Expansion of Engle Center marks new era
Messiah dedicated the expansion of the Engle Center for Counseling and Health Oct. 12. The original building dedication for the Engle Center was October 18, 1996, 27 years ago almost to the day. The namesake of the Engle Center is Dr. Harold (Doc) and Mary Elizabeth Engle in recognition of their meritorious lives of service to both humanity and to Messiah University.
“I had the privilege of meeting with Doc many times with President Phipps. He was the ‘kind of kind man’ that reminds us of what God calls us to be. Truly, both Doc and Mary Elizabeth were instruments of God’s peace: where there was hatred, they brought the love of the Lord; where there was despair, they brought hope in the Lord; and where there was darkness, they brought the Light of the Lord. We are honored to maintain their legacy at the Engle Center,” said Jon Stuckey, vice president for advancement at Messiah University.
Co-chairs for the Engle Center expansion included Dr. Emerson Lesher and Dr. Ruth Detweiler Lesher and Dr. Joe and Dr. Nancy Huerter.
The Leshers
The Leshers are longtime advocates of Messiah University. A psychologist and aging services executive, Emerson served as a Trustee of Messiah for many years and received the 2011 Messiah Alumni Christian Service Award. Ruth has been an advocate for mental health services as a psychologist and partner in a behavioral healthcare group practice for many years. She also has been a national leader for Mennonite Central Committee, a global organization focused on supporting the disadvantaged and oppressed.
“A special connection is that Emerson lived in what is now the Engle Center when his father was a student at Messiah. We are profoundly grateful to Emerson and Ruth for their remarkable acts of generosity and are pleased to name the new Emerson Lesher and Ruth Detweiler Lesher Medical Wing in their honor,” said Stuckey.
The Huerters
Joe and Nancy Huerter have been long involved in the Messiah Trustee community. They are also parents of Michael, a 2014 graduate of Messiah. They not only agreed to co-chair the fundraising effort for the Engle Center, but they also led the effort to name the counseling wing in honor of their longtime friends, Lowell and Anna Jean (AJ) Mann, who both graduated from Messiah in the 1940s. Lowell went on to Thomas Jefferson Medical School, and AJ was a medical technologist. They moved to India to serve as medical missionaries in 1959 where they worked at Madhepura Christian Hospital. He worked as a physician, and she established a tuberculosis clinic. After returning to Pennsylvania, Lowell had a family practice in Elizabethtown while they raised their two sons, Eric ’87 and Tom ’88. Lowell then furthered his medical training with a psychiatry residency. He worked for many years in mental health and medical education at Penn State Hershey Medical Center. They also volunteered their services to BIC World Missions in addition to their local congregation, the Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church. Throughout their lives, they recognized the need for spiritual, physical and psychological care, living it out in their service to others. Messiah dedicates the Lowell and AJ Mann Health Services Wing of the Engle Center in their honor and memory.
Additional new spaces in the Engle Center include:
The Joe & Nancy Huerter Conference Room
The Tony & Susan Schiano Waiting Area
The Student Government Association Reception Area
The Tom & Heather Mann Medical Director Office
The Larry & Priscilla Bashore Dietician Office
The Ken & Renee Moreland Testing Lab
The Todd & Marian Lehman Employee Breakroom
The Nevin & Doneen Dourte Counseling Director Office
With the 1,800-square-foot addition to the 4,400 of existing space, the Engle Center can now accommodate more services for students’ well-being and care.
—Staff report