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In Memoriam: Louise Stoltzfus, 1952-2002
Louise Stoltzfus, 50, of Lancaster, Pa., died November 20,
2002 after battling leukemia for three months. A freelance writer
and editor, she wrote twelve books, including Traces of Wisdom,
Amish Women and the Pursuit of Life's Simple Pleasures, The Best
of Mennonite Fellowship Meals, The Story of Philhaven, Two Amish
Folk Artists and Quiet Shouts: Stories of Lancaster Mennonite
Women Leaders.
Raised in an Amish home, Stoltzfus taught in a one-room Old
Order Amish school, was the curator of The Peoples' Place Quilt
Museum, director of The People's Place Gallery, Intercourse,
Pa., and editor of MCC's Women's Concerns Report. Louise was
a member of Blossom Hill Mennonite Church, Lancaster, Pa., where
she served as former congregational chair, lay speaker and Sunday
school teacher. Louise is survived by her parents, Jonathan Daniel
and Miriam Mary Lantz Stoltzfus, four sisters, and six brothers.
Patricia Haverstick, current editor of the Women's Concerns
Report, wrote, "In all of her writing, Louise worked towards
the goal of affirming the roles Mennonite and Amish women have
played in the home, in the Church, and in the community."
Iris de Leon-Hartshorn, Director of the Peace and Justice Ministries
Program at MCC U.S., says, "Not only did Louise affirm these
roles, she gave voice to the women she was writing about. She
wrote and presented the stories of these women in such a way
that was authentic to their experiences and gave validity to
their stories. Because of this, Louise was highly respected in
the communities in which she worked and lived."
In her book, Amish Women, Stoltzfus wrote thoughtfully about
her relationship to her community of origin, "I am glad
once to have been Amish . . . It is a life I still sometimes
long for. One I do not have-nor ever will have-but one which
I treasure and from which I have learned much. In both its transcendent
benevolence, and its broken shards. For it is not utopian. It
is touched by grief and loss. By pain and misunderstanding. By
buried hopes and hopeless dreams. But it is also touched by joy
and fortune. By pleasure and appreciation. By living hopes and
hopeful dreams."
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