Begin by Loving Again

With a sharp eye for detail and an abundance of humility, courage, faith, hope, and love, Dorcas Leah Stoltzfus Morrow tells the story of her surprising life, from her birth on a farm in eastern Lancaster County in September 1931, the first of five siblings, to her return to Lancaster County as a resident of Landis Homes Retirement Community. Here you will meet her family of origin, and the family she accepted and nurtured through a marriage begun at midlife. You will see in these pages the world of her childhood and youth, her determination to become a doctor despite obstacles, her adventures as a missionary doctor in East Africa, and her perseverance in living all of her life to the glory of God. "I vividly remember one beautiful fall evening when I had finished unloading the corn from the wagon. Mike and Roy and I had started home. As we passed the farmhouse and the orchard's few remaining apple trees, I looked westward beyond the meadow hill and toward Gap, and saw a gorgeous red-orange sunset unfold before my eyes. It was just awesome! And I can still remember that I asked God to let the end of my life be as beautiful as that sunset. Looking back seventy years later, I can see clouds of disappointment and depression in my life, plus attempts to serve God by my own effort. But I can still see that sunset as an ideal of what God wants to do in me and through me" (p. 54).
About the Author: Dorcas Leah Stoltzfus Morrow, MD, passed away in her sleep at Landis Homes Retirement Community in Lititz, PA on Friday, August 7, 2015. She was the second wife of Theodore E. Morrow, who passed away in January 2004. Born in Salisbury Township in Eastern Lancaster County, PA, on September 20, 1931, Dorcas was the first child of Christian and Elizabeth Stoltzfus. She attended the former Gap Centralized School and West Fallowfield Christian School, and graduated from Lancaster Mennonite School, Eastern Mennonite College, and the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. She interned at Chester County Hospital in West Chester, PA, and later was a resident in OB-GYN for three years at Harrisburg Hospital in Harrisburg, PA. She served two terms as a medical doctor in Tanzania and Somalia with the Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities (now Eastern Mennonite Missions, or EMM) before marrying Ted, then worked as a physician for the School District of Philadelphia. She finished her professional life as a psychiatrist at Norristown State Hospital. She is survived by a son, 4 stepchildren, 5 grandchildren, 3 siblings, and 13 nieces and nephews. Theodore Eggleston Morrow was born in Hammondsport, New York, on August 22, 1928, and raised in nearby Bath, NY. His parents were Olin Archie Morrow and Alice Eggleston Morrow. He graduated from the Haverling High School in Bath, attended the University of Rochester, and graduated from Houghton College in Houghton, NY. He served in South Korea with the U.S. Army from 1951 to 1953. He married Catherine Virginia Roth on November 27, 1955. They were blessed with four living children. Catherine died of breast cancer on March 19, 1974. Ted then married Dorcas Leah Stoltzfus, a college roommate of Catherine's, on August 4, 1974. This union was blessed with a living son. Ted worked for the Mennonite Publishing House in Scottdale, PA, from 1954 to 1965 and for the Augsburg Fortress Press in Philadelphia, PA, from 1966 to 1968. He spent the rest of his professional career as a translator of written works from more than 25 languages into English. In addition to his five children and five grandchildren, he is also survived by a sister and two nephews.