Hinton woman makes sure children have toys
By Carole Johnston, Journal correspondent | Posted: Monday, September 22, 2008
Vivian Derochie sits in the doll room of her rural Hinton, Iowa, home. She is holding her favorite doll, a gift from her youngest daughter, Kathy Rohloff of Bennington, Neb. (Photo by Carole Johnston)
HINTON, Iowa -- If you open the door to the upstairs bedroom at the Derochie house, get ready for a shock in pink. Slowly, pair after pair of wide, baby eyes emerge through the soft, pale color.
Plump cheeks, dimples and grins of more than a hundred cherub faces fill the doll room. Some sit in high chairs, lie in cribs and cuddle on shelves and in corners. Others crowded in a closet wait for a turn in the cradle in the nursery.
Vivian Derochie has loved dolls since she was a small girl. She remembers choosing a doll from Alden's catalog at the age of 7 or 8.
"We didn't have much money then, and I was allowed to pick one toy. I remember waiting by the mailbox for the doll to come," says Derochie who lived on a farm at Hubbard, Neb., at that time. "It was a Bonnie Braids doll from the Dick Tracy cartoons."
Half a century later, she understands the longing of needy children for toys and is happy to do her part to fill it. That means Derochie keeps the Christmas spirit all year long. December passes and she just keeps shopping.
Rummage sales, second-hand stores, discount stores, friends and family provide dolls and toys that will light up the world of a child at the Sioux City Gospel Mission. The cleaning and mending sometimes required are minor when she considers the prospect of happy little faces at Christmas.
In mid-December, the mother of four grown children bags up about 200 toys and sets out for the mission on West Eighth Street in Sioux City. At the mission's Thrift Store, children of parents who regularly receive groceries receive a ticket good for one toy to take home.
Her granddaughter, Rebekah, and husband, Ron, help set up, collect tickets and bag the toys. The Hinton family assists children reaching for boats, fishing rods, stuffed animals, dishes, videos, jewelry and, of course, dolls.
Derochie then returns to gathering toys all over again. Month by month, the items in a downstairs bedroom mount and soon overflow the bed. Cherished dolls from the pink room often join the collection. Christmas trees in every room help keep the spirit of Christmas giving alive.
Her reason is clear. "As a child I did not have enough toys. I want kids to have toys," says Derochie, in her fourth year of collecting toys. "When I was 5 years old, my mother gave away my doll and buggy. I want kids to have toys."
The grandmother of 11 wants to pass on the spirit of giving to all her grandchildren. The "toy room," elaborately stocked with toys just for them, provides such an opportunity.
"Is it OK if we give this one away?" is a welcome question. But the toy lover is sure of one thing: "Only if it's their idea."
Derochie's compassion for the needy goes beyond giving. Two years ago she spent the worst night of her life in a cardboard box at the Lewis and Clark Park during the Siouxland Sleep Out. "It was below freezing and I was sick afterward, but it gave me a chance to learn how the homeless live."
For the native of Cherokee, Iowa, the giving extends even further into the community. As a lay chaplain at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center, she spends much time visiting the sick, especially those terminally ill or who have an emergency. On call, she responds to crises in the ICU, in the mental health area, even in the maternity ward. She often visits the ill in the community.
"I like to help people. Once I was afraid of death. I was at death's door -- that makes me want to help people more," says Derochie, who began taking clinical pastoral classes at St. Luke's four years ago.
As a chaplain, she enjoys helping others and especially praying with them. Derochie knows the power of prayer firsthand.
More than 20 years ago, she was diagnosed first with MS and later by another doctor with brain stem disease. She was facing certain death. Not willing to give up, she traveled to the Atkins Medical Center in New York. There she found she had a pancreas problem which was related to poor eating habits and was treatable.
"I asked for prayer. I feel that those prayers were answered. I told God I'd serve mim and do what he wanted."
Her illness lasted for three and a half years.
"I thought I was going to die. That gave me more compassion for the sick," says Derochie, who is the caretaker for her sister in an area nursing home.
Meanwhile, Derochie maintains her position as executive director of the Siouxland Christian College and Theological Seminary, founded in 1988 by the Rev. Walter and Loretta Neely. Classes for the 20 to 25 students enrolled in the college are held at Word of Life Ministries in Sioux City.
"People take classes for personal enrichment or degrees. The basis of the college is to go out and serve God. It is not a church. Our Bible college is for people who can't leave Sioux City because of jobs and family," explains the director who holds several degrees from the college.
It didn't start out that way. She began taking classes for personal enrichment, not for academic advancement. Three degrees later, the director is still taking classes.
Derochie first heard about the college from orthodontist Dr. E.F. Augspurger. She began to volunteer, working in the college's office and with graduations.
In 1992, she was asked to be the executive director of the college, operating under the umbrella of Kingsway Christian College and Theological Seminary in Norwalk, Iowa. When considering the offer, she remembered that Moses also felt unqualified to serve. She accepted the position, and in her words, "The Lord has kept it going."
She is quick to acknowledge the constant support her husband has given through the years. "It is only because of the goodness and greatness of my husband that I am able to do volunteer work."
"Vivian is an all around volunteer," says the Rev. Jim Scallions, former president of the nondenominational Bible college and former director of the Sioux City Gospel Mission.
"I just want to do God's will, to serve him is my life's goal," Derochie says.
VITA
Name: Vivian Derochie
Family: Husband, Ron; children, Kellie of Kansas City, Kerry of Hinton, Korey of Sioux City and Kathy of Omaha; and 11 grandchildren
Hometown: Hinton, Iowa
Education: Graduate of Central High School, Sioux City; attended various Bible colleges; bachelor's, master's and doctorate from Siouxland Christian College and Theological Seminary
Profession: Executive director of Siouxland Christian College and Theological Seminary and lay chaplain
How Making a Difference: As a volunteer, she supplies toys for needy children and works to meet educational and spiritual needs of Siouxlanders.
Plump cheeks, dimples and grins of more than a hundred cherub faces fill the doll room. Some sit in high chairs, lie in cribs and cuddle on shelves and in corners. Others crowded in a closet wait for a turn in the cradle in the nursery.
Vivian Derochie has loved dolls since she was a small girl. She remembers choosing a doll from Alden's catalog at the age of 7 or 8.
"We didn't have much money then, and I was allowed to pick one toy. I remember waiting by the mailbox for the doll to come," says Derochie who lived on a farm at Hubbard, Neb., at that time. "It was a Bonnie Braids doll from the Dick Tracy cartoons."
Half a century later, she understands the longing of needy children for toys and is happy to do her part to fill it. That means Derochie keeps the Christmas spirit all year long. December passes and she just keeps shopping.
Rummage sales, second-hand stores, discount stores, friends and family provide dolls and toys that will light up the world of a child at the Sioux City Gospel Mission. The cleaning and mending sometimes required are minor when she considers the prospect of happy little faces at Christmas.
In mid-December, the mother of four grown children bags up about 200 toys and sets out for the mission on West Eighth Street in Sioux City. At the mission's Thrift Store, children of parents who regularly receive groceries receive a ticket good for one toy to take home.
Her granddaughter, Rebekah, and husband, Ron, help set up, collect tickets and bag the toys. The Hinton family assists children reaching for boats, fishing rods, stuffed animals, dishes, videos, jewelry and, of course, dolls.
Derochie then returns to gathering toys all over again. Month by month, the items in a downstairs bedroom mount and soon overflow the bed. Cherished dolls from the pink room often join the collection. Christmas trees in every room help keep the spirit of Christmas giving alive.
Her reason is clear. "As a child I did not have enough toys. I want kids to have toys," says Derochie, in her fourth year of collecting toys. "When I was 5 years old, my mother gave away my doll and buggy. I want kids to have toys."
The grandmother of 11 wants to pass on the spirit of giving to all her grandchildren. The "toy room," elaborately stocked with toys just for them, provides such an opportunity.
"Is it OK if we give this one away?" is a welcome question. But the toy lover is sure of one thing: "Only if it's their idea."
Derochie's compassion for the needy goes beyond giving. Two years ago she spent the worst night of her life in a cardboard box at the Lewis and Clark Park during the Siouxland Sleep Out. "It was below freezing and I was sick afterward, but it gave me a chance to learn how the homeless live."
For the native of Cherokee, Iowa, the giving extends even further into the community. As a lay chaplain at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center, she spends much time visiting the sick, especially those terminally ill or who have an emergency. On call, she responds to crises in the ICU, in the mental health area, even in the maternity ward. She often visits the ill in the community.
"I like to help people. Once I was afraid of death. I was at death's door -- that makes me want to help people more," says Derochie, who began taking clinical pastoral classes at St. Luke's four years ago.
As a chaplain, she enjoys helping others and especially praying with them. Derochie knows the power of prayer firsthand.
More than 20 years ago, she was diagnosed first with MS and later by another doctor with brain stem disease. She was facing certain death. Not willing to give up, she traveled to the Atkins Medical Center in New York. There she found she had a pancreas problem which was related to poor eating habits and was treatable.
"I asked for prayer. I feel that those prayers were answered. I told God I'd serve mim and do what he wanted."
Her illness lasted for three and a half years.
"I thought I was going to die. That gave me more compassion for the sick," says Derochie, who is the caretaker for her sister in an area nursing home.
Meanwhile, Derochie maintains her position as executive director of the Siouxland Christian College and Theological Seminary, founded in 1988 by the Rev. Walter and Loretta Neely. Classes for the 20 to 25 students enrolled in the college are held at Word of Life Ministries in Sioux City.
"People take classes for personal enrichment or degrees. The basis of the college is to go out and serve God. It is not a church. Our Bible college is for people who can't leave Sioux City because of jobs and family," explains the director who holds several degrees from the college.
It didn't start out that way. She began taking classes for personal enrichment, not for academic advancement. Three degrees later, the director is still taking classes.
Derochie first heard about the college from orthodontist Dr. E.F. Augspurger. She began to volunteer, working in the college's office and with graduations.
In 1992, she was asked to be the executive director of the college, operating under the umbrella of Kingsway Christian College and Theological Seminary in Norwalk, Iowa. When considering the offer, she remembered that Moses also felt unqualified to serve. She accepted the position, and in her words, "The Lord has kept it going."
She is quick to acknowledge the constant support her husband has given through the years. "It is only because of the goodness and greatness of my husband that I am able to do volunteer work."
"Vivian is an all around volunteer," says the Rev. Jim Scallions, former president of the nondenominational Bible college and former director of the Sioux City Gospel Mission.
"I just want to do God's will, to serve him is my life's goal," Derochie says.
VITA
Name: Vivian Derochie
Family: Husband, Ron; children, Kellie of Kansas City, Kerry of Hinton, Korey of Sioux City and Kathy of Omaha; and 11 grandchildren
Hometown: Hinton, Iowa
Education: Graduate of Central High School, Sioux City; attended various Bible colleges; bachelor's, master's and doctorate from Siouxland Christian College and Theological Seminary
Profession: Executive director of Siouxland Christian College and Theological Seminary and lay chaplain
How Making a Difference: As a volunteer, she supplies toys for needy children and works to meet educational and spiritual needs of Siouxlanders.
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