KIHEI - Two people who spend half of their time on Maui and give some of it to the Kihei Baptist Chapel were honored at the chapel on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary.
Richard and Alice (Bergstrom) Adee of Bruce, S.D., first came to Maui for a week in 1980. Drawn by the warm weather and people, they have returned every year except two, staying longer each time. They purchased a Kihei condo six years ago. They winter here, although he makes several Mainland trips to tend their businesses.
They attend Kihei Baptist Chapel, a place where "the true word of God is preached and you can feel the presence of God's love," she said.
Article Photos
Alice and Richard Adee
"In smaller congregations, everyone is needed to help," Alice Adee said, explaining why they are involved. She has been a volunteer playground monitor for the preschool, and they both help send special mailings, and decorate for Christmas and other special events.
A new church building is expected to be completed this year, and when plans were being made, then-Pastor Glenn Armstrong asked Alice Adee to help because of her interior-decorating background. She worked with church member Cathy Mickelson to select stained-glass windows, chapel furniture, carpet, tile and paint.
On May 31, the Adees were honored with cake and ice-cream punch after worship.
They returned home at the end of winter, and golden-anniversary celebrations followed at an Adee family reunion in Custer in July and a Bergstrom family reunion in Brookings this month.
The couple married May 31, 1959, at the Mission Covenant Church in Brandford, Kan.
They own Adee Honey Farms in Bruce, a honey, colony-replacement and pollination company with operations in the upper Midwest, West Coast, Texas, Mississippi and New England. They also own apartments in Brookings that Alice Adee manages.
They have two sons and a daughter, all of whom are involved in the business. Some of their 10 grandchildren are old enough to join the family business.
