Class Of - Shawn Snider

20 Class of ‘58
'
Josephine (Kanagy) Yoder
John Kauffman
Lowell Kauffman
(no letter)
Pennsylvania starting off with my desire to be a pediatric nurse. After that year, I returned to EMU for my BSN.
At the end of the senior year, some enlarged lymph nodes gave me “pause” and the biopsy told the tale…I
had Thyroid cancer. I spent several years angry but ok but ran from God too long after. After the initial surgery
I came back to PA as night duty staff nurse on pediatrics at Lancaster General Hospital. After eight months,
they asked me to be nurse manager of all shifts for the department. This led to teaching in their school of
nursing for two years. In 1969 I elected to go to Harrisburg Hospital School of Nursing which later closed and
then on to Harrisburg Area Community College to teach. I also got my Master’s degree from Temple University
at this time.
While at Harrisburg I was introduced to my first husband who worked for the federal government as a fiscal
manager with the Comptroller of the Currency, Department of Treasury. I taught one year then became director
of nursing of the local hospital in the county where we lived. We were not following the Lord. He never did and
it took me awhile to return but oh the joy I have now!
After a bit over a year of our marriage, Matt was born. He is now 31 and lives in Reading. I stayed home
with him and worked part time in the building business. Our marriage collapsed with a prior life incident in my
husband’s life which he refused to give up. Matt and I were basically abandoned so I returned to Pennsylvania.
Another director of nursing job in Harrisburg convinced me in 1981 that nursing and hospital politics was
not for me and I became a realtor for 27 years; I am loving this business. I am an associate broker and work with
the brokerage of Prudential Homesale Services Group primarily in the Central Pennsylvania area. We are the
largest real estate firm in Central Pennsylvania.
I also create my own marketing vehicles and make and write greeting cards using my trade name Creations by
Jodi.
Now for the best part … four and one-half years ago I met a widower who I am now married to … Harold
Yoder. He spoils Matt and me and his four children and grandkids rotten … actually together we do the kids
proud. Matt finally knows the true joy of having a father. We are expecting another grandbaby in February.
Life is good, fun, happy and very blessed.
He works part time and is the Eastern Board coordinator for Wheels for the World, a ministry of Joni and
Friends.
We are members of Manor Church.
—Jodi Yoder
EMHS Class of 1958 Golden Anniversary Letter
How does one summarize fifty years in a letter! I will focus on three areas of importance in my life since my
year in Eastern Mennonite High School. They are FAMILY, FAITH, AND FARMING.
FAMILY: I was married to Mary Ellen Bucher in 1961 and we had three children: Richard, Judith, and
John W. We lived on a dairy farm on the Chippewa River near the village of Exeland in northern Wisconsin
where we raised our three children, dairy cattle, and a variety of crops. Our children all attended at least one
year in a Mennonite school or college, married and gave us seven grandchildren. Richard has a master’s degree
in environmental health, works for the Center for Disease Control in Seattle, Washington. He and his wife,
Hilary, have a son, Mark. Our daughter, Judy, married Dave, a local farm boy and they farm near Exeland.
They have four children: Lindsay, Seth, Jared, and Kristina. Lindsay graduated from EMU this spring and is
getting married in September. John W. has a degree in computer programming and works near Fort Wayne,
Indiana. He and Jan have two girls, Katie and Allison. Katie will be attending Bluffton College this fall. We
enjoy our family very much, but need to travel a lot to keep up with the grandchildren and all their activities.
FAITH: We have attended a small rural church all these years, so I have had an opportunity to serve in
various positions there, such as Sunday school superintendent, church council chairman, and I have taught
the adult Sunday school class for the last 20 some years. As our church also belongs to one of the smallest area
conferences in the Mennonite Church, I have had opportunity to serve on the conference level as well, such as
commissions, secretary, and now conference historian. I have served as conference representative to the MC
general board and now serve as conference representative on MCUSA Constituency Leaders Council. Since
northern Wisconsin is far from the large Mennonite communities this has been a blessing to be involved in the
broader church, traveling to meetings and interacting with others around the Mennonite Church. We have had
the privilege to attend all the General Assemblies since 1979, except last year when we had to be in Seattle to
help Richard and Hilary through a difficult health emergency.
FARMING: I began my farm business one year out of high school, building a dairy herd and taking over
the operation from my parents. We milked a small herd of Holsteins for about forty years before moving off
the dairy farm and offering an apprentice partnership with younger families interested in entering the dairy