
Emílio Keppke
Photo courtesy of Brazilian White Center - UNASP.
Keppke, Emílio (1894–1983)
By The Brazilian White Center – UNASP
The Brazilian White Center – UNASP is a team of teachers and students at the Brazilian Ellen G. White Research Center – UNASP at the Brazilian Adventist University, Campus Engenheiro, Coelho, SP. The team was supervised by Drs. Adolfo Semo Suárez, Renato Stencel, and Carlos Flávio Teixeira. Bruno Sales Gomes Ferreira provided technical support. The following names are of team members: Adriane Ferrari Silva, Álan Gracioto Alexandre, Allen Jair Urcia Santa Cruz, Camila Chede Amaral Lucena, Camilla Rodrigues Seixas, Daniel Fernandes Teodoro, Danillo Alfredo Rios Junior, Danilo Fauster de Souza, Débora Arana Mayer, Elvis Eli Martins Filho, Felipe Cardoso do Nascimento, Fernanda Nascimento Oliveira, Gabriel Pilon Galvani, Giovana de Castro Vaz, Guilherme Cardoso Ricardo Martins, Gustavo Costa Vieira Novaes, Ingrid Sthéfane Santos Andrade, Isabela Pimenta Gravina, Ivo Ribeiro de Carvalho, Jhoseyr Davison Voos dos Santos, João Lucas Moraes Pereira, Kalline Meira Rocha Santos, Larissa Menegazzo Nunes, Letícia Miola Figueiredo, Luan Alves Cota Mól, Lucas Almeida dos Santos, Lucas Arteaga Aquino, Lucas Dias de Melo, Matheus Brabo Peres, Mayla Magaieski Graepp, Milena Guimarães Silva, Natália Padilha Corrêa, Rafaela Lima Gouvêa, Rogel Maio Nogueira Tavares Filho, Ryan Matheus do Ouro Medeiros, Samara Souza Santos, Sergio Henrique Micael Santos, Suelen Alves de Almeida, Talita Paim Veloso de Castro, Thais Cristina Benedetti, Thaís Caroline de Almeida Lima, Vanessa Stehling Belgd, Victor Alves Pereira, Vinicios Fernandes Alencar, Vinícius Pereira Nascimento, Vitória Regina Boita da Silva, William Edward Timm, Julio Cesar Ribeiro, Ellen Deó Bortolotte, Maria Júlia dos Santos Galvani, Giovana Souto Pereira, Victor Hugo Vaz Storch, and Dinely Luana Pereira.
First Published: January 29, 2020
Emílio Keppke was a secretary and professor who served in Brazil for many years.
Early Years, Education, and Marriage
Emílio Keppke was born May 13, 1894 in Essen, Germany. Born into an Adventist family, he studied at a Jewish school, in order to avoid problems keeping the Sabbath. In 1913, with the intention to run away from the First World War, he immigrated to Brazil. He settled down in the city of Serra Pelada, in the state of Espírito Santo.1
In 1920 he began his studies at Brazil College (now Centro Universitário Adventista de São Paulo), where he studied until 1925. There he met Martha Kapteinat, whom he married in 1926.2 He served as secretary of the Publications department in the state of Pernambuco2, and in May 1926, he left Pernambuco to work in Juiz de Fora, state of Minas Gerais, as publications secretary at the Minas Mission.3 On December 26, 1927, his son Erwin Walter was born. Martha died just three months after the birth. In 1929, Emilio and Erwin moved to the city of Curitiba, state of Paraná. There, he served as a canvassing assistant and met Hanna Lindquist (1901-1957). They married May 6, 1930 and one year later, their son Edward Merlin was born.4
Career
In 1933 Emílio was called to work as a teacher at Campos dos Quevedos Adventist School, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. On January 17, 1935, in Campos dos Quevedos, Hanna Keppke gave birth to Nilse Ingred Keppke. In December 1935, a teacher exchange was voted. Emilio Keppke went to the city of Ijuí to replace Willy Wiedenhoeft, who would go to Campo dos Quevedos.5 Emilio Keppke worked in Ijuí state of Rio Grande do Sul in 1936 and 1937. In 1937 Koppke was called to work in the city of Campo Grande, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, as a secretary and treasurer, and to lead the Sabbath School department of the Mato Grosso Mission.6 From 1939, he worked at the Brazilian Publishing House, then located in the city of Santo Andre, in the state of Sao Paulo.7 He retired in 1959,8 yet continued working at the Brazilian Publishing House until 1963.9
Later Years and Legacy
Emilio was a loyal member of the German Church in Sao Paulo. After being widowed a second time, he married Elin J. Hermnansonn, who died May 10, 1978.10 Emilio Keppke died July 8, 1983, at the age of 89,11 in the city of Sao Paulo. He was buried in the same city, at the Flamboyat Cemetery.12
Emilio Keppke left an important legacy of service to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Brazil, serving it for almost 40 years in such areas as secretary of the Publishing department in the states of Pernambuco,13 Minas Gerais,14 and Parana,15 teacher in Rio Grande do Sul, 16 secretary, treasurer, and leading the Sabbath School Department in the state of Mato Grosso,17 and working at the Brazilian Publishing House, serving even after retiring.18
Sources
“Elin J. H Keppke” Revista Adventista, year 73, n. 09, September 1978.
Emilio Keppke, “Noticias de Minas Gerais” Revista Adventista, vol 21, n. 09, September 1926.
“Emilio Keppke,” Revista Adventista, year 78, n. 09, September 1983.
“Notas Mineiras” Revista Adventista, vol 21, n. 07, July 1926.
Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.
Timm, Alberto. Igreja Adventista de Campo dos Quevedos 1905-2005. 1ª edition, Engenheiro Coelho, SP: UNASPRESS, 2005.
Notes
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Alberto R. Timm, Seventh-day Adventist Church of Campo dos Quevedos 1905-2005 (Engenheiro Coelho, SP: UNASPRESS, 2005),71.↩
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Keppke, Emilio. “Noticias de Minas Gerais” Revista Adventista, vol 21, n. 09, September 1926, 15.↩
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“Notas Mineiras” Revista Adventista, vol 21, n. 07, July 1926, 11.↩
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Alberto Timm, Seventh-day Adventist Church of Campos dos Quevedos 1905-2005 (Engenheiro Coelho, SP: UNASPRESS, 2005), 72.↩
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Alberto R. Timm, Seventh-day Adventist Church of Campos dos Quevedos 1905-2005 (Engenheiro Coelho, SP: UNASPRESS, 2005), 72-73.↩
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“Matto Grosso Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Church Yearbook (Washington, D. C.: Review and Herlad Publishing Association, 1938), 184.↩
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Alberto R. Timm, Seventh-day Adventist Church of Campos dos Quevedos 1905-2005 (Engenheiro Coelho, SP: UNASPRESS, 2005), 73.↩
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“South Brazil Union Conference”, Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1960), 166.↩
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Alberto R. Timm, Seventh-day Adventist Church of Campos dos Quevedos 1905-2005 (Engenheiro Coelho, SP: UNASPRESS, 2005), 73.↩
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“Elin J. h. Keppke” Revista Adventista, year 73, n.09, September 1978, 29.↩
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“Emilio Keppke”, Revista Adventista, year 78, n.09, September 1983, 36.↩
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Alberto R. Timm, Seventh-day Adventist Church of Campos dos Quevedos 1905-2005 (Engenheiro Coelho, SP: UNASPRESS, 2005), 73.↩
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“Pernambuco Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1925), 160.↩
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“Minas Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1928), 196.↩
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“Santa Catharina-Parana Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1929), 210.↩
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“Rio Grande do Sul Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1935), 176.↩
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“Matto Grosso Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1938), 184.↩
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Alberto R. Timm, Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook of Campo dos Quevedos 1905-2005 (Engenheiro Coelho, SP, UNASPRESS, 2005), 73.↩