{"id":46511,"date":"2020-07-16T08:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T12:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=46511"},"modified":"2020-07-21T17:28:28","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T21:28:28","slug":"bishops-mantle-an-appreciation-of-stuart-showalter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2020\/bishops-mantle-an-appreciation-of-stuart-showalter\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Bishop’s Mantle’: An appreciation of Stuart Showalter ’67"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This “Bishop’s Mantle” column, republished with permission from author Jim Bishop ’67, features his friend and former colleague Stuart Showalter ’67, who retired as an associate director of development at EMU this month. The two have many connections, as you’ll discover below, but one of the first was through the Weather Vane, the campus newspaper and first host of this column (it’s now being published again, after a hiatus, in the local Harrisonburg newspaper, the Daily News-Record.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is an unapologetic paean to long-time friend, compatriot and encourager \u2013 Stuart Wesley Showalter<\/strong> of Harrisonburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stuart \u2013 or \u201cBrother Stu\u201d as I often address him \u2013 finally bit the proverbial bullet and officially retired June 30 at age 74 — nearly my age (but I had retired earlier, at 66).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Stuart Showalter enjoys a celebratory breakfast at the Thomas House in Dayton with classmate and former colleague Jim Bishop. Showalter “officially retired” earlier this month from his work in the advancement division at Eastern Mennonite University. (Photo by Jim Bishop)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Friday morning, July 3, we broke breakfast bread (toast and eggs) together at Thomas House in Dayton to celebrate his latest transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sitting outdoors on a warm sunny morning, we reflected on the many ways our lives connected and re-connected ever since the fall of 1963 when we met during our first year at then Eastern Mennonite College (now EMU). Stuart, from Timberville, Va., had graduated from Broadway High School; I had (barely) graduated from Christopher Dock Mennonite High School (now Dock Academy), Lansdale, Pa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During our four-year academic journey, our paths crossed most often in the hallowed office of the student newspaper, Weather Vane<\/em>, where we discovered and honed our mutual journalism interests. By our senior year, Stuart was editor-in-chief, wielding the editorial scalpel on my sacred writ, including my (ill)literary column, \u201cThe Bishop\u2019s Mantle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unbeknownst to each other early in our senior year, we both applied for positions at Mennonite Board of Missions (MBM), Elkhart, Ind., and both of us were hired for editorial roles there immediately following graduation in 1967, taking on promotional efforts for different aspects of the worldwide program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n