Stoltzfus, Ida (1910-2004)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2004 Feb 23

Birth date: 1910 Sep 28

text of obituary:

Hebron school founder, MCC worker dies at 93

HONEY BROOK, Pa. — Ida Stoltzfus, co-founder of an orphanage and school in Hebron during more than three decades of service in Palestine, died Feb 1 at Tel Hai Retirement Community. She was 93.

Stoltzfus and her identical twin sister, Ada, founded the orphanage and school in 1954 while serving with Mennonite Central Committee in Palestine. When MCC ended work in the Hebron area in 1967, they continued the orphanage under the umbrella of the Anglican Church.

From 1983 until her retirement in 1989, Stoltzfus directed the operation under Holy Land Ministries.

Her ministries overseas began in 1947 with three years of MCC service in India and Pakistan.

Stoltzfus was born Sept. 28, 1910, to Sylvanus and Lydia Hartz Stoltzfus near Morgantown. She graduated from Elizabethtown College in 1942 with a teaching certificate. She was licensed as a practical nurse in 1939. She taught in rural Lancaster County schools for 10 years and did practical nursing in private homes.

In 1974, the Elizabethtown College Alumni Association honored her and her sister with the Educate for Service to Humanity Award. In 2001, Atlantic Coast Conference of the Mennonite Church presented her with its annual Peace Mug in recognition of her work in India and the Middle East.

Two books record her and her sister's experiences. A Little Bit of Love tells the story of their work in India. We Sat Where They Sat tells about their 21 years in Hebron.

She was a member of Conestoga Mennonite Church of Morgantown.

She was preceded in death by three brothers, Grant, Ivan and Mahlon; and two sisters, Verna Yost and Ada Stoltzfus.

Memorial services were held at Conestoga Mennonite Church. Burial was in Conestoga Mennonite Church Cemetery.