More than 325 volunteers contributed over 8,600 hours in 2018 to Mennonite Home Communities of Ohio, Betty Shelly is one of those volunteers. This feature is from the spring MHCO newsletter.  A copy of the newsletter is attached at the bottom of this story.

From Africa, to Belgium, to Kentucky, Elizabeth “Betty” Ruth Bauman Shelly has carried the spirit of service and volunteerism with her.

A volunteer at Mennonite Memorial Home since 1999, Betty cares for more than 60 plants; watering, pruning and even talking them into remaining healthy.

As she goes about her horticultural activities, Betty shares her warm smile and positive attitude with elders and staff. Her favorite plant is a giant Peace Lily, left to MMH after a memorial service.

Betty said it’s “beautiful, simple and elegant like Jesus’s mother Mary.” She works with skilled hands, using her knowledge of growing things to encourage a stunted plant to grow and gently cleaning the leaves of a Christmas Cactus.

Earning a bachelor of science degree in biology from Bluffton College in 1954, Betty wanted to follow in the footsteps of her physician parents. She then completed a bachelor of science in medicine at The University of Illinois, Chicago, and earned her M.D. at the Presbyterian Hospital, now related to the Penn Medical Complex.

She completed residencies in OB-GYN in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Oakland, California. Betty and her husband, Dr. Walter Shelly, served as medical missionaries and trained in Brussels, Belgium before traveling to Zaire, Africa, where they lived for 10 years.

Returning to the U.S. with their four children, Betty and Walter culminated their missionary service at the Appalachian Regional Medical Center in Hazard, Kentucky.

Following Walter’s death in 1998, Betty moved to Bluffton where she attends First Mennonite Church and is a member of the Mennonite Women’s Group.