Bob Gerber's Reflections Shared at Alan's Memorial Service

It was August of 1960 when Lloyd Miller (now deceased) and I met Alan for the first time since we said farewell to him some three years previously. We were leaving Nappanee, Indiana on our way to South Korea with the PAX program administered by MCC (Mennonite Central Committee). Actually, Lloyd had said his farewell to Alan four months earlier.

Lloyd and I planned to return to Indiana going West by boat from South Korea when our assignment was finished. The boat would take us from Yokohama, Japan through the Suez Canal to Port Saied, Egypt. We were on the boat for one month stopping in at various ports along the way.

One of the ports was Saigon. There to meet us was Alan. It was so neat to meet someone we knew from back home and someone we knew in a new, strange setting. He had come down from Banmethuot for supplies in an old truck. Soon we were winding our way through the jungle on a paved road. By evening, the leprosarium came into view. It is here that Alan used his construction skills and creativity giving leadership to building two wings to the existing building. We stayed for two nights and observed the interrelationships of the volunteers as they ate and worked together. It was a blessing to see Alan and the others taking their work seriously and enjoying the act of bringing the kingdom of God near to the tribes people living in the high lands.

Early the next day, we were on our way back to Saigon driving with Alan who was our pilot guiding us through that very dense jungle. Alan was protecting us from anxiety because he waited to tell us that there were Vietcong roaming the area when we were on our way back to Saigon and not on the way to the leprosarium.

Last October, Fran and I had a wonderful visit with Alan in Williamsburg. Our conversation went very well. His usual pauses didn’t seem as long as before. We found him sitting in a chair bent over a puzzle. It was a beautiful day. We took him outside into the terrace while he was in his wheelchair. We visited. He really brightened up when we told him of the possibility that we were going to Albuquerque to visit three of our grandchildren and that we wanted to see Don Voth as well. About two weeks later, we received a card in Alan’s hand writing with Don’s contact information.

Alan was very kind and went out of his way to make sure all was well. He was bent on bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth wherever he went. And it was so!

Thank you Alan for sharing your many gifts to the persons you were with; I being one of those.

Gordon Walters' story about Alan's intelligence

Alan had a photogenic memory -- he could memorize the numbers on the train cars as the train went by!  We played softball on a team and Alan had such a strong arm that he could throw from deep center field all the way into the catcher.  Later on he began to pitch for us and when he got better, no one could hardly hit off of him and he went to college and pitched very well.  When we were teenagers a group of us decided to soap some windows after church one night, so we went over to Bethany Christian High School and soaped their windows.  However Dave Weldy went to school there and knew that on Monday they were going to have a test and that Alan knew the answers.  So Alan wrote the answers on the windows backwards so they could be read inside.  Well, the principal who was C.J. Hollaway also went to our church and found out that it was us!  And we were told we could not play basketball at the school anymore until we would come and clean the windows.  So we went before a game, cleaned them and got back into playing ball again.   -Gordon Walters

Heinz and Melanie Plato's memories and reflections about Alan's life:

Heinz Plato's Reflections About Alan

When Alan first came to Williamsburg, he started helping me on my construction sites. He could do anything, as far as construction was concerned, but cleaning-up was his strength. The jobsites were cleaner than ever. He did not want to be paid; he’d prefer that the money was used for Lee’s work with Wycliff in Mali.

His specialty was cleaning up. No jobsite was as clean as mine. When he fell, he always refused help in getting up; he’d do it himself. He knew how to fall, he always rolled away.

What impressed me about him was:

His faith - it shone through him

His Christ-likeness – I never heard him say a bad word about anyone

His humility – he never boasted about his many abilities. I don’t know how long it took before I knew he had a PhD in chemistry. He was a true servant.

His patience – he insisted on doing things for himself, even as his Parkinsons limited him more and more. He never complained, even though he had reason to complain as he became more dependent on others and moving around became difficult.

His compassion – on his trips to Charlottesville he stopped in Richmond and visited our niece who was dealing with cancer. He always had an encouraging word, a card, or flowers.

His helpfulness – he mowed grass at the Williamsburg Christian Retreat Center for hours on end

His friendship – He could be counted on anytime anywhere

His humor – he liked a good joke, and was good at telling them, unless he had to laugh too hard himself

His persistence – he never gave up

His wisdom – was the result of his strong faith.

I am blessed and privileged to have known him and counted him my friend.

If I could be half the man he was, I’d be a good man

He has gone to his reward; I’m sure he heard these words:

"Well done, my good and faithful servant."          

May you rest in peace

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My Memories of Alan - Melanie Plato

We got to know Alan when he first moved to Williamsburg and started coming to our church, and, on one occasion, he lived with us for a short period of time.

He disliked coffee, but, when we had it I always offered him some. Once a year he would drink a cup – to keep up his dislike of it, and, in return, Heinz had to do something he disliked: he had to wear a tie, then they were even.

He did like egg salad sandwiches, and he could eat mayonnaise by the spoonful, which makes me shudder.

And did he ever love chocolate! When he was at Morningside, and was not supposed to have chocolate, we always brought him some, but he had to hide it. One day, when he was not doing well and had to stay in bed, I brought him some in a little plastic bag, because it was easier to hide without the package. He started eating it right away, but, because he was holding the bag in his hand, the chocolate started to melt, and he got it all over his face, on his shirt and on the sheet. That day, it wasn’t hidden very well.

Scriptures Heinz read in German during Alan's Memorial Service

Reflections Contributed by Susan Hochstetler

Alan along with Donna was a great support and friend to our family, from the time Lee and I were married in 1986. Every year he sent us each a birthday card, even though our birthdays are only 12 days apart and it would have been reasonable to send only one for both of us! He also sent us a Christmas card every year. He occasionally contributed financially to our ministry with Wycliffe Bible Translators. 

When Lee and I were studying French in Neuchatel, Switzerland, he met us there when on business with his employer, Givaudon, in Switzerland. We visited a historic castle on a lake, and he treated us to a delicious meal in a historic restaurant.

He had wanted to visit us in Africa, but when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's he knew that his abilities would decline, so he made it a priority to visit us while he could. He came to Mali the winter of 1997 when Laura and David were small, and I was pregnant with Sarah. We were living in a family compound lent to us in the village of Koura, and Alan helped Lee put some finishing touches on the larger house he was building for our family out of mud bricks roofed with corrugated tin. A polished cement floor had been laid by a local mason, but as it dried, it cracked and came loose. Alan helped us decide to shovel it out and replace it with pressed cement tile, that we then ordered from the factory where it was made in the city of Sikasso, two hours away. Alan built out of cement a counter and stand to hold our bathroom sink. He installed a water tower on which he and Lee arranged two plastic barrels connected with hoses to the hand pump on our well, and to our kitchen sink and bathroom sink, toilet and shower. (Alan's initials remain in the cement footer of one of the water tower legs. The house continues to serve Bible translation in the Jowulu language, as our colleagues occupy it when consulting with the Koura translation team, which is now nearing completion of the translation into the Jowulu language of the New Testament with major excerpts from the Old Testament.)

We enjoyed putting together clues to figure out the titles of well known carols from the sheet he shared at extended family Christmas gatherings. I especially liked listening to him sing from memory several verses of the humorous "While Shepherds Washed Their Socks By Night" based on the well known carol that starts "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night."

We enjoyed Alan's humor, his warm, encouraging heart, and his dedication to serving the living God by serving the poorest of the poor in very remote regions. His hard work and perseverance were an inspiration to all of us, and certainly contributed to Lee's exceptional development in these areas, which allowed Lee, in turn, to make exemplary contributions in three areas: the identification of Malian languages and translation needs; the introduction to Africa of a course on participatory methods for language research, including the development and production of the course in French; and the development of the Jowulu language program, which included identifying workers with the best background preparation possible, and then both sending them for training in other places, and mentoring them on-site to a very high level, which has enabled them to both work very independently and train others.

Susan Hochstetler 

(Her spouse, Alan's nephew Lee, died the next day after Alan's death)

Poem read by Pastor David Lehman at Alan's Memorial Service in Williamsburg VA

This is a Prayer/Poem authored by Elizabeth Craven.
It was requested by Donna Hochstetler to be read by 
Pastor David Lehman at Uncle Allen’s Memorial held 
on April 28, 2018 at the Verena residence (where 
they had lived in Williamsburg, Virginia)

I thank thee God, that I have lived
In this great world and known its many joys:
The songs of birds, the strongest sweet scent of hay,
And cooling breezes in the secret dusk;
The flaming sunsets at the close of day,
Hills and the lovely, heather-covered moors;
Music at night, and the moonlight on the sea,
The beat of waves upon the rocky shore
And wild white spray, flung high in ecstasy;
The faithful eyes of dogs, and treasured books,
The love of Kin and fellowship of friends
And all that makes life dear and beautiful.
I thank Thee too, that there has come to me
A little sorrow and sometimes defeat,
A little heartache and the loneliness
That comes with parting and the words ‘Good-bye’;
Dawn breaking after weary hours of pain,
When I discovered that night’s gloom must yield
And morning light break through to me again.
Because of these and other blessings poured
Unasked upon my wondering head,
Because I know that there is yet to come
An even richer and more glorious life,
And most of all, because Thine only Son
Once sacrificed life’s loveliness for me,
I thank Thee, God, that I have lived.

Memories contributed by Charles Kishpaug (Alan's step son) and Charles' son David

Amanda Graber's Memories of Alan Hochstetler

We used to rent the Maust Farm from the Hochstetlers from 1973 - 1989. Alan was a great fixer of many things.  He would come to Indiana for summer vacation for three weeks and would spend a great share of his time working on the Farm.   (What a vacation!)  One summer he painted the metal house roof a bright red.  My husband, David, started telling people that we lived at the Red Roof Inn on C.R. 52.  Let me tell you that was the best place to live and I loved it.  I was devastated when we had to leave as a result of David's battle with MS and not being able to take care of it.  

    Alan always spoke Pennsylvania Dutch when he was there working which made it nice for the children and they loved when he was there.  They would ask, "Is Alan coming today?"  I'm sure that there were days that his patience was tried.  My son, Fred, loved tools of any kind so this was just up his alley.  I had told Alan he had permission to make them mind or send them in if they got in his way.  Well, Fred just couldn't resist that toolbox and all the stuff just waiting to be explored with even a stern warning from Alan.  So Alan had to deal him with a punishment to bring order back to his toolbox. 

    Alan fixed  picket fences, loose barn siding and even tore down the old straw shed which was falling down.  One summer he said that it was time to put new shingles on the little house that was attached to the end of the breezeway.  No one had lived in it for years, but it was a nice little place.  Well, as he was shingling, he was talking to Beth, my daughter, and all of a sudden she couldn't see him any longer and was very concerned.  So she called out, "Mun, Mun, vo bischt du?  Ich con net dich sana!"  (Man, man, where are you?  I can't see you!")   We still tease her about that to this day. 

 
    After Alan got married I didn't see him as much but we didn't lose touch.  He made sure when he came to Indiana to visit his family that he would stop at the Martin's Hardware Store where I worked for a visit.  He was a blessing to so many people and had so much talent that he used for God's glory.

   Amanda Graber

Remembrances of Alan - shared by Phil LaMar

Alan and I were separated by geography and age. However, as I was growing up my Mother (Alan’s first cousin, Freda Maust LaMar) often spoke of her Aunt Mary and Aunt Mary’s children of whom Alan was one. Over the years, I did visit with him from time to time and have these remembrances that I wish to share.

[To connect the dots- my Grandfather Ralph Maust and Alan’s Mother, Mary Maust Hochstetler, were brother and sister.]

Motorcycle Touring

When a teenager I learned that Cousin Alan had toured Europe on a motorcycle. I think I heard it from my Mother who later came to regret my having this information.

His touring, which sounded fascinating and exciting to me, lifted Alan to a hero status. Alan’s motorcycle touring sparked my imagination and motorcycling became an aspiration for me. Hence my Mother’s regret when, some years later, I bought a motorcycle. I had adventures on my bike but I never did anything as wonderful with it as Alan did with his.

I never heard the whole touring story from Alan but he did tell me he “wiped out” once – which made motorcycle riding even more desirable to my male, then adolescent, mind.

Alan and Sports

During the Memorial Service for Alan, tribute was paid to Alan’s athletic prowess. While several people provided testimonials regarding Alan’s accomplishments in several sports, I did not hear anyone mention the sport with which I associate him. I waited patiently certain that someone would surely mention that sport. But that did not happen.

No one mentioned PING PONG.

Ping Pong is a sport that most folks consider a friendly and social game. Alan was not “most folks” when playing Ping Pong. When I was attending Goshen College in the 1960s, I was invited to Aunt Mary’s home for the evening. I saw a Ping Pong table outside (maybe in the garage) and made the mistake of mentioning it to Alan. He invited me to play. I agreed. That was also a mistake. It turns out Alan was an accomplished Ping Pong player as well as a fierce competitor. If there had been a future in participating as a professional in this sport, it could have been his.

Alan, Scientist, Stamp Collecting and my Dad

My Dad, Robert LaMar, and Alan, hit it off. They shared common interests. Both were trained in science (Dad was a physician and Alan a chemist) so they could discuss organic chemistry as others discuss the weather. And they both were stamp collectors. I remember their sitting in the living room in my childhood home in Snow Hill, Maryland, discussing stamps and looking at Dad’s collection.

At my age then, I was bewildered by their interest in these topics. But now I understand - at least the stamp part.

Thank you Alan

My last memory of being with Alan was when he attended my Mother’s funeral service in 2014. Alan’s Parkinson’s Disease was, at that time, making it very difficult for him to travel.  

But the disease and its effects upon his ability to move and speak could not stop him from making the trip from Williamsburg to Snow Hill for Mother’s service and from standing before, and speaking to, those gathered. I will be forever grateful to him for this valiant effort on her behalf.

Thank you Alan.

Alan's Gravestone