Miriam Ellen Graber Schrock, 94, of Goshen, Ind., died April 24, 2023. She was born March 30, 1929, in Goshen to Elam and Eliza (Bender) Hochstetler.
As a teenager, she became involved in the Amish mission movement of the 1950s. She married Harvey Graber, who was also involved in the movement, on Dec. 21, 1952. They spent five years in Red Lake, Ont., working with the Ojibwe tribe, providing day school for Native children who were not allowed at the public school.
In Red Lake she met Orie and Ruth Schrock, and the two families became deeply connected.
Miriam became a pastor’s wife when Harvey, while studying at Goshen Biblical Seminary, began serving as pastor at Maple Grove Mennonite Church in Topeka, Ind. After five years as a pastor, he came home one day offering the choice to go abroad as missionaries to either Africa or Brazil. With five children, they spent 10 years in Brazil under Mennonite Board of Missions. When Harvey was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, they returned to Goshen, where she cared for him for a year until his death in 1978.
A widow at 49, she worked for two years at Wieland Design and then for over 20 years as a certified nursing assistant at Greencroft Health Care.
After Ruth Schrock died, Miriam reconnected with Orie Schrock, and they were married on Oct. 12, 2002. They had 19 happy years together.
Miriam was a world traveler to Mexico, Switzerland, the Dominican Republic, Senegal, Zambia and Russia, mainly supporting family or church missions. A compassionate person with a servant heart, she was a spiritual mother to many. Her home was open to anyone in need. She modeled Jesus’ way of love. An avid quilter, she made hundreds of comforters for Mennonite Central Committee.
Surviving are her children, John (Crissie Musselman) of Goshen, Merlin of Goshen, Millard (Sheila Koch) of Goshen, Carol (Bill Frisbie) of Goshen and Galen (Ruth Brenneman) of Wellman, Iowa; stepchildren Alan (Pat Keener) of Webster, Fla., Anna (Dan Pipek) of Staples, Minn., Susan (Curt Martin) of Pillager, Minn., and Marlin (Cathy Cole) of Waverly, N.Y.; 14 grandchildren, 10 step-grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren; nine step-great-grandchildren; brothers Daniel (Arianne) Hochstetler, Noah (Loretta) Hochstetler and Joseph (Patricia) Hochstetler; and sister Marietta (Jonathon) Stoltzfus.
She was preceded in death by her husbands; brothers Laban, Samuel and Walter; sisters Esther and Rhoda; granddaughter Joyce Graber and great-grandson Joshua Angel.
