In Memoriam: Dr. Carroll Yoder ’62, professor emeritus of French and literature, led intercultural programs to Quebec, France, Ivory Coast

Professor Emeritus Dr. Carroll David Yoder ’62, who taught French, English, and writing throughout a 34-year career in EMU’s Language and Literature Department and led intercultural programs to Quebec, France, and Ivory Coast from 1974 to 2001, is remembered by former students and colleagues for his expansive knowledge, rigorous academic standards, and scholarship in service to others. 

Yoder, who retired from EMU in 2004, died on July 17, 2025, at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community in Harrisonburg, following a long journey with Parkinson’s disease. He was 86 years old. 

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23, in the Eastern Mennonite School auditorium, 801 Parkwood Drive, Harrisonburg. 

“His love for travel was only surpassed by his love for people and he formed lasting relationships in the classroom, his community and around the world,” states an obituary written by his family.

You can read the obituary here.

From Iowa to Africa

Born on April 17, 1939, Yoder was raised in a Mennonite family in Wellman, Iowa, a rural farming community about 25 miles from Iowa City. He was the oldest of five brothers and was the first in his family to attend college, majoring in English and history at EMU and earning a BA in 1962. 

“He was not about to be a farmer,” said Nancy Myers Yoder ’66, his wife of 55 years. “He loved to read and he read voraciously, and so he was more of an academic.”

“He definitely was an academic,” agreed their youngest son, Joel Yoder ’97. “Growing up, he would be reading poetry or literature while working on the tiling machine in the summers for his uncle to pay for college.”

After graduating from college, Carroll left for Brussels to study French for a year and then taught in the French language in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a conscientious objector through Mennonite Central Committee’s Teachers Abroad Program. In the fall of 1971, he was hired to teach French at EMU, while a PhD candidate at the University of Iowa, and Nancy was hired at the school to teach nursing. Carroll would earn his doctorate in French African Literature from the University of Iowa in 1974.

From 1983-1984, during a two-year leave from EMU, Carroll returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo with his wife and two sons to serve as a Fulbright lecturer in French. It wouldn’t be the last time their travels would take them to the continent.

An ‘intellectual force’

Over the years, Carroll and Nancy led a total of 121 students on five semesterlong intercultural programs to France (1974 and 1989) and to France and Ivory Coast (1994, 1997, and 2001). He also led 16 students as a solo leader on two summerlong intercultural programs to Quebec (1987) and France and Ivory Coast (1992), according to a list from EMU Intercultural Programs. 

“They were such a good team,” said Joel, who joined the 1989 and 1994 trips. “They needed each other to make it all work. Every time they’d come back from a cross-cultural, they’d say, ‘Don’t let us do that again.’ And then a little while later, they’d say, ‘Oh, we need to do another cross-cultural.’”

“He was a real people person,” Nancy said about Carroll. “He could communicate and make contacts with people in French-speaking countries and find opportunities to get speakers or find families for students to live with. He had a gift for reaching out and contacting people and seeing what might work out.”

Many of Carroll’s colleagues and former students, including those on his intercultural programs, have written tributes following his death to express their gratitude. 

Patricia King ’89, a former student of his who taught in EMU’s Language and Literature Department from 2000 to 2003 and is now an author living in Durham, England, reflected on Carroll’s love of laughter and language: “He was someone who clearly took joy in his work and who loved the French language with a passion he transferred to his students.”

Novelist Christine Benner Dixon ’04, author of The Height of Land, said that Carroll had a “huge impact” on her development as a writer. “I am so grateful to have had him as my teacher,” she wrote. “In his classes, I deepened my interest in the craft of reading, teaching, and writing literature.”

Tim Swartzendruber ’95, a student on the 1994 intercultural group that traveled to France and Ivory Coast, remembered Carroll for his adventuresome spirit and keen intellect. “He had a reputation among faculty for having probably the most gifted mind,” said the English literature major and French minor. “He was the intellectual force on the faculty at that time. He was a real expert in literary criticism and taught us, at a high level, to analyze what we were reading and apply it to our lives.” Swartzendruber, who now serves as senior regional advancement director at EMU, will be one of the speakers sharing their remembrances of Carroll at the Aug. 23 memorial service.

As an English major at EMU, Joel took several of his father’s English and French classes. “He was known as one of the tougher professors, in terms of courseload,” he said. “He would have these daily quizzes. They weren’t worth a ton, but that was his way of seeing how many classes you actually attended.”

Carroll mentored many aspiring teachers and was also known for his successful track record in hiring and retaining qualified and dedicated faculty members while he was chair of the Language and Literature Department. 

Dr. Marti Eads, professor of English, was hired by Carroll to come teach at EMU starting in the fall of 2003. “Carroll was the kind of person I aspired to be,” she said. “He was a very humble person and was always looking for ways to encourage others. He was always ready to sing other people’s praises.” Eads would chair the department for the next three years after Carroll retired and said that he supported her in that role. Carroll also helped start the Writers Read event that continues to draw authors to campus. 

Each year, the Carroll Yoder Award for Teaching Excellence honors an EMU student who has demonstrated academic excellence in both literary studies and education courses and has shown a clear call to the teaching profession.

Later years

In a 2004 Weather Vane article about his retirement, Carroll is quoted as saying he will miss the “daily contact with students and colleagues,” and has most valued “the opportunity to integrate my Christian/Mennonite faith with my professional and service goals.”

Carroll was deeply engaged in the life of the church. The Yoders were one of the founding families of Shalom Mennonite Congregation in 1988. The church began meeting in Strite Auditorium in Campus Center and now meets at Eastern Mennonite School.

Carroll enjoyed attending concerts on campus and spectating basketball games. He also appreciated catching up with other retired EMU faculty members at VMRC. “He kept physically fit,” Nancy said. “He would walk, he would bike, and he played tennis regularly.”

Carroll is survived by his wife, Nancy; sons Eric (Karina) and Joel (Chia-Chi/Judy ’98); and six grandchildren: Carrie (Jansen Miller), Elliott, Sophia, Bryn, Leah, and Lilly. He is also survived by his brothers Wilbur, Milford, and Galen, and was preceded in death by his brother Marcus.

One final testament to his love for EMU was the many nephews, nieces, and other relatives he helped bring to the school. “I counted the number of students who came here, who I think were influenced by Carroll, and it totaled about 25,” said Nancy.