This article is from the EMU News Archive. The approximate date of publication was in October 2003. Current EMU news is available at www.emu.edu/news

TO EMU HEADLINE NEWS | CROSSROADS MAGAZINE | GIVING

Colorado Physician Finds Creative Ways to Give Back to EMU

On a January morning more than a half century ago, a young man fresh from Mennonite Voluntary Service started his first class at what was then called Eastern Mennonite College.

At age 24 in 1951, George Hostetler (C 55) was a little older than the typical first-year student. More mature, too. He already planned to marry a graduate of Hesston College whom he had met in Voluntary Service.

By the beginning of his second semester at Eastern Mennonite, George had sketched the outlines of his adult life. He had married the girl of his dreams, Leona Gerber, and he was pursuing a degree in biology, intending to become a medical doctor.

Creative ways to give to EMU - Charitable bequest in your will or living trust - Gift of appreciated stock or real estate - Life insurance policy-naming EMU as one of the beneficiaries - Gift Annuity-make a gift and retain income from it for your lifetime - Gift of the remainder from a retirement plan (IRA, 401(k), or pension plan) - Charitable remainder trusts-provides income for a period of years or lifetime - Retained Life estate-give your home or farm but live in it until you die - Charitable Lead Trust-provides income to the charity for a period of years For more information about these or other creative ways to give please contact one of the regional directors of development or the EMU development office (540-432-4200 or 800-368-3383).

Today George is 76, retired from a successful medical practice in Colorado, and still happily married to Leona. Life has been good to George, and he feels gratitude to Eastern Mennonite University for helping to make his success possible. As an expression of his gratitude, he has included EMU in his estate planning, making it a beneficiary of his will.

He also contributed money to a series of deferred payment gift annuities with EMU during each of the last five years of his medical career. These deferred payment gift annuities will provide income to him and Leona for the rest of their lives. "I felt the need to have a little money coming in during my retirement-it contributes to my sense of security," George explained. "An annuity not only helps the school, but it gives us a little in return." He felt so good about the deferred payment gift annuities that he established during his career that he has actually set up several additional gift annuities since his retirement.

"EMC was there for me because people before me made sacrifices," he said in a recent interview with Crossroads. George credits three EMC professors-D. Ralph Hostetter, Daniel Suter, and M.T. Brackbill-with being extraordinary teachers who could have earned much more at an institution like the University of Virginia, but who chose to stay at EMC and produce generations of Christian students who had no trouble gaining admission to top medical schools.

George said the sacrifices of these faculty members have inspired him to provide long-term support to EMU. He also prizes the unique niche filled by EMU. "EMU has its own particular flavor. I think there would be something missing in the academic world without it. I hope it will continue to be church-related and Christ-centered."

George praised Leona, with whom he has raised eight children, with supporting his desire to give back to EMU. "We spent four years there. She got to know EMC and she came to enjoy being there." They are also remembering her alma mater, Hesston College, in their will.

Despite the distance between their home in Colorado and Harrisonburg, George and Leona hope to return to EMU for his 50-year-anniversary in 2005. They remember with fondness joining an EMU-sponsored trip in 1980 to the Middle East and Mediterranean area, including visits to Israel, Egypt and Greece. The trip leaders were Esther and Myron Augsburger and Mike and Peggy Shenk.

George grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland as one of nine children. His father was the pastor of Holy Grove Church in the 1930s. Needless to say, "we were not real prosperous," being a large family during the Great Depression. "We had a small farm and we raised most of our food," George recalled.

The hardship of his early life caused George to want to merge a life of service and challenge with work that would provide financial security. He found what he was seeking in practicing family medicine. Now he has reached the stage of his life where he realizes that one of the main ways he can be of service is to help provide financial resources to the institutions that helped him and Leona. "Giving is an act of worship," he said. "Part of our faith, part of our worship, is to give."

Posted: October 13, 2003