By Bill Herr

When I was chaplain at Mennonite Memorial Home, I met many amazing residents. One of the most memorable was my friend, Marvel Hilty. A graduate of Bluffton High School, she worked for 30 years at Triplett Corporation. “We didn’t make much,” she said, “but we had fun.” 

She told me her happiest times were when her kids were small. She had three children, Jerry Hilty, Diana Marshall and Joy (Leigh) Shoemaker. Included in her family were two stepchildren, eight grandchildren, six step-grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She talked about them often, and when asked what lifted her spirits when feeling sad, she said, “being thankful for what I have.”

She was a member of the Bluffton Senior Citizens Center and attended Bluffton Baptist Church. She cared deeply about people, and often she befriended residents at Mennonite Memorial Home who could not express themselves. She would stop in the hall by them, touch their hand or arm, and smile when greeting them. She was a favorite of the staff, and her faith, strength and goodness lifted us all.

Now, what set her apart? With permission from her family, I can share that she had multiple health issues. She became blind; she had serious diabetes; she had heart disease and kidney failure; and cancer at the end of her life. When her doctor told Marvel that her treatment for cancer could be painful, she said to him, “So what.”

I asked her why she said that to the doctor. She answered with these words, “Well, I just figured that God would be there to take care of everything, and I didn’t need to worry about nothing. He would give me the strength to bear whatever I had to, and so I’ve just clung to that. I just put everything in to the hands of the Lord, and whatever is to be is to be.”

Marvel was 78 when she died at Mennonite Memorial Home. Her loss to her family and friends was heaven’s gain. When I asked her what she thinks happens to people when their hearts stop, and their lungs stop breathing, she answered, “I think they go immediately to be with God, and I’m looking forward to it being a wonderful experience.”

Columnist Bill Herr taught high school mathematics and science for 32 years before serving as a volunteer and then as a staff chaplain at two nursing homes.

NOTE: Corrections have been made to this article thanks to reader feedback.

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