Comments on: In Memoriam: Dr. Samuel L. Horst, professor emeritus of history

By: Hannah Schertz

Hannah Schertz — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 02:54:58 +0000

In reply to Christine L Burkholder. Thank you for these memories, Christine -- and for sharing the part of Dad's life that complemented his academic pursuits. I remember the egg white admonition and 100 other cooking tips from my mother. I also remember walking across the gravel road and up the hill to your farm for good visits and to witness all of the industrious farm activity there.

By: Christine L Burkholder

Christine L Burkholder — Sat, 13 Feb 2021 21:10:47 +0000

While I was a student at Park View Elementary School, I lived across the hill from the Samuel and Elizabeth Horst family. Sometimes I would ride with Sam to school or would go to their house to chum around with Hannah. (Hannah, do you remember the time we tried to beat egg whites at your house? Your mother had even warned us not to get yolk in with the whites, but just a tiny bit kept them from whipping up.)
Sometimes my family would joke about him being an absent-minded professor (as on the day he forgot to pick me up to ride along to school), but he would recognize my dad’s (Wilmer Landis’s) farming prowess by saying that Ken would look over to our field wishing he could be a part of it.
Samuel exhibited a loving relationship with his wife and supported her in caring for their children. What a special family affair it was when Elizabeth birthed twin girls. Samuel’s example as a Christian husband and father was worth a couple sermons.

By: John A Horst

John A Horst — Sun, 07 Feb 2021 19:44:15 +0000

As the youngest sibling in the Horst family, my brother Sam was very influencial in keeping my focus on getting an education. His example was very responsible for me going to night school, getting a college education at EMC, and then going on to receive a Master’s degree. He encouraged me, counseled me, and was a great example to follow. He also took on unique projects, like a beekeeping adventure, after high school. He was a ferocious reader during his lifetime, and was a good storyteller. We always were welcome in his home, and looked forward to each visit. Now, there are just the two of us (my sister, Orpah and me,} out of a family of eight children, and we look forward to a family reunion in Heaven with our Savior.

By: Kevin Kurtz

Kevin Kurtz — Sat, 06 Feb 2021 14:56:45 +0000

Wonderful man and such a wealth of knowledge! His only sister , Orpah, is my mother. We would visit them in Harrisonburg from time to time. I also remember him playing Chinese checkers and being very inviting and engaging as we “invaded” his home. I was fairly young, maybe 10 years old or so, and I recall him cooking breakfast for us all. Seems like his specialty was waffles, but I may be mistaken on this detail. I remember being impressed that he could cook, as my father was a “foreigner” in the kitchen. Always made us fell welcomed. He will be missed! Blessings and comfort to the family. Shalom.

By: Carol Lazer

Carol Lazer — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 22:44:56 +0000

In reply to Eugene Stoltzfus. My Dad, Sanford Grant Shetler was a good friend of your Dad's and I did not remember that he died so young. I too , was a student of Samuel Horst's as a junior in high school at EMHS. I was a junior in his senior Government class since I would be graduating at Johnstown Mennonite School in Penna. and I needed it since they were teaching it every other year up at JMS. Samuel Horst was one of my favorite teachers---he was such a wonderful teacher--so gentle and kind and his classes were so well presented.

By: Elena Helmuth

Elena Helmuth — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 00:47:14 +0000

Uncle Sam was my favorite uncle and i was so thrilled to be able to live in his town in 1994 until 1999 when my husband Ron Helmuth was IT Director at 91��Ƶ. Uncle Sam invited Ron to play tennis with him once a week with “the old guys” and there were always great stories to share after these matches. Uncle Sam was such a inspiration at family reunions also and was not afraid to engage in political discussions which at times were not well received by all his family.
His love for my children when we were new to town was so appreciated and to this day my youngest child talks about Uncle Same teaching him to play Chinese Checkers.
You were a blessing to me.
Your niece, Elena

By: Hannah Horst Schertz

Hannah Horst Schertz — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 23:31:16 +0000

In reply to Eugene Stoltzfus. Eugene, I remember your father and good times with your family when we were neighbors. I am also interested in verification of your story.

By: Ken Seitz

Ken Seitz — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 20:21:33 +0000

Samuel was my teacher during senior year at Eastern Mennonite College High School, 1955-56: two courses–American Government and Current History. For the latter he had us subscribe to “Newsweek” and he took us on a field trip to Washington, D.C. We all referred to him as Sam Horst in those days but over time it became clear that he insisted that he is Samuel Horst. He and I came together again in retirement at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community in 2009. Until COVID restrictions came along in March 2020, I visited him regularly. There is where I learned that it was to be “Samuel” and only “Samuel.” One of his comments I heard regularly: “I’m old, but I’m not sick.” Some of us were able to share in his 100th birthday gala put on by the family in 2019. I’ll remember always the times I prayed with and for him; he wanted to pray for me in return with thanks for coming to visit him.
Ken Seitz, high school, 1956; college, 1960

By: Michael Kurtz

Michael Kurtz — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 19:30:38 +0000

As a nephew of Samuel Horst (my mother Orpah Mae Horst Kurtz is Samuel’s sister), I give thanks for his great grasp of history and his deep desire for justice and peace. I recall, while myself a student at 91��Ƶ during the late 1970s, Uncle Samuel and I had several engaging conversations concerning history and politics. Likewise, we had numerous meetings on the tennis court, and I remember he could hold his own in this venue as well!

By: Jack Rutt

Jack Rutt — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 17:18:48 +0000

Not long after beginning my work at 91��Ƶ in 1999 as Director of Information Systems, I became aware that several faculty Emeriti were provided work spaces in the library and it was not long before Samuel Horst introduced himself to me. He quickly remembered who I was and often, when we would meet on campus, it was not uncommon for him to ask me one or more questions about using his computer. I quickly became fascinated with him because of his friendliness, persistence to learn and use computers (at an age where others would have given up) and his story-telling ability. For me, Samuel set a high bar as to the kind of mind I wanted to aspire to have when I retired. Our world was a better place because of Dr Samuel Horst.

By: Eugene Stoltzfus

Eugene Stoltzfus — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 15:52:48 +0000

My father, Grant Stoltzfus, along with John Lapp and Sam, as history professors at EMC, were comrades-in-arms in seeing history as “an active discipline that pushed for change” until my father’s untimely death in 1974 at age 58. They were constantly in and out of each others offices conferring on political events and civil rights issues in those tumultuous years. In 1963 they took me as a 16 year old boy to the Civil Right March where Martin Luther King Jr gave his inimitable “I Have a Dream” speech. (Can anyone confirm that the three of them were on the trip that day? That is my memory.) It is wonderful to see that Sam lived into 2021.

By: Earl S Martin

Earl S Martin — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 14:47:17 +0000

As a staffer at MCC’s Washington Office in the early 80s, I remember various times when Sam brought bus loads of students from EMC to the capital. As we visited congressional offices, the State Department or the Pentagon, Sam was always brimming with good stories and good cheer. One winter day, I met with his entourage in a church on Capitol Hill and talked to them about unexploded munitions which were taking the lives of our friends in Vietnam. I showed them a grenade-sized “guava bomblet” which the US had dropped in profusion in Indochina. Then we got on their bus and drove to our next appointment at the State Department. When we got into the lobby, I noticed a large metal detector which had not been there before. Whoops, I realized I had stuffed the bomblet into my overcoat pocket and had no where now to get rid of it! As the students filed through the metal detector, I felt I had no choice but to follow them. Amazingly, the detector remained silent! Sam, of course, loved the story! — Earl Martin

By: Glen A. Roth

Glen A. Roth — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 14:24:46 +0000

Sam was always gracious and welcoming. I had him for a U.S. History class, and one memory of the class was the importance of barbed wire for the settlement of the west. This was particularly intriguing to me as one of the students who drove cross country from Oregon to enroll at EMC.

Glen Roth

By: Michael W Miller

Michael W Miller — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 13:51:13 +0000

I remember seeing him around campus. I never had him for a class but respected him as a professor of history.

By: Abner Schlabach

Abner Schlabach — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 13:42:36 +0000

I have fond memories of Sam as a gentle kind man. Meetings with him were always pleasant.
He was a professor during my years at EMC/U. Then we were both grad students during the same time at UVA. Good memories