A love for plants and an eye for the Kansas prairie’s beauty were the spark and vision for a treasured Hesston landmark that is left as Evie Dyck’s ongoing legacy with the Dyck Arboretum of the Plains. Evie passed away April 7, at the age of 88.

The Dyck Arboretum was a wheat field on the edge of town when Evie and her husband, Harold, who passed away in 2007, donated its 31 acres to Hesston College in 1981. After being inspired by a trip to the Bartlett Arboretum near Belle Plaine, Kan., the Dycks wanted to create a place in Hesston where people of all ages could enjoy nature, find a peaceful place for reflection and encourage a greater understanding and appreciation of the prairie.

“They started the arboretum because of my mother’s great love of the Kansas prairie and the Great Plains and her spiritual connection to nature and God’s creation,” said Julia (Dyck) Roupp, one of Harold and Evie’s daughters, in a 2007 interview following Harold’s death.

Their vision has been recognized many times over for the thousands of people who visit the arboretum each year for educational events, entertainment or simple enjoyment of nature. Its location next to Schowalter Villa and a block south of the college makes it a convenient place to unify people across the age spectrum.

“Few communities the size of Hesston have a public garden,” said arboretum director Scott Vogt. “Evie had a love and appreciation for the Kansas landscape. The Dyck Arboretum is a tremendous gift to the community and has become a regional attraction. Her legacy is established in the arboretum and will linger as it continues to flourish.”

With many family and personal ties to Hesston College, as Evie and Harold planned to make an arboretum in the community a reality as a non-profit educational facility, gifting it to the college and operating with its business and logistical supervision made sense. “This broadened the scope from enjoyment to education and physical fitness,” Evie said in 1999.

“Evie and Harold’s gift of the arboretum to Hesston College has contributed to student learning in many ways, as well as being an educational and rejuvenating gift to the community,” said Hesston College President Howard Keim. “It has exceeded their dreams of 30 years ago and will always pay tribute to their legacy and the kindness and generosity with which they gave.”

On October 11, 1981, the first of what would become many trees at the arboretum was planted. Since then, the arboretum has matured into one of the largest native plant gardens in the region, featuring more than 1,000 varieties of native and adaptable vegetation. It has also expanded from 13 acres at its inception to include the remaining 18 acres and added a visitors’ center in 1999, a pavilion for events in 2011 and other features to assist in operations and aesthetics.

Evie’s connections and contributions to the college were many. She was a 1952 graduate of Hesston Academy – the private high school that was part of the college for many years – her son, Gary, was a graduate of both Hesston Academy and Hesston College, and two of eleven grandchildren, Kate (Dyck) Brownstone and Connor Dyck, are also Hesston College graduates. The daughter of Elmer (E.D.) and Amy (Erb) Hershberger, her grandfather, T.M. Erb, was Hesston College’s first business manager and several other relatives were longtime Hesston instructors. Evie served on the college board, and she and Harold enjoyed hosting students in their home. They were also members of Hesston Mennonite Church on the edge of the college campus.

In 1985, the Dycks established an endowment fund to help with the upkeep and growth of the arboretum so it can continue to be a gift to the community for years to come. The endowment is supported annually by about 600 patrons through membership.

“Evie’s wishes and vision live on in the plants, landscapes, buildings and educational programs,” said Vogt. “This garden gives visitors a sense of place. We hope visitors will leave this garden with a renewed appreciation of the cultural and natural history of the Great Plains.”

Evie was preceded in death by her husband Harold and is survived by four children and their spouses – Gary and Teresa Dyck (Frankston, Texas), Joycelyn Cooley (Newton, Kan.), Tom and Regina Dyck (Hesston) and Julia and Brad Roupp (Ashland, Ore.) – and 11 grandchildren.

She is also survived by thousands who, through the Dyck Arboretum of the Plains, have realized her vision, discovered the beauty of Kansas and love her garden.