2011 Alumni of the Year
Outstanding Achievement Awards 
William H. Meyers '59
Willi has spent his lifetime in the field of agriculture and economic development policy which relates to international food production and distribution. His extensive work, including the authoring of numerous publications on agricultural and food policy and trade, is widely recognized. Willi has traveled around the world while working with USAID, World Bank, and USDA projects and has taught at various institutes and universities. He is currently Professor of Agricultural Economics and Director of International Agriculture Programs at the University of Missouri. Willi and his wife, Dali, live in Columbia, Missouri.
Eileen (Landis) Brothers '61
When Eileen started working at Landis Supermarket at age 10, she was beginning a life of dedication and commitment to the family business that has successfully operated for over 70 years. Eileen continues to provide stability and insight to keep a smooth operating environment for the family business. Her work also includes managing the Rockford Realty component of the business, as well as the philanthropy fund. Since graduating valedictorian of her class, Eileen has maintained strong ties to the Dock community. She has three daughters and four grandkids that all attended Dock. Her generous spirit is displayed in the way she continually gives back to the wider community.
Distinguished Service Awards
Ruth Ann (Rush) Moyer '59
Ruth Ann and her husband, Bob, have spent their entire lives devoted to mission work in Colombia, South America, sometimes living with and ministering to primitive tribes who did not speak English. Among many other things, their work included running a clinic and trading post, teaching literacy, and also teaching simple gospel truths. In 1990 they helped develop a Christian school in the state of Magdalena that now has 500 students. Ruth Ann is a woman of faith who has devoted her whole life to service, God, and His people. Bob and Ruth Ann now live in South Carolina.
 Leonard M. Dow '82
Leonard is the lead pastor at Oxford Circle Mennonite Church. He is Bishop of the Philadelphia District of the Lancaster Mennonite Conference. Leonard is also Board Chair of Oxford Circle Christian Community Development Association (OCCCDA) and Board Vice-Chair of MCC US. Through these ministry avenues and many more, Leonard seeks to engage and nurture local and global communities in transformative work grounded in the reconciling love of Jesus Christ. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Rosalie, and children Carmela, Marcela, and Lorenzo.
Young Alum of the Year
Jonathan D. Moyer '98
Jonathan interacts with a range of governments and international organizations to promote human development and planning. He has worked with policy-making organizations in Africa, Europe, and North America. He has co-authored documents on the following topics: African development prospects, fair trade, information communication technology impacts on climate change, measures of state fragility, integrated assessment modeling, and environmental impacts on the Human Development Index. He is a dissertation level PhD candidate at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies and a 2002 graduate of Bluffton University. Jonathan speaks Spanish and Vietnamese.
Rachel Miller '00
Rachel works for the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, where she works on a program that provides humanitarian assistance to and supports communities affected by violent conflict in Sudan and South Sudan. Rachel is currently in Khartoum, Sudan, where she gathers information from U.N. agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on the needs of conflict-affected populations, which helps direct humanitarian aid and resources. Her work also informs policy-making and political negotiations to ensure that people’s basic needs are met, even in the face of ongoing violent conflict.
2010 Alumni of the Year
Outstanding Achievement Awards 
Gerald C. Musselman '58
Dr. Musselman taught psychology, helped establish a community mental health clinic in Chapel Hill, NC, was head of the psychology department at Penn Foundation, operated an independent practice for 26 years, and was a consultant and therapist in five school systems. He served as administrator of Camp Men-O-Lan, chaired the founding board of Indian Creek Foundation, and since retirement, has been serving as manager of the Furniture Shoppe at Care and Share Shoppes, Souderton. 
Bronwyn L. Histand '81
Bronwyn, an educator for 25 years, taught at both Penn View Christian School and Dock. Over 16 years at Dock, she has filled in for faculty and administrators as needed. This year she is Dock’s assistant principal. She served three years as the Christian Ed Director at Blooming Glen Mennonite Church and chairs their Congregational Leadership Board. Since 2002, she has been Dock’s chapel and curriculum coordinator. She served as curriculum coordinator for Mennonite Schools Council from 2008-2010.
Distinguished Service Awards
Ruth Lapp Guengerich '64
Ruth has had a long-time interest in women’s issues. She has written, spoken, and led workshops on numerous topics including women’s development, changing gender roles, biblical views of gender roles, domestic and sexual violence, and the roles of pastors’ spouses. She served on the Mennonite Church Women’s Mission and Service Commission (WMSC) during its transition to Mennonite Women USA and is now president of MW USA. She leads workshops for pastors’ spouses and MW Sister-Care.
Thomas R. Bishop ‘65
Tom has always known the importance of giving back to his church, alma maters, and community. His career has been in investment banking with three different investment firms over the last 32 years. He continues to assist municipal clients in raising capital for public infrastructure in Colorado. Due to Tom's financial expertise, his contributions of time have often aligned with those gifts. He has been engaged in numerous volunteer service activities, including serving on the boards of 14 different organizations over.
Young Alum of the Year
Rebecca A. Nice '95
Rebecca became a Doctor of Osteopathy in 2004, returned to this area to practice medicine, and in December 2009, decided to open her own practice, Wellness Works. She believes a blend of mind, body, and spirit facilitates the healing process. The mission of Wellness Works is to provide an alternative medicine facility which blends various therapies and traditions, providing a unique approach to health care, individualized to each person.
David Landis '00
David is an outdoor adventure specialist. In 2007 he began using these gifts to blaze the Jesus Trail, a trail in Israel that allows people to walk in the footsteps of Christ, traveling on foot from Nazareth to Capernaum. David’s intention for the trail is to build transformational relationships and understandings between cultures and religions, while stimulating the livelihood of local communities. David and his wife, Anna, recently published a book about the Jesus Trail.
2009 Alumni of the Year
The Distinguished Service Award
Ted Swartz ’74
Ted creates and performs dramatic and comedic plays. For 20 years most of that creative work was with Lee Eshleman. Since Lee's death in 2007, Ted has been writing and performing new plays with a number of other artists. Ted & Company TheaterWorks performed the new show, “What Would Lloyd Do?” during Dock’s Homecoming Weekend.
The Outstanding Achievement Award
Reta Halteman Finger ’58
Reta has been teaching New Testament at Messiah College, Grantham, PA, since 1995. She has authored three books, co-authored one, written numerous articles, essays, and book reviews, and has been the keynote speaker and preacher at numerous conferences across the U.S. Reta has a thirst to understand and passion to share with lay people what Jesus’ gospel means for women and men today.
We added a new award category this year entitled the Young Alum of the Year. This award is based on the demonstration of academic, spiritual, and lifestyle practices as outlined in Dock’s graduate profile. The first recipients of this award were:
Amanda Fenchel ’99 - In addition to her full-time marketing job, Amanda is working with the Helping Hand Rescue Mission in Philadelphia helping provide evening recreation, Christian enrichment, sports activities, Bible studies, outings, and supporting the families of youth from the neighborhood.
Scott Hackman ’98 - Scott is Business Developer/Co-Founder of One Village Coffee (OVC). Scott focuses on business-to-business development, finding creative ways to help customers build their local market and have a global impact at the same time. OVC partners with Mama Project, Stephens Children, and ICEC2 Nigeria through profit sharing.
2008 Alumni of the Year
Outstanding Achievement Award
Dr. Jon Clemens
Distinguished Service Award
Sylvia “Sib” Nafziger Charles
Lansdale, PA, November 7, 2008 -- Jon Clemens, Ph.D., is a scientist and inventor with 19 patents to his credit, for technologies ranging from DVDs to high-definition TV to optical character recognition used in reading machines for the blind.
Sylvia “Sib” Nafziger Charles has cared for the injured and grieving at Ground Zero soon after 9/11, initiated a “Day of Pampering” for mothers of children and wives of husbands with disabilities, and is now part of a worldwide ministry that advocates for the needs of people with disabilities.
Their lives may have followed dramatically different paths, but Clemens and Charles have something in common: they are both graduates of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School and have been named the Lansdale school’s 2008 Alumni of the Year. Each received a colorful fraktur (Pennsylvania German folk art featuring ornate lettering) commemorating their achievements and service during Dock’s 2008 Homecoming weekend.
“Professional involvements and personal life stories of Dock graduates seem to weave a rich and thick tapestry,” said Dock Principal Elaine A. Moyer. “Jon and Sib inspire us to ground ourselves in faith, stretch our minds in wonder and imagination, and live for others. That Dock difference was present in the first graduating class and it continues today.
Dr. Clemens, a member of Dock’s first graduating class in 1956, receives the 2008 Outstanding Achievement Award based on his academic and business accomplishments since graduation. Dr. Clemens graduated from Goshen College (Goshen, IN) with a degree in physics in 1960, then earned master’s and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technolo
His career encompassed 21 years at RCA Research Laboratories, with major contributions to a variety of multimedia projects, including the development of DVDs. He also served as president of Chronar Corp., a leader in photovoltaic panels for consumer products, spent five years as senior vice president at the Stanford Research Institute and was president and CEO of Sharp Laboratories of America where he directed a variety of technology developments ranging from cable and wireless to information storage and transfer to LCD technology. By appointment of Washington Governor Christine Gregoire, Dr. Clemens also chairs the Washington Technology Center, a technology incubator based in the Seattle area.
Charles received Dock’s Distinguished Service Award, based on her mission and service involvement since she graduated in 1975. She is eastern Pennsylvania program director for Joni and Friends, a worldwide ministry to individuals and families with disabilities, and directs a family retreat program that offers 26 retreats annually throughout the U.S. and internationally. At Ground Zero she and four other Joni and Friends staff members ministered to the severely injured, those who had lost family members or needed to leave behind co-workers with disabilities when they escaped the Twin Towers. Charles also ministers to someone with disabilities at home: Her husband, Jess, is a quadriplegic.
2007 Alumni of the Year
Distinguished Service Award
Jacob H. Rittenhouse, Class of '57
Jacob H. Rittenhouse '57, recently retired from Hesston College after serving as director of choirs and music instructor for the past 15 years. Jake also served 24 years in public secondary education in Phoenix and Tempe, and three years on a Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona. Jake and his wife, Nancy, are the parents of two grown sons, Brian and Gavin.
Outstanding Achievement Award
Earl L. Derstine, Class of '65
Earl L. Derstine '65, has been the owner of Derstine's, Inc. since 1983 (formerly Alderfer Food Co.). Prior to that time, Earl worked at Bergey’s, Inc., where he began pumping gas and progressed to become the operation manager of retail stores. Earl and his wife, Janis, are the parents of two grown children, Heidi Derstine DeFehr ’89 and Zachariah Christian ’97.
The Alumni of the Year awards were presented at the Appreciation Dinner on Friday, October 19, 2007.
2006 Alumni of the Year
The recipients of Christopher Dock Mennonite High School’s 2006 Alumni of the Year awards were announced recently. Beth (Brenneman) Styer, a 1967 graduate, received the Distinguished Service Award. Phil Lederach, a 1976 graduate of Dock, received the Outstanding Achievement Award. This is the seventh year the awards were presented.
Distinguished Service Award
Beth (Brenneman) Styer, Class of '67
The Distinguished Service Award is based on mission or service involvement since graduation while the Outstanding Achievement Award is based on academic, professional, or business accomplishments since graduation from Christopher Dock.
Since high school, Styer’s mission and service experiences have literally reached around the world. From teaching at a school in India to directing an organization that supports and educates pregnant and parenting teens in Doylestown, her ability to think and act locally and globally is apparent. Styer is the director of Child, Home and Community (CHC), a community resource for pregnant and parenting teens, offering childbirth, parenting, and support classes. For the past 20 years, her work helps create a safe place for young pregnant women and gives babies a chance to begin their life healthier than they would without this organization. Styer has been involved with mothers and babies through her work with La Leche League International, UNICEF, and the World Alliance of Breastfeeding Action (WABA). For the past 10 years, Styer has been a volunteer member for the steering committee of WABA. She has been chairperson the past three years. She resides in Telford with her husband Jim. They have two sons, Andrew and Michael.
Outstanding Achievement Award
Phil Lederach, Class of '74
Lederach is president of Lederach Associates, an architectural firm in Lederach that has made a mark on this community’s landscape for over five decades. The firm was started by his grandfather, Charles M. Talley, and in 1972 transitioned to Phil’s father, Paul Lederach, when it became Paul E. Lederach Jr. P.C. In 1981, Lederach Associates, Architects + Engineers, was born. Phil’s special talent is to create a unique building that also fits the community. His signature is a building that is pleasant, inviting, and yet coincides with its surroundings. He served as a member of the Lower Salford Township Planning Commission for 25 years. Lederach and his wife, Brenda, reside in Lederach. They are the parents of one daughter, Carolyn, a senior at Dock.
2005 Alumni of the Year
Awards were presented at the CD Appreciation Dinner October 22, 2005.
Distinguished Service Award
Arnold ’82 & Marlene ’83 Gehman Derstine
Arnold and Marlene have served in Puebla, Mexico since 1997 and have recently returned to the states. While serving in Mexico, Arnold was the assistant pastor at Maranatha Church, where he also worked with home training for cell group leaders. Marlene served as the church administrator and worked with intercessory prayer and women’s ministry. They are the first alumni married couple to receive this award. Arnold and Marlene are the parents of three daughters, and we are excited to have their oldest daughter, Sara, on campus this fall!
Oustanding Achievement Award
Douglas A. Landis ‘76
Doug is a professor in the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University and has been published extensively in journals, books, and reviews. Doug’s areas of expertise are the use of biological agents to control pests and agricultural landscape designs to maximize stability and sustainability. He is a recognized expert who is increasingly called upon to advise federal and international agencies on issues related to agricultural sustainability. Doug and his wife, Joy, have two children.
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