Bontrager Music Together Endowment Fund

Love for the church. Alvin Bontrager and Mary Yoder met at an area church youth gathering, the Golden Chain Literary Society, at Middlebury (Ind.) Mennonite Church in 1949.  While Alvin was raised in an Amish home and Mary in a Conservative Mennonite one, they had each chosen “Old” Mennonite Church congregations in their teens as their places of fellowship. After marrying in 1950, and until now, they have attended Mennonite churches near their home, and have been faithful members and active in almost every facet of church life, from serving as elders to being caretakers of the landscaping.

A bent for service. Service has been a way of life for Al and Mary. Their practical skills of carpentry, gardening, cooking, teaching and more, along with tender hearts and stamina for hard work, combined countless times as they offered of their time, energy and talents to serve. They have been friends to many “friendless,” they’ve shared in Bible studies with new Christians, they’ve hosted hundreds of strangers and friends around their large dining table. They gave a year of Voluntary Service in Atmore, Alabama where Al served as a prison chaplain and Mary volunteered in literacy tutoring. They’ve also given generous gifts of service to Merry Lea, the Depot, Mennohof, Oaklawn, The Window, Camp Friedenswald and to the Goshen College Music Center, among others.

Education a priority.  Al and Mary have valued learning and education highly, as shown in choices they’ve made. For most of his work years, Al was an astute farmer who worked long hours, but he was also an avid reader and scholar of the Bible. He developed these tools for educating himself as a young man, and they have continued to keep his mind sharp to this day. Mary began her college education at GC when she was in her 30’s and graduated with a degree in elementary education. She taught school at Millersburg, Honeyville and Topeka for a total of 20 years. Al and Mary conveyed their belief in the value of education to their children, and their five daughters achieved various levels of formal education with the financial and emotional support of their parents. Deb, Becky, Trish and Ginny are GC graduates. Joyce attended EMC and graduated from the Univ. of South Dakota. All work full time in the field of education.

Appreciation of music.  Despite the constraints of the Amish and Conservative Mennonite Churches regarding musical instruments, Mary’s older sister saw to it that she received piano lessons as a child, and Al purchased a guitar that he taught himself to play as a teenager. Al was a regular song leader at churches they attended, and Mary often helped with children’s singing. While money was carefully monitored in their home, there was allowance made for joining the Columbia Record Club which brought many first-rate LPs to their home, with music that the entire family learned to appreciate. Al and Mary saw to it that all five daughters had piano lessons, and most played instruments in the school band as well. They also invested in GC Lecture-Music Series tickets as their children became older.

Children a blessing. The six children of Al and Mary include the five daughters mentioned above, and one son, Thomas. Tom was the fourth child, and early on they knew he was not developing normally.  They did all that was possible at that time during the late 50’s and early 60’s, but there was little information available about autism. Tom was also severely developmentally delayed. One joy that Tom seemed to experience even in his 2-year old mind was music, and he absorbed the sounds of it around him and sometimes sang along with the family.  Some 50 years later, the music of his early years remains one of the few ways of connecting with Tom, as he has little ability with language. Tom’s presence in the family has come to be seen as a gift, a blessing as all children are in their individual ways. The power of music to connect in ways that nothing else can is a source of joy on those rare occasions that Tom is able to add his voice to the entire family’s in singing his favorite song, “Joy to the World.”

Generous with possessions. Al and Mary are tireless workers and live frugally. At this writing, with ages of 85 and 78, they continue to plant a large garden, harvest and preserve much of the food they and their children will eat through the coming winter. Their life experience has brought wisdom and perspective that requires little self-indulgence. They have given generously all of their adult lives, and this endowment gift is no exception. It honors their values of supporting the church, of serving and of outreach to the powerless, of education that enlightens, of music that touches the soul, and of children who are a gift to the world, and ours to bless.