Ruth Brunk Stoltzfus and Ella May Miller, both of Harrisonburg, received plaques and letters of commendation during the annual “church leader appreciation banquet” held in Martin Chapel as part of the annual at Eastern Mennonite Seminary. Ervin Stutzman, seminary dean and Phil N. Helmuth, executive director of development and church relations, made the presentations.

The ceremony featured a narrative of the development and growth of the “Heart to Heart” radio program, incorporating archival photos and sound clips. Presenters were Melodie Miller Davis, writer-producer with Mennonite Media, and Paul M. Schrock, retired Herald Press book editor who was editor of “Alive,” a publication of Mennonite Broadcasts, forerunner of Mennonite Media.

Ruth “was probably the first Mennonite woman on the airwaves with a regular program. This was truly amazing, considering what society was like in the 1950s for women, technology and the Mennonite Church,” Davis said.

The idea for the program germinated while the Stoltzfus family was living in Scottdale, Pa. Ruth Stoltzfus discussed the idea of a radio program for women with her husband, the late Grant M. Stoltzfus. They contacted a nearby station, WCVI in Connellsville, and were first told that “there’s no available time.”

But, when the station manager heard the idea, he offered Ruth a six-month contract, beginning that same week.

Heart to Heart

The program needed a name, immediately. Grant asked Ruth what she hoped to do on the broadcast, and Ruth said, “I want to share ideas, tell stories, read poetry and just talk heart to heart.”

“There’s your name – Heart to Heart,” Grant responded. On the air, she referred to herself as “Your Friend Ruth.”

The program began in June 1950, one year before the official launch of what became “The Mennonite Hour” radio program in early 1951. Heart to Heart came under the supervision of Mennonite Broadcasts, Inc., in Harrisonburg in 1956.

After leaving the broadcast, Ruth Stoltzfus continued in church ministry, pastoring Mennonite congregations in Toledo and Pandora, Ohio and Richmond, Va. She was the first woman to be ordained in Virginia Mennonite Conference in 1989 at the age of 74 and received the “distinguished service award” from EMU that same year.

Ella May Miller became “Heart to Heart” speaker in 1958 and served in that role until 1976. During this time, she wrote eight books, started Heart to Heart fellowship groups and went on numerous speaking assignments.

Although Ella May said she “had no experience in radio work, other than preparing and broadcasting a weekly Sunday school lesson WEMC-FM,” she said that “the reason the Lord used Heart to Heart so successfully was I focused on a target audience – just one woman. It made it more personable.”

John L. Horst, Jr., retired EMU physics professor and a cappella music specialist, led attendees in singing verses of the Heart to Heart theme song, “Love at Home,” to open and close the tribute.

Master of ceremonies Jim Bishop interviewed both women during the program and also interacted with Richard Weaver of Harrisonburg, who was recording engineer. The broadcasts were produced for many years in a converted chicken house on S. College Ave. in Park View.

The studio “had the best technical quality available at that time,” Weaver said. “Persons in the recording field came from as far away as Nashville and New York City to see this setup.”

‘Ministering to Each Other’

Weaver said that he “treasured the opportunity” to work with both women, not only because they were capable speakers who generated considerable audience response and requests for prayer and literature, but also because “we often wound up ministering to each other.” Weaver was recording engineer for Mennonite Broadcasts, Inc. for 25 years.

At its height, Heart to Heart was carried on 261 stations in the U.S. and Canada in 15-minute weekly and 5-minute daily versions, including Harrisonburg radio station WSVA.

The women were joined on the platform by two of their children, Kathy Stoltzfus Fairfield of Bridgewater, Va., and Ernest Miller of Minneapolis, Minn. They reflected on their mothers’ radio ministry and noted ways that they lifted stories out of their respective family situations but “used different names” in the examples.

Miller admitted, however, that as teens they coped because “we (kids) rarely listened” to their mother’s programs.

Ella May felt it was time to leave the program in 1976 and did transitional programs with a new speaker and a new program, “Your Time,” with Margaret Foth as speaker. Foth continued this program, while broadening the issues base, for another 10 years.

“These two ordinary but extraordinary Mennonite women used their natural abilities, gifts and passions to serve God and the church in some pretty creative and risky ways,” Davis said to close the tribute. “Both felt it was a privilege to have been part of this media work for the church, and those of us who still work in this arena still consider it a great privilege.

“People are still being challenged and changed. People are still encouraged, like Ruth and Ella May expressed, to experience the Jesus way of forgiving love.”

Daniel B. Suter, professor emeritus of and developer of the at 草莓社区, died Dec. 24, 2006, at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community where he was a resident. He was 86.

Dr. Suter joined the science department at EMU in 1948 and eventually became head of the biology department and pre-med advisor. He retired in 1985.

, completed in 1967, was named after Suter “in recognition of his leadership in the development of the school’s science/pre-medical program and his influence among students during his teaching years.”

Doctor of the Year

During his tenure, EMU students had an acceptance rate of more than 85 percent into medical, dental and veterinary schools, well above the national average of 40-50 percent. He was named “Doctor of the Year” in 1985 by the Mennonite Medical Association and the Mennonite Nurses’ Association.

The board of trustees of EMU established the Dr. Daniel B. Suter Endowed Biology Chair on Sept. 19, 1986 in honor of his distinguished teaching career and “contributions to academic excellence and the highest standards of personal and spiritual maturity in the .”

Dr. Roman J. Miller, who joined the EMU faculty in 1985, was named first appointee to the Suter Chair.

“When I arrived at EMU as an associate professor of biology, Dr. Suter was gracious and helpful as I began teaching some courses that he had taught and assumed premedical advising responsibilities in a program that he had largely developed,” Dr. Miller said. “Through his excellence in teaching and carefulness in advising students, Dr. Suter created a legacy of influential premedical training.”

Dr. Daniel B. Suter and wife Grace at Daniel’s 80th birthday party, April 2000, in the Suter Science Center.

Servant of the Church

Suter was ordained a minister in Virginia Mennonite Conference in 1951 and served as pastor of Gospel Hill Mennonite Church and later Weavers Mennonite Church in Rockingham County. He also served the broader church as a visiting minister and teacher. He spoke in many settings on the harmful effects of alcohol use and abuse on the body and on “the biology of aging.”

He served as secretary of Virginia Mennonite Board of Missions and as a board member of both Mennonite Broadcasts, Inc. (now Mennonite Media) and VMRC.

Suter was a skilled woodworker and strong advocate of church music, promoting singing from the “Harmonia Sacra,” a songbook edited and first published by Joseph Funk of Singers Glen, Va., in 1832.

Suter was a graduate of Eastern Mennonite High School, Eastern Mennonite College, Bridgewater College, Vanderbilt University and the Medical College of Virginia, where he received a Ph.D. in neuroanatomy in 1963.

Divine Placement

EMU President Loren Swartzendruber noted that Suter was offered a faculty position at UVa. at three times the salary that EMU had paid him. Suter felt compelled to return to EMU because “I believed that’s where the Lord wanted me to be.”

Asked if he had any regrets, his response was “No, not really, although it was difficult at times. I’m grateful when I think about the more than 300 physicians, dentists, and other health care workers who are serving all over the world that I helped to train.”

He married the former Grace Fisher on June 23, 1941, who preceded him in death on Dec. 8, 2003. He is survived by two daughters, two sons, one sister, six grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service was held Dec. 29, 2006 at Strite Auditorium of VMRC, with internment at Weavers Mennonite Church cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Daniel B. Suter Endowed Chair at EMU, 1200 Park Rd., Harrisonburg, VA 22802 or online at or by phoning (800) 368-3383.

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Myron Blosser

Myron E. Blosser

Myron E. Blosser, a 1983 EMU graduate and veteran educator from Harrisonburg, received EMU’s 2005 "alumnus of the year" award during the Sunday, Oct. 16, worship service of homecoming and family weekend.

The award is presented annually to a graduate who has been recognized for significant recent achievements in their profession, community or church. Melodie M. Davis, a 1975 EMU graduate who has a 30-year tenure as a writer/producer with Mennonite Media in Harrisonburg, received the "distinguished service award," also during the homecoming service.

The annual "distinguished service" award seeks to recognize graduates who have demonstrated in notable ways the Christian service and peacemaking emphases of the university.

Following graduation, Blosser taught at Strasburg (VA) High School for three years before taking a position teaching biology at Harrisonburg High School.

He has received wide recognition over the years for his efforts to instill students with a love of science by taking them beyond the classroom walls.

Blosser led a group of Harrisonburg High School students across the country in 1998 to study environmental science for several weeks. He took another group on a similar trip two years later.

In 2001, he left Harrisonburg High and joined the faculty at Eastern Mennonite High School with the retirement of long-time biology teacher David A. Mumaw, who Blosser said "made me want to be a teacher in the first place."

In 2003, he and two other EMHS teachers in several disciplines led 22 students to the Pacific Ocean, following the trail of Lewis and Clark in the year of the 200th anniversary of the explorers’ voyage of discovery.

This summer, Blosser and another 22 EMHS students followed the Colorado River by bus and raft from its source all the way to Yuma, Mexico, where it enters Mexico. The group analyzed the river’s water along the way and its effects on local farms and a major city, Las Vegas.

Blosser has received numerous recognitions for his teaching, including "biology teacher of the year" in 1993 from the Virginia Association of Biology Teachers, in 1994 from the American Association of University Women and in 1998 from the National Association of Biology Teachers. He was one of 20 teachers nationwide named to the 1999 USA Today Teacher First team and was a member of the state education committee that wrote Virginia’s science Standards of Learning.

The Harrisonburg native is married to Rhonda Graber Blosser, a 1986 EMU graduate. Their children are Kurtis, Kelsey and Bryce, all students at Eastern Mennonite School.

Melodie Davis

Melodie M. Davis

Davis, an English major at EMU, took a position with the former Mennonite Broadcasts, Inc. (now Mennonite Media), one month after graduation and has been with the agency since then.

Today, as writer/producer for Mennonite Media, she works with radio spots, writes a syndicated column, "Another Way," and does editing for the organization’s "Third Way Cafe" () web site. The radio spots are carried on some 300 stations across the country; her column appears in 10 newpapers in North America, including the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record.

Davis also works on documentaries on difficult life issues that have aired on network and cable television.

Davis’ radio spots and other work have received awards from the church and secular media. Her "Parenting on the Edge" radio spots were recognized in the 2003 Gracie Allen Awards.

She has written eight non-fiction books and also works part time as editor of the inspirational newsprint tabloids, "Together" and "Living," published by the Shalom Foundation.

The Goshen, Ind., native is married to Rockingham County native Stuart Davis. The couple has three adult daughters – Michelle, Tanya and Doreen.