Peter Daniel Shetler, 65, of Goshen, Ind., died Sept. 26, 2022. He was born Jan. 20, 1957, to Luther Leroy Shetler and Geneva (Stamm) Shetler in Bluffton, Ohio. He married his teenage sweetheart, Jan Bender Shetler, on April 18, 1977 at Camp Friedenswald.
Together they attended Goshen College and Bluffton University, and he eventually graduated from Utah State University in agronomy. They then served for 11 years with Mennonite Central Committee on the continent of Africa in Ethiopia, Zaire/Congo and Tanzania. After MCC service they attended graduate school at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He studied agroforestry. As Jan completed her doctoral research in Tanzania, he volunteered on a GIS project in the Serengeti National Park.
Together with his brother, Terry, they bought a dryland farm near Dove Creek, Colo. They lived there for over three years before moving back to Goshen in 1999 for Jan to begin her work as a history professor at Goshen College. In 2000, he began working for Bethany Christian Schools. In more than 20 years there, he oversaw facilities and technology. It was a place and community he loved, and where he died in an accident.
He was a citizen of the world and lived in many countries, including Jamaica, Haiti, Ethiopia, Zaire/Congo, Portugal, Tanzania and Senegal. He enjoyed camping, fishing and exploring the outdoors with his grandchildren. He readily helped people and often shared food with them. He was affable and kind, patient and loving. He could fix anything and once told a potential employer at a repair shop, “If you tell me what it’s supposed to do, I’ll make it work.” Wherever he lived he became an active member of a church community, using his physical and spiritual gifts daily to support others.
Survivors include his wife, Jan Bender Shetler; two children, Daniel (Maytal Saltiel) Shetler and Paul (Rebecca) Shetler Fast; four siblings, Joenita (Stanley) Clemens, Terry (Bonnie Wolfe) Shetler, Lu Derstine and Tami (Michael) Hardy; and five grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his mother-in-law, Naomi Bender; and a brother-in-law, Dale Derstine.
Funeral services were held at College Mennonite Church, Goshen.
