Yoder – Smucker Minority Scholarship Fund

Quite literally, the very foundation of Goshen College has Jesse E. Smucker partly to thank.

According to information he gave his children, with his horses and wagon, Jesse hauled away the first load of dirt from the site where the Administration Building now stands.

Jesse came by his connection to Goshen College honestly. “Even my great-grandfather had a strong interest in higher education,” said Ruth Yoder, Jesse’s daughter. Because of this, she said “he and my grandfather were what some called ‘progressive thinkers’ in their day.”

Four generations later, GC still benefits from that progressive thought, not in loads of dirt, but through the generosity of Ruth Yoder. Her gift has made possible the establishment of the Yoder-Smucker Minority Scholarship Fund.

A distinct interest in education was something young Ruth Smucker grew up with. Although her mother, Anna Yoder Smucker, died when she was three, Ruth remembers being told how important church attendance and the education of the soul was to her mother. And these priorities didn’t change when her stepmother, Emma Zook Smucker, came to live with the family.

Ruth was a member of the Goshen High School graduating class in 1924. Then she worked in a factory for a year before spending the next two years at Goshen College, studying to be a teacher. Before her teaching career was little more than in its infancy, she met Ora C. Yoder, whom she married in 1928.

For the next four decades, the Yoders happily farmed in LaGrange County, Indiana, until
Ora retired in 1966. During that time, Ruth became acquainted with a Hispanic family who was trying to make ends meet. “We made them some clothes and bed-covers,” recalled Ruth. She also befriended other struggling migrant workers and spent much of her time “helping those whose background isn’t as fortunate as ours.”

When Ora died in 1978, Ruth left her beloved farm home of 51 years and moved to Goshen.
Yet, retirement didn’t seem to be part of her vocabulary as she kept very busy around the house and doing volunteer work. She also was an active member of the College Mennonite Church.

As her relationship with a 1984 Goshen graduate illustrates, Ruth’s desire to help others and her interest in education often worked together. Married with two children, a student friend indicated his discouragement in studying for classes, caring for family and meeting college costs. Yet, Ruth was ready with an encouraging word, saying, “If you have the desire to complete your education, God will help you.” Touched by the student’s desire and faith, she anonymously contributed the needed funds.

That is the type of help Ruth liked to give – help to those who work hard, value education and live with a strong faith, characteristics she and her parents also shared.

Yet another characteristic which was impossible to miss in Ruth Yoder was that of
optimism. ‘Live your faith’ and ‘bloom where you are planted’ are two sayings that helped guide her life. She saw Goshen College change during more than half a century and admitted that she didn’t like some of the changes. “But were our homes perfect?” she asked.

“I choose to look for the good in things, to ‘take the best and leave the rest.'”

That philosophy makes Ruth Yoder’s generosity to others and to Goshen College even more special. Goshen’s minority students who benefit from the Yoder-Smucker Scholarship would be among the first to agree.

Ruth died December 28, 2003 at Greencroft Retirement Community, in Goshen, Indiana