ADN Honors Disabilities Pioneer

Dean Preheim-Bartel, a forerunner in disability ministry, died on February 5, 2026, in Goshen, Indiana at the age of 78. Dean was a leader of disability and mental health ministry for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Mennonite Mutual Aid (MMA). He was the co-author along with Aldred H. Neufeldt of Supportive Care in the Congregation (available through Brethren Press), which offers an Anabaptist model of community care for people with disabilities.

Dean’s pioneering work laid the foundation for Anabaptist Disabilities Network (ADN). In 2002 Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite Mutual Aid shed responsibility for the last of their disability programs, and this advocacy work no longer had an organizational home. This led to the formation of ADN by a group of parents, individuals with disabilities, and friends the following year.

Paul Leichty, a founding member and former executive staff of ADN, shared the following:

Dean was always gentle and thoughtful. He could relate easily to families and persons with disabilities along with his professional colleagues. His work behind the scenes enabled many good things to happen from the MCC Developmental Disabilities Council to the programs at MMA to the coordination of Mennonite Health Assembly. Dean’s passing after many years of living with Parkinson’s is a reminder that we are all indebted to those who came before us, who through their abilities and disabilities, encouraged us to move forward with this work. 

ADN Executive Director Jeanne Davies shared, “We are grateful for the legacy of Dean Preheim-Bartel’s work and hope to honor it as we continue to serve people with disabilities and the church.”

You can read his obituary here. A Memorial Service will be held at Eighth Street Mennonite Church in Goshen, IN on Saturday, March 7 at 11 am.