For 26 years, the sound of Vira Hershberger’s knife slicing through heads of lettuce was a familiar and comforting rhythm in the dining hall kitchen of EMU (then known as Eastern Mennonite College). From 1970 to 1996, Hershberger dedicated herself each day to arranging the salad bar and greeting everyone she met with warmth and friendliness. Today, her legacy of humble service and love continues through a memorial endowment in her honor.

Former dining hall manager Marilyn Schlabach ’65, who worked alongside Hershberger for 15 years, recalls the indelible impact she had on everyone around her. “I don’t think I ever heard her complain,” Schlabach said. “She had a heart of service.” Schlabach, who was Hershberger’s supervisor from 1986 to 1994, remembers her as a model employee: self-motivated, warm and endlessly dedicated.

“I had the hardest time during my annual evaluations coming up with anything for her to improve on,” Schlabach said.

Hershberger arrived at work each morning, before she was scheduled, to get organized and prepared for the day. If she felt like she wasn’t finished at the end of her shift, she would clock out and keep working until she was satisfied. 

Her daughter, Joann Henderson MA ’07 (counseling), recalls her mother’s joy in her work. “She had a great deal of pride in her salad bar,” she said. “It was immaculate and always fresh.” 

Her son, Larry Hershberger, also noted the love she had for her job in dining services. “I don’t think she ever missed a day of work in those 26 years,” he said. 

Vira Hershberger’s dedication to service extended beyond her job at EMU. Even after retiring at 74, she continued to volunteer at Gift and Thrift and attend Park View Mennonite Church as an active member. Her children remember her constant activity and desire for productivity.

“She often told us she wished she could still be working,” Henderson said. “She loved working, and she loved working at EMU.”

“I don’t know how many times she said to me during those years, ‘Oh, Larry, I don’t know why I retired when I did,'” her son recalled.

In November 2022, she passed away at the age of 100, but her legacy lives on through the Vira Miller Hershberger Memorial Endowment to Support Food Service.

Established by Larry Hershberger and his three siblings on behalf of the family, the endowment honors her lifelong service by providing annual support for EMU dining services. It will help to fund the maintenance of dining facilities, replacement of kitchen equipment, staffing support and other essential needs.

“I love that we get to honor her and her work, as well as the work of all those people behind the scenes who often don’t get recognition,” Henderson said. 

“We believe it’s something mom would’ve wanted us to do,” Larry Hershberger added.

Kirk Shisler ’81, vice president for Advancement at EMU, highlighted the significance of the Hershberger family’s gift. “What’s special about this is that it illuminates the life and legacy of their beloved mother,” he said. “And, because it’s an endowment, it will have a sustained impact in supporting EMU food services, especially kitchen operations, for many years to come.”

A PhD in humility, love and service

She was born Vira Gladys Miller in Wellman, Iowa, in 1922 in a family of five brothers and two sisters. Growing up during the Great Depression, she left home at 17 to work as a housekeeper for the superintendent of Lancaster City Schools in Pennsylvania, supporting her family with her earnings. Despite having an eighth grade education, her intelligence and strong work ethic helped her excel at various roles, including as a clerk in the general store in Frytown, Iowa, where she met her husband Reaford Hershberger.

“She was always about serving others,” Henderson said. “If my mom had a PhD, it would be in humility, love and service.”

In 1969, Myron Augsburger, president of EMU at the time and a friend of the Hershbergers, offered Reaford Hershberger a job heading the buildings and grounds on campus. He accepted the offer, and the family moved to Harrisonburg, Virginia. Vira Hershberger was soon hired as a salad cook in the dining hall, where she worked until her retirement. 

At Vira Hershberger’s retirement ceremony in 1996, Schlabach reflected on the countless heads of lettuce she must have chopped over her 26 years of service — an estimated tens of thousands. But beyond the numbers, she is remembered for her unwavering humility, her deep faith and her genuine love for others.

“She was always smiling,” Larry Hershberger said. “Her disposition was always effervescent and happy. Even when she was not doing so well, she always had a positive outlook and never complained.”

Vira Hershberger found joy in life’s simple pleasures, from the beauty of nature to a cold glass of water on a hot day. “She taught us that the little things in life always have meaning,” Henderson said. “She was a quiet, humble woman of deep faith who exhibited love and service and, to me, is the epitome of Christ’s love.”

Learn more about endowments and grants at EMU here.

“We opened registration May 5 and by May 24, we only had 50 campers and we weren’t sure this was going to happen,” said Gustavus, administrative assistant to the state FCA director. “But God was at work.”

She gives this synopsis while also, in succession, handling a request for XL t-shirts, telling a camper how to work around a lost ID card, and fielding other questions from various staff and coaches coming in and out of camp headquarters in the ˛ÝÝŽÉçÇř commons. With no sign of flagging energy on the third day of the four-day camp, she also mentions doing a dorm check at 11:30 p.m. the night before.

“God at work” in this particular context means that by Sunday [June 27], 268 teenagers were travelling to EMU from Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. 

And Gustavus, camp director Todd Burger, 25 coaches, and 56 staffers were ready for action — and ready to shake the rust off after a year of interactions that were limited by COVID-19.

So were EMU’s director of auxiliary services, Cheryl Montgomery, and her staff, as well as Bruce Emmerson, director of dining services at Pioneer College Catering, and his staff in the university dining hall. 

Montgomery has actually been waiting for the FCA campers for close to two years. The organization booked EMU facilities for the first time in summer 2020 after having been based at University of Richmond for many years. Then COVID hit.

Even up until a few months ago, Montgomery was liaising with FCA and campus officials and paying close attention to government regulations to determine if events would be allowed and what limitations might be in effect.

The FCA camp is the first large group that EMU has hosted this summer.

The unusual sight of hundreds of teenagers — string bags on their backs and athletic gear in their hands, crossing Park Avenue, lined up on the turf field or clustered in small groups under any available shade tree — has drawn a lot of attention. (“Campus is hopping. What’s going on?” came the email from one curious EMU employee.)

It’s been a slow process, Montgomery says, working with planners through so many uncertainties. She estimates EMU will host only about 25 percent of their normal summer bookings.

“Still, we’re so glad to have people back on campus this summer. It’s been great getting to know FCA staff and volunteers,” she said. “Our groups usually return, we get to know them and they become like family. Every summer is a bit of a family reunion.”

Family is one theme of the FCA camp, too. Many coaches and staff bring their families, which means all-camp events includes all age ranges from babies on up, Gustavus said. 

But it’s also “our SuperBowl,” she said, the biggest event of the year in part because of its size but also for its potential impact on young people.

“In some ways, high school is the last opportunity to introduce them to Jesus,” Gustavus said, “and this age group is prime for the introduction. We get every kind of background under the sun and they all need Jesus.”

Coming to faith in Christ through sports is the natural hook for athletes, said Burger, who moved into his FCA work through involvement in baseball. (FCA also offers some sport-specific camps.)

At all-sports camps, campers work out in two practice sessions guided by college and high school coaches each day. Instruction in eight sports is offered. Campers also participate in huddles, or devotionals, with leaders who are college athletes. 

Kendrick Golhston, a former professional football player and director of Northern Roanoke Valley FCA, guides a daily devotional time “Doing Sports God’s Way,” built around 1 Timothy 6:11 and the camp theme of “Pursue.” 

“Sunday was pursuing love, yesterday was ‘pursue worship,’ today was ‘pursue unity,’ and tomorrow will be ‘pursue rest.’ God is in each one of those things,” Gohlson said. “We talk about being competitive and in pursuit. You can be competitive and still have the will to win but when you win what are you winning for? That’s the difference between those who have accepted Christ and those who haven’t.  When I’m winning, I’m bringing Him glory. I am not bringing it on myself but on Him.”

Each evening, everyone gathers for a program, which includes games, skits, music, testimonials, and a speaker. Burger said the highlight of the week, for him and many others, is the last evening program. “Thursday, our last day, we do a last chapel and the athletes and sometimes coaches give a testimonial about what happened at camp and it’s so powerful. Sometimes we hear about an athlete who their coach will say at the beginning may not be open and then they’ll get up and talk about what happened … that’s what we’re here for.”