Alumni of the Year

Joyce is a freelance writer and has documented medical procedures and designed interactive online writing improvement modules.  She has also written several commissioned works of local history and won prizes in fiction.  Joyce graduated with a B.A. in English from Eastern College and an M.A. in English from Villanova University.  In 2014 after twenty years, she retired as professor emerita from the English writing program at Eastern University where she taught advanced writing courses in essay, memoir, journalism, fiction, and playwriting.  She particularly enjoyed teaching narrative and published academically on the subject in “What’s God Got to Do with It: Teaching Personal Narrative at a Faith-based Institution” in Spirituality in Higher Education. Her most recently published books are Time and Memory: Life in a Small Place and Finding God’s Story: Christ Reformed Church at Indian Creek 1746-2021.”

Devon began his career as a CPA for a well-established accounting firm in Harrisonburg, Virginia.  In 1993, he became a founding partner of InterChange Group where he continues to serve as President. InterChange is a full-service warehousing and logistics company serving the east coast and currently has 22 warehousing facilities in Virginia.  The business has partnered with Friendship Industries, a Harrisonburg nonprofit, employing persons with disabilities and other barriers to employment.  Devon has a younger brother with disabilities, and he is an important part of Devon’s life.  Devon was named Business Person of the Year by the Harrisonburg Rockingham Chamber of Commerce.   

Esther received her nursing degree in 1977 from Eastern Mennonite College.  She worked in several regional hospitals before joining Mennonite Central Committee in Haiti for two and half years at Hospital Albert Schweitzer.  She then spent additional year with MCC as a Hospice Nurse in rural Kentucky.  Esther obtained a degree in Nurse-Midwifery in Kentucky and a master’s degree in nursing at Case Western Reserve University.  In 1996, after working as a midwife in Oregon, Esther and her family joined MCC in Burkina Faso for three years, where she volunteered as a midwife at two maternity hospitals, and assisted in the healthcare of volunteers.  Upon returning to the United States, Esther worked in Lancaster, PA as a Certified Nurse-Midwife until she retired in January of 2024.  Over the years, Esther helped welcome over 2500 babies into the world and she still loves talking about pregnancy and birth.  After listening to women and caring for them as a Nurse-Midwife, she was drawn to be a part of the Steven Ministry Program at James Street Mennonite Church where she attends. This is a healing through listening program to support people going through difficult times. She has recently joined the Steven Ministry leadership team.  She resides in Lancaster and enjoys being with family including her four grandchildren.

Greg is a songwriter and founding member of The Walking Roots Band, an acoustic music group based in Harrisonburg, Virginia.  The band is steeped in Anabaptist hymn-singing traditions.  In addition, Greg is the Director of Operations for The Soil and The Seed Project, founded in 2021 to nurture faith through music, art, and Little Liturgies. The project has followed the liturgical calendar and is intended for daily and weekly use in the home, and it is a gift to the church, given freely to any individual or community who wants it, thanks to partnership with Virginia Mennonite Missions and the generosity of others. The project now supports over 3,000 households around the world and the music has been streamed in over 70 countries.

Stephanie is a conservation biologist passionate about protecting our natural world and sharing its wonders with others. After graduating from Dock, Stephanie went on to pursue a B.S. in environmental science from Roanoke College, and then a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Miami. She has published 10 scientific manuscripts in various journals, and petitioned for listing of a threatened species, the Florida reef gecko. In May of 2022, she joined Tropical Audubon Society where she offers expertise in conservation biology, interpretive programming, and environmental advocacy. In her role as Education & Advocacy Director, she stewards the flagship Tropical Audubon Ambassador Program, which empowers community members to be better advocates for the environment. She also leads the youth education programming and is focused on providing hands-on environmental learning opportunities to children from underserved communities. 

Samuel received a bachelor’s degree (2016) from Georgetown University and a Juris Doctor (2019) and Master of Laws in Civil Justice (2021) from Georgetown University Law Center. He is currently the Managing Attorney for Probate & Estate Planning at DC Affordable Law Firm, a non-profit law firm in Washington D.C. that provides free and low-cost family law, immigration, probate, and estate planning legal services for modest and lower-income households. Prior to joining DC Affordable Law Firm, he interned at the National School Boards Association, Advocates for Justice and Education, and U.S. Department of Education, Office of General Counsel.