Class Of - Shawn Snider

38 Class of ‘58
'
Margaret (Witmer) Wenger
Betty Jane (Yoder) Anderson
Charlotte (Zehr) Klingelsmith
(no letter)
John Zehr
(deceased)
found their places in churches and jobs. I went to work for Sarasota County Schools as an elementary school
teacher, and Paul took on the heavy responsibility of managing an entire school (elementary, middle, & high)
of nearly 500 students.
The years between ‘82 and ‘90 seem to be mostly transitional. Both children were married and began their
own households, Ron in Kidron, Ohio, and Charity in Sarasota, Florida. Grandchildren began to appear on
the scene during these years. In all, we have five wonderful grandchildren, three boys and two girls, ranging
in ages from nine to twenty-two. My career flourished into not only a teacher of children, but also a mentor
for other teachers. Paul left Sarasota Christian School after five years. The next two years were a real search
concerning God’s will for our lives. We learned a great deal about forgiveness, and we learned how to walk
through and beyond disappointment and heartache. We also learned how to see and understand God from
other perspectives.
In 1990, we decided to move back to Virginia where we spent four years in Lancaster County working in
public schools. In Lancaster, we continued to learn much at the feet of our Savior. We learned to work with,
and develop friendships with people who didn’t particularly like us, because we were suspect of bringing
change to their small village. It was also a time of deepening family relationships.
In 1994, we returned to Richmond where we again worked in Henrico County Schools. Both Paul and
I had assistant administrative jobs. This was a huge growing time for me as I took on the responsibilities of
working with teachers and school-wide discipline. During this time, I returned to EMU to earn my masters
degree in Curriculum and Instruction. That experience was so enlarging and benficial.
In 2000, we retired from Henrico County Schools and returned to Sarasota to be near our daughter’s
family. The relationship between our two families is precious and certainly a gift from our Heavenly Father. I
continued teaching in Sarasota for seven more years, going back into the same school and the same classroom
I left in ‘90. Paul served as chaplain of Sunnyside Village during some of those years. In 2006, we both
retired.
I now teach Spiritual Formation classes, serve as a hostess at the food pantry, and tutor students in an
after school program. All of these are programs associated with the church to which we belong. My latest
venture is to return to EMS for the summer institute on Spiritual Formation. In three years I hope to be a
certified spiritual director.
Our hearts are full of praise and thanksgiving to a God who has, and is, navigating our journey. We thank
him for blessings beyond measure, for the opportunities we have along the way, for the beautiful family he has
given us, and for friends to walk with us on the journey.
Sincerely,
—Margaret (Witmer) Wenger
Hello, this is Betty Jane (Yoder) Anderson,
I still live in Pinto, Maryland, where I have lived all my life. My husband, Al, is from St. Paul, Pennsylvania,
near Salisbury. We met in 1967 and got married in 1969. It will be 40 years on January 11. We have two
children, a daughter Lori Kornhaus in San Antonio, Texas. She is 37 with a daughter 13, and son 10. Our son,
Paul, is 33 and lives near Falling Water, West Virginia. He and his wife, Jeannine, have a 3-year-old daughter.
I became a beautician after a year of training in 1967. My now husband was renting a room from my aunt
when she got us together. I was 27 and Al 24 at that time. Al came to work at the Kelly Springfield Tire Co.,
but it shut down before he got retirement. When I had Lori, I decided to be a stay at home mom. I did not
want someone else raising my kids.
After three months of LPN training, I worked at Brooklane Hospital in Hagerstown, Maryland. In 1960,
I worked at our Miracle-Mart store for four years. It was like our Wal-Mart, only smaller. In 1965, I entered
voluntary service in Portland, Oregon, till January 1966.
Al and I help with many church activities and have so much going on, I don’t think we can be at the
reunion.
God bless you all.
—Betty Jane (Yoder) Anderson