\u201cI give because of all that\u2019s been given to me,\u201d says Richard Shue \u201869, of Sarasota, Florida, this year\u2019s Lifetime Service Award recipient for Eastern Mennonite School.<\/p>\n
Skilled with his hands and in relating to people of all backgrounds, Richard \u2014 often joined by his wife Jolene \u2014 has used his gifts in the local community and around the world, often in the areas of construction in camp and education settings.<\/p>\n
As a child, Richard remembers seeing his parents model service to others, making monthly family visits to Lakewood Retreat to help with construction, serving with Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) and in other settings.<\/p>\n
His father, Charles, helped to start Sarasota Christian School. Richard attended the school from second to ninth grade before spending a year in public school and then traveling from Sarasota to attend Eastern Mennonite High School as a boarding student. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was great,\u201d he recalls, mentioning the dorm, Touring Choir, good friends \u2014 some of whom he is still in touch with \u2014 and \u201ceven learning a little along the way.\u201d Woodworking teacher Homer Mumaw stands out in his memory as a teacher with whom he connected meaningfully. <\/p>\n
Following graduation in 1969, Richard attended Hesston (Kansas) College, graduating in 1971. And then, like many young men of the era, he had a profoundly formative experience while serving with Mennonite Central Committee\u2019s PAX program in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) for three years.<\/p>\n
Upon return to Florida, Richard took up construction, eventually moving into the family construction business, Shue-Kauffman, started by his father in 1950; later, he and his brother Michael started the family roofing company. Richard continues to work with his nephew and brother-in-law, making it a three-generation family-owned company.<\/p>\n
Commitment to service has been core to the family business. In 2000, the company took all of their employees to Volgograd, Russia, to help build a church. Cousins serving as missionaries in the area helped make the connections. The company has also taken employees on multiple occasions to disaster areas in the United States, some through MDS. Richard continues to assist with hurricane relief efforts in Florida.<\/p>\n
Richard and Jolene, who married in 1991, have been active in multiple organizations throughout the years. These include include:<\/p>\n
\u2013 Sarasota Christian School, where he has served on the board, on the auction committee and in other volunteer capacities.
\n\u2013 Lakewood Retreat, where he has been a board member to support camp and conference center programming.
\nGator Wilderness Camp in southwest Florida for adolescent boys, where he is currently a board member.
\n\u2013 Christian Fellowship Mission in Haiti, where he has traveled more than 30 times to support local churches and schools by building houses, drilling wells, and offering construction skills.
\n\u2013 Short-term trips with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Ecuador
\n\u2013 And, finally, Bayshore Church, where he has served on the leadership team on pastoral searches, and many other functions of keeping a church operational. \u201cChurch life is everything,\u201d he says of that commitment.<\/p>\n
Encouragement for youth<\/strong> \u201cRich always puts others before himself,\u201d says Diana Suter \u201870 Berkshire, who nominated him for the award \u201cHe is generous with his time and resources and is always kind. He loves God and serves others because of this. A group of rare and unique character traits in this day and age.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you give back,\u201d he summarizes, \u201cyou get back more than you give.\u201d <\/p>\n Homecoming Weekend<\/strong> \u201cI give because of all that\u2019s been given to me,\u201d says Richard Shue \u201869, of Sarasota, Florida, this year\u2019s Lifetime Service Award recipient for Eastern Mennonite School. Skilled with his hands and in relating to people of all backgrounds, Richard \u2014 often joined by his wife Jolene \u2014 has used his gifts in the local\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":23534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[46,320],"class_list":["post-23533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","tag-alumni","tag-homecoming"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23533"}],"curies":[{"name":"gracias","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nRichard values the perspective that service can give people. He advises high school students to \u201cget involved with work projects, volunteer opportunities, and places like summer camps.\u201d And, if at all possible, \u201cgo to other countries and see what the rest of the world lives like. This will give you a greater appreciation of the lifestyle you have.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nRichard will be honored during Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 18-20, at a Saturday morning breakfast. On Sunday morning, he will share brief reflections during a 10 a.m. worship service in the auditorium. See details and register here<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"