, where he was co-director and his wife, Alice, its most dedicated worker. The university recently had named a room at the institute after the couple and I wanted to learn more about them.

Alice Bergel was suffering from cancer and extremely ill. After learning that, I asked her husband if perhaps we shouldn’t reschedule our interview for another time. No, no, he said. He wanted to cooperate. He looked forward to a chance to discuss his wife’s work--their work together.

Just 20 minutes before our scheduled interview, Alice Bergel died at their home in Orange. She was 86.

It was the Bergels who helped spur Chapman’s interest in Schweitzer, the great theologian and writer who has become its patron saint.

Besides the institute, which houses much Schweitzer memorabilia, there’s a large bust of Schweitzer at the entrance to the Argyros Forum, there’s the Schweitzer Mall on campus, and the shaded Schweitzer “corners” where students study.

Barbara Mulch, a vice provost at Chapman, says it was the Bergels’ “gentle steering” that led to the university’s interest in Schweitzer. Each new president would get pressure from the Bergels, both scholars on Schweitzer, to make his philosophy a part of the campus.

“Alice Bergel was a very quiet person, yet very strong and determined in representing Schweitzer, in bringing us at this university that part of our humanity,” Mulch said.

In Kurt Bergel’s official campus biography, he credits his wife with “fueling his quest to study the life’s work of Schweitzer.” She had taught Schweitzer to her students at the University of Berlin. Kurt Bergel himself had the chance once to hear Schweitzer lecture and play the organ.

The Bergels, like many other Jews, had fled Nazi Germany in 1938 as Hitler intensified his terror. After two years in England, they made their way to the United States. During the 1940s, they helped raise money here for Schweitzer’s hospital in Africa. And in 1949, the Bergels met Schweitzer for the first time at his home in France. That meeting began a friendship that lasted until Schweitzer’s death in 1965.

The Bergels spent much of their lives after that collaborating together on translations of Schweitzer’s works, his correspondence, or books about him. Marvin Meyer, co-director of the Schweitzer Institute, points to their recent translation of Schweitzer’s early memoirs as a great treasure for scholars because it had long been out of print.

Academically in the U.S., Kurt Bergel taught first at UCLA, joining the Chapman campus in 1949, teaching German and history. He taught full-time until 1980, when he became professor emeritus and began the Schweitzer Institute with his wife. The institute is responsible for preserving Schweitzer’s name, providing course work and bringing speakers to campus.

Alice Bergel began teaching at East Los Angeles College in 1950 and retired from there in 1976, when she joined the Chapman faculty. She taught there for 18 years, specializing in courses in philosophy and a course on Albert Schweitzer. Her association with Chapman had begun in the 1960s, when she organized summer workshops for teachers.

Chapman President James Doti said of Alice Bergel, in a message to faculty and staff Friday, that he fondly remembered seeing her working late at night, either on a translation or setting up a display at the institute: “I just marveled at how effective Alice was as a quiet leader, carrying out the legacy of Albert Schweitzer.”

Meyer told me of two recent meetings he had with Alice Bergel. One was a taped interview for the university with both Bergels, in which they discussed their association with Schweitzer and the importance of his work. The other occasion was at Alice Bergel’s bedside. She was too ill to get up and spoke weakly. But she and Meyer talked about their love of Schweitzer, and what he meant to their lives.

“It was a most moving moment for me, one I’ll never forget,” Meyer said. “It was Schweitzer’s reverence for life--and for all living things--that influenced Alice’s philosophy about her own life.”

Regal Time: Western Medical Center-Santa Ana has come up with a new award to honor top volunteers, which it calls the Regal Award. It’s in honor of Marjorie Deneke of Santa Ana, who will be among the volunteers recognized at a special ceremony at the hospital today by its auxiliary.

Minta Jack, director of volunteers, said, “We feel the word describes her because of her regal demeanor and character. She is a classy lady.”

Deneke is 94 and still hard at work. Sometime this year she will hit the 15,000-hour mark for volunteer work at Western Medical. Deneke is the editor of the auxiliary publication called Pacemaker, and still writes a column for it called “What’s Up.”

Seeing Both Sides: Janet Evans Emery of Anaheim wrote me one of the most thoughtful letters I’ve ever received as a columnist. The subject was the 25th anniversary this week of Roe vs. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that made abortions legal. Evans is a registered nurse who supports the decision because she says it has put an end to “back-alley abortionists.” If it’s overturned, she writes, “we will see countless thousands of women die or have their child-bearing ability taken away from them permanently.”

But as a nurse, Emery has seen the other side: “During the course of my work I often see young women with unplanned pregnancies. I urge them to take time before making a decision which is so serious. I know that over 90% of them will choose termination . . . that many of them will look back on that decision as a path which may affect their life forever and may be a regretful one.”

Wrap-Up: A memorial service for Alice Bergel will be at 2 p.m. Feb. 7 at Chapman University’s Waltmar Theatre.

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or by fax to (714) 966-7711, or e-mail tojerry.hicks@latimes.com