Alisa Regina Hilary Obituary (1926 - 2012)

Alisa Regina Hilary, 85 Alisa Regina Hilary, 85, a resident of Oak Lea Nursing Home, Harrisonburg, VA, died peacefully Tuesday, June 19, 2012. Nee Phebe Frankie Shenk, Ms. Hilary was born on July 14, 1926 in Warwick County, Virginia and was the daughter of the late Henry Michael and Frankie Dora Showalter Shenk. She lived in Denbigh, Williamsburg, Grottoes, and Harrisonburg, VA. In 1944 she graduated from Eastern Mennonite School. Later in life she attended Eastern Mennonite College, Blue Ridge Community College and James Madison University where she studied psychology and counseling. She was a retired bank teller and was a member of Lindale Mennonite Church. A farm girl and farmer's wife for 39 years, Alisa loved nature, especially birds, flowers and vegetables. She took her family on Sunday afternoon hikes in the woods and proudly presented them with lovely meals direct from her garden and bread baked in her oven. She was an advocate of songbirds and later in life grew to love certain cats as well. She was a musician, sang in church choir and loved to entertain through song and accompanying herself on the autoharp. She wrote numerous songs, several of which placed in competitions. She was also a skilled seamstress specializing in alterations, repairing clothing for local clothes closets, participating in Women's Sewing Circles, teaching young women to sew, and savoring the challenges of making gifts, clothes, and crafts. Her crewel embroidery pieces won blue ribbons at the county fair. Alisa loved to be around people and combined that with active membership in volunteer community and church organizations. She was a Sunday School and Bible School teacher, song leader, librarian, and newsletter editor, a 4-H leader and literacy teacher. She loved words and wrote numerous poems, songs and essays, and during the last two decades self-published collections of her writings as well as an autobiography, Peace After Pain. She is survived by her ex-husband, Allen Hertzler; five children, Leslie Allen Hertzler (Glenna) of Harrisonburg, VA, Kathryn Hertzler Kornhaus (Gary Seward) of Punta Gorda, FL, Marie Alice Hertzler (Brian Maughan), of Yellow Springs, OH, Ashton Lee Hertzler (Loralea) of Elkton, VA, Willis Ray Hertzler of Harrisonburg, VA; three sisters and one brother, Edith Layman, Helen Mabel Baker, Emily Grace Shenk, Henry Michael Shenk, II; grandchildren, Craig A. Kornhaus of Sarasota, FL, Lindsay J. Hertzler (Graham D. Hollander) of Jacksonville, NC, Cindi K. Martin (Phillip) of Silver Spring, MD, Patrick L. Hertzler of Durham, NC, Mackenzie Hertzler and Luke Hertzler of Elkton, VA. Ms. Hilary was preceded in death by, a son, Lloyd Kenneth Hertzler, a foster daughter, Joyce Ann Clark Moss and three sisters, Fannie Virginia Hartzler, Ellen Peachey, and Esther Buckwalter. Pastors Peg Engle, and H. Michael Shenk, II will conduct a memorial service at the Strite Auditorium at the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community in Harrisonburg, VA on Sunday, July 1, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. The ashes of Ms. Hilary will be buried at Lindale Cemetery, 3:30 p.m. Sunday, July 1. Memorial contributions may be made in Alisa Hilary's name to the National Audubon Society 225 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014 and to the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community (VMRC) Compassion Fund, 1501 Virginia Avenue, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22802. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.mcmullenfh.com.