Joseph Maché – Chair of the Board
Dorothy Maché – Art Department Chair, 1967 – 75
The HKIS community owes a debt of gratitude to Joseph Maché, who was one of the three co-founders of HKIS, and to his wife Dorothy (Dottie), who was the Art Department Chairman at HKIS from 1967 to 1975.
A “Cliff Notes” history of HKIS rests on these individuals: Americans Joe and Dottie Mache moved to Hong Kong from Japan about 1960 with their four school-age children. They met weekly in Kowloon with Missouri Synod Lutheran missionaries for English services on Sunday afternoons. Living beyond Repulse Bay, the Mache family agitated for English services on Hong Kong Island. Rev. Len Galster, then 32, was assigned to explore possibilities. After a 400-family survey and receiving the free use of the reading room at the historic Repulse Bay Hotel, services began March 4, 1962. Maches became an integral part of the leadership, teaching Sunday School, and doing whatever was needed. Ruth Galster provided music. The expatriate group grew on the model of Lutheran congregations while individuals incorporated their own denominational traditions.
The desire for a church building soon emerged. In 1963, HK government informed Repulse Bay Lutheran Church that land would not be provided for a church, but that a school containing a church was permissible. Galster coordinated the school committee. He enlisted Chinese-American Bill Wong to provide complete plans for a 7-story K-12 school; Mel Kieslchnick of the Missouri Mission networked with the HK Education and Lands Departments; HKU Professor C.S.Hung dealt with local procedures and language. In the complex negotiations with the Hong Kong Government and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Joseph and Dottie were instrumental in enlisting the influential support of the American business community in Hong Kong. Joseph then served as Chairman of the fledgling school’s Board of Managers.
By 1965, approval for financing the project was given at the Synod’s Detroit Convention. Construction began within days. Bob Christian was called to be founding Headmaster in 1966. He opened the Provisional school for 1966-67 in a converted apartment building on Chung Hom Kok. The first senior class from the new building graduated in 1968, with ceremonies in the long-anticipated Church of All Nations chapel.
Historian David Kohl, a High School art teacher at HKIS from 1973 to 1980 and the editor of the 2007 Dragon Taels book about “the golden age” of HKIS, described Joseph as “an efficient, no-nonsense businessman, using his acumen to make things happen efficiently during the year of construction, which coincided with much political unrest locally.”
About Dottie, he commented, “She was very user-friendly to the kids, but ran a tight ship. Alumni will share their first impression of her with the word ‘FREEZE!,’ which was her loud command if the dismissal bell sounded before clean-up was completed to her satisfaction. She promoted art throughout the school, helped start the first fine arts days, supervised set construction for elementary stage productions, and was a fierce advocate for ‘our’ school. She was a very determined woman.”
When the couple retired, they moved to Fredonia, NY, and became grape farmers. Joseph passed away in 2002 and Dottie passed away in 2014.