Donna Stoffer

Donna Rupert Stoffer (née Donna Rosabell Rupert), 96, of Ashland, passed away at Brookwood Place in Brethren Care Village on December 28, 2017.

She was born in Savannah, Ohio, August 11, 1921, to Stanton Leroy and Alta Agnes (née Welch) Rupert.  She graduated from Ashland High School in 1939 and from Ashland College in 1943.  On August 18, 1946, she married Thomas L. Stoffer, who had served in the Army in Europe during World War II.  They were married in the Greenwich Methodist Church.  During their nearly 70 years of marriage they lived in Cleveland (1946-1951), Hamden, Connecticut (1951-1962), Canton, Ohio (1962-1986), and, after they both retired, Ashland (1986 on).

Donna was a gifted teacher, who began her career in the public schools in the Lucas, Ohio, School District, 1943-1945, the Greenwich School District, 1945-1946, and, after her marriage, the Cleveland Heights School District, 1946-1948. After a seventeen-year break to raise her four children, Richard, Dale, Sue Ellen, and Sharon, she returned to the teaching profession in 1965, serving at Glenwood and GlenOak High Schools in Plain Township, Stark County, Ohio, until her retirement in 1985.   During her years of teaching, she taught English and Latin, working primarily with freshmen and sophomores.

Donna was a woman of great discernment and sensitivity, qualities that she brought both to her classroom and her home.  She was very dedicated to her children, reading to them, teaching both her daughters and sons how to cook, and providing a living testimony of Christian faith.  She modeled the gifts of patience, kindness, and gentleness in all her relationships.  She also had the gift of hospitality.  She often hosted missionaries and visiting pastors in her home and, after retiring, opened her home for many years as the gathering place for meals on Friday nights with her children and grandchildren who nearly all had located to Ashland.

The church and Christian ministry were very important to Donna and Tom.  Both served as deacons and Sunday School teachers in the Canton Trinity and (Ashland) Garber Brethren Churches.  Donna had a deep love for the high school aged students whom she taught in Sunday School in both of these congregations.  She was also very active at the denominational level in the Brethren Church.  She was a member of the Brethren Youth Board (1965-1966) and the Board of Christian Education (1966-1977) and served as the President of the Woman's Missionary Society (1983-1990).

She is survived by her son, Richard (Cathy) Stoffer; son, Dale (Marcia) Stoffer; daughter, Sue Ellen (Bruce) Ronk, all of Ashland; and daughter, Sharon (Herb) Matyas of North Prairie, Wisconsin; sister, Joanne Hubbard of Ellenton, Florida; 10 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her mother in 1977, her father in 1991, her husband in 2016, and sisters, Jeanne in 2006 and Marilyn in 2009.

Visitation will be 10 a.m. and the funeral service will follow at 11 a.m. Wednesday, January 3, 2018, at Park Street Brethren Church, with Pastor Nate Bebout officiating.  Internment will be in Ashland County Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages contributions to the Thomas and Donna Stoffer Endowed Scholarship at Ashland Theological Seminary, 910 Center St., Ashland, Ohio, 44805.

Roberts Funeral Home is handling the funeral arrangements.  Online condolences can be shared with the family at www.robertsfuneralhome.com.