Mennonite Weekly Review

Ruth Brunk Stoltzfus, who broke new ground in media and ministry, died Dec. 2 at the age of 93 at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community in Harrisonburg, Va.

Ruth Brunk Stoltzfus — Photo by Wayne Gehman/MMN

Stoltzfus was the first Mennonite woman known to have been the speaker on a regular radio program, creating the show Heart to Heart in 1950. She led conferences on marriage and family with her husband, Grant Stoltzfus, who died in 1974. At the age of 74, she became the first woman ordained by Virginia Mennonite Conference.

“I see her as a pioneer in new forms of church ministry and a trailblazer for women in church leadership,” said George Brunk III. “In much of her life she wasn’t able to exercise ministry in traditional forms.”

Brunk, Stoltzfus’ nephew, preached the sermons at her ordination in 1989 and her memorial service Dec. 6 at Park View Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, where she was a member.

Brunk preached on 1 Thess. 4:13-18 and 1 Cor. 15:51-58. The hymns Stoltzfus chose for the memorial service included older ones and ones reflecting “her passion about social justice issues,” he said, such as “Let There Be Light.”

“I would characterize my aunt as exemplifying ego strength in the service of others,” Brunk said. “She had a lot of self-confidence, and she needed to have a measure of ambition about her to press for change in the life of the church.

“She had a forceful personality, and yet at the same time she was a person of real altruistic interests and action.”

Stoltzfus graduated from Eastern Mennonite College with a two-year degree in 1937. She and Grant Stoltzfus wed June 17, 1941.

She taught in public schools for five years, which sparked her passion for speaking to families, she once said.

Stoltzfus started Heart to Heart as an independent enterprise as an independent enterprise and guided it into partnership with Mennonite Broadcasts Inc., predecessor of Mennonite Media. She directed the broadcast for eight years and spoke to listeners as “your friend Ruth.”