Brubaker, Mary Deputy (1914-2006)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2006 Oct 16 p. 19

Birth date: 1914

text of obituary:

EMU nursing program's early leader dies at 92

By Eastern Mennonite University

HARRISONBURG, Va. — Mary Deputy Brubaker, 92, who helped start the nursing program at Eastern Mennonite University, died Oct 5 at Rockingham Memorial Hospital.

Brubaker taught 10 years at the Rockingham Memorial Hospital School of Nursing before coming to EMU in 1962 to teach nursing to students who attended hospital nursing diploma programs but also wanted a university degree.

Brubaker was instrumental in shaping the basic nursing collegiate program, which admitted its first class the fall of 1966. She served as interim educational director until 1968.

"It was Mary Deputy's vision and hard work that made the collegiate program possible," said Arlene G. wiens, chair of EMU's nursing department.

Brubaker was a member of the class of 1932 at the former Eastern Mennonite School. She later earned an R. N. and a master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She was a charter member of the Mennonite Nurses Association and its secretary for seven years. She was named Mennonite Nurses Association "nurse of the year" in 1977 and was a board member of the Virginia Lung Association for 30 years. She was a volunteer for the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community Auxiliary for 22 years.

On June 12, 1966, she married Jacob Brubaker. He preceded her in death in 1973. She was a member of and deaconess at Pike Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg.

Surviving are a brother, four stepdaughters and a stepson.