Dale V. Aikens (1) was born May 26, 1908, in Kittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, the son of Bartley V. and Ivy Aikens. He attended school there and at Vandergrift, Pennsylvania. He completed the ministerial course of study at Perkins School of Theology in 1959. He was married to Avanell (2) Kathryn Schaeffer (1914-2001) on January 13, 1934; their four children are Eleanor (Aikens) Langton, Kathryn (Aikens) Anderson, Dale V. Aikens, Jr., and Charles C. Aikens. Rev. Aikens was granted a local preacher's license in 1956; the following year, he became a full-time supply pastor of the Kansas Conferences of the Methodist Church. He was ordained deacon June 15, 1958, and to elder's orders on June 12, 1960. He served the charges Alma-McFarland-Paxico (1956-1957), Wilsey-Delavan (1958-1968), and Hamilton-Virgil (1969). He went on disability leave in 1970 and died on November 13 of that year, at age 62, in Boise, Idaho. He is buried at Wilsey Cemetery, Wilsey, Morris County, Kansas. 1 In the Memoirs for the Kansas East Conference (1971), Rev. Aikens' middle name, and that of his son, is listed as "Vincin." In the birth records quoted on findagrave.com, it is listed as "Vincent." 2 Rev. Aikens' wife Avanell is listed as "Aranell" in the conference memoir.

Note written by Sarah St. John