Numbers carry special meaning to mathematicians.
On July 1, retired Bluffton University math professor, Luther Shetler will have time to ponder the number 100 and all its meanings.
He was born July 1, 1917.
Originally from Indiana where he grew up on a dairy farm, Luther accepted a math teaching position at Bluffton College in 1950. He and his wife, Geneva, brought their family to Bluffton where he taught countless students in his academic discipline for 34 years, retiring in 1984.
Always carrying a sense of humor, one of Luther’s math-related sideline interests was his one-man show “Math in the Bath.” For many years he entertained groups with his bubble show, which included human-sized bath bubbles. He tied all these demonstrations to mathematics.
Luther and Geneva, independent living residents of Maple Crest, celebrated their 76th wedding anniversary in December. They are Maple Crest’s oldest married couple. They were married on Dec. 22, 1940.
They met at Goshen College, Indiana, when Luther was a junior and Geneva a freshman. Luther recalls that he was aware of a beautiful blond girl on campus, but that he had no reason to be connected with her group of friends.
That changed when Luther and Geneva ended up in a required class together. The professor seated students alphabetically. That put Luther at one end and Geneva at the other end of a long row of last names that began with “S” (Geneva’s maiden name was Stamm).
When a new student arrived and the row was re-arranged, Geneva was seated beside Luther. He admits that he graciously offered to share a book with her since she did not have one.
To make a long story short, that was the beginning of a lifetime relationship.
Today Luther and Geneva’s family includes five children, Joenita (Stan) Clemens of Bluffton, Terry (Bonnie) of Colorado, Lu Destine of Bluffton, Peter (Jan) of Goshen, Ind., and Tami (Mick) Hardy of Bluffton.
There are also 14 grandchildren and 28 great grandchildren.
In an interview with Luther and Geneva at the occasion of their 75th wedding anniversary, they offered some thoughts on living a long, happy life. These easily carry over to Luther’s own thoughts on reaching the century mark:
• In each move to a new community, a church was the first place that they sought out as a “base” in their lives.
• Luther recognized early on that in most situations a woman’s intuition for problem solving was better than his.
• Geneva said that they constantly reminded themselves that they were “in this together,” and so made their decisions together.
• They determined to never carry a disagreement into the night, but to come to an understanding that day so that differences in opinions never grew into problems.
They said that they cannot imagine how they would live without the other after a lifetime together, but they entrust themselves into God’s hands.
