Horace Elmer Huse

I, Horace Elmer Huse, was born May 10, 1928 in Modesto, CA to Horace Elery and Estelle Matie (Stetler) Huse, who took me home to their 20 acre ranch between Escalon and Manteca, where my father had built his own house and dairy barn. Besides some dairy cows, a team of horses, and chickens, he had planted and grafted 12 acres of English walnuts, interplanted with grapevines, which he also had grafted; he also had planted several acres of almonds and apricots, and more recently had bought another 20 acres he was planting to almonds. In addition to livestock, orchards, and vineyards, my parents also added two other kids to their family: my brothers Donald (deceased), who married Dorothy Harnden (now living in Modesto), and Robert, who married Yvonne Hohman (now living in Strathmore, Alberta, Canada). From the git-go, my parents were devout followers of Jesus Christ and ministered faithfully as deacons and spiritual counselors in the Manteca Brethren Church in which I and my brothers were raised and nurtured in the Christian faith. I graduated from Van Allen Grammar School near Escalon in 1942 and from Ripon Union High School in 1946. However, in 1937 my father died from melanoma, leaving our mother to raise three young children on a farm still deep in debt, which she managed to do with the help of relatives, friends, and church family, along with her own hard labor, deep faith, and resolute spirit. Upon graduation from high school, I answered the call of my church to the ministry and traveled to Ashland, OH for my undergraduate work at Ashland College (now Ashland University). With the help of dedicated college professors, friends, and family (and employment at Faultless Rubber Company), I was able to graduate from college in 1950 and from Ashland Theological Seminary in 1953. Along the way, a certain sophomore by the name of JoAnn Lorraine Hanna had caught my eye, and we tied the knot on July 5 that same year, and a week later at 3:00 a.m. got off the train in Meyersdale, PA, to preach my first sermon in the Main Street Brethren Church. Three years later, we moved from this quiet coal mining town to rural Indiana, where I served the Loree Brethren Church for four years, then to the small town of Akron, IN for another three years. From there we went to Logansport for six years and helped them relocate to a new location where they could build a more adequate facility. Next we moved to Canton, IL for a four-year pastorate, followed by five years at Heatherdowns Church of the Brethren in Toledo, OH. During these years, JoAnn and I raised three children, Janet Yvonne Huse, Maumee, OH; Barbara Jean (Terry) Yearty, Toledo, OH; and Brian David (deceased, Jeanne) Huse, Westland, MI. Each congregation presented unique challenges and rewards, but after 25 years of parish ministry, I felt the need for personal renewal and revitalization. So I enrolled in a year of intensive clinical training for hospital chaplaincy in 1978, and discovered this was my niche in pastoral ministry. At the same time, JoAnn had gone back to public school teaching in Toledo. My first chaplaincy position was at Detroit Receiving Hospital, so we moved to Inkster, just west of Detroit. However, no teaching positions were available in the Detroit area, so JoAnn commuted for five years back to Toledo. Finally, a position opened up at St. Vincent Medical Center (now Mercy St. Vincent) in Toledo, where I have been doing hospital ministry ever since, first as a staff chaplain, then since 1994 as a part-time associate. Since retiring from full-time ministry in 1994, I have been involved in volunteer service in church and charity-related ministries: a mission to Honduras in 1999, a volunteer at Heifer Ranch in AR in 2001-2004, various disaster sites in the U.S., a beekeeper for Toledo Grows since 2010, and leadership positions in my congregation at Heatherdowns Church until it closed in 2013. Besides my dearly beloved wife, JoAnn, and my children Janet and Barbara Yearty (Terry). I leave behind one granddaughter, Alexia Yearty of Spokane, WA and three grandsons: Jake, Mitchell, and Ethan Huse, Westland, MI; a brother, Robert (Yvonne) Huse of Strathmore, Alberta, Canada; a sister-in-law, Dorothy Huse of Modesto, CA; many nieces and nephews; and too many friends and colleagues to name. Sadly my son Brian preceded me in death in 2015. My Legacy: God loves you just as much as he loves me. He loves and cares for every human being, including those we dislike, fear, or hate, and those we don’t even know. He has a special concern for those who are suffering, in need, vulnerable, and at risk, regardless of their politics, ethnicity, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, or gender. God invites us to join him in his ministry of love to everyone we meet and to everyone we have the opportunity and resources to help.