Ethel Yake Metzler

Mary Ethel Yake was born December 19, 1923, in Scottdale, PA, to Martha Erb Eby Yake and C.F. (Clayton Franklin) Yake, the second of six children. She died on July 27, 2019, in Goshen, Indiana, age 95.

After graduation from Scottdale High School (1941), Ethel studied at Eastern Mennonite College before completing a double major in Chemistry and Religion at Goshen College in 1946. Although accepted at four medical schools, her plan to be a psychiatrist was thwarted by sudden hearing loss. Her scientific curiosity and passion to help others continued to be expressed in myriad ways throughout her life.

After college, Ethel returned to Scottdale to work with her father editing The Youth’s Christian Companion at the Mennonite Publishing House. She served as Director of Girl’s Camps at Laurelville Church Center, and she was a member of the first national cabinet of Mennonite Youth Fellowship.

On June 10, 1951, Ethel married Edgar Metzler. Their first child, Michael, was born in 1952.

In 1954, they moved to Washington, D.C., where Ed was the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) representative at the National Service Board for Religious Objectors. Ethel managed the MCC Volunteer guesthouse, offering safe haven and counsel to young volunteers. Ethel broadened her art education at D.C.’s galleries and museums, and their second child Mary was born in 1955.

In 1957, Ethel and Ed moved to Canada where Ed was minister of First Mennonite Church of Kitchener, Ontario. In addition to her roles as pastor’s wife and deaconess, Ethel worked as a writer and editor for Herald Press as she mothered her growing family.  She authored a chapter for the month of April in a book of daily meditations, Breaking Bread Together, entitled “In Praise of Little Things”, in which she expressed her unique spirituality and Biblical knowledge by weaving her vivid perceptions of family and natural life into reflections on scripture. Peter was born in 1958, Philip in 1959.

In 1962, the family moved to Akron, PA, where Ed was Director of Peace Section at MCC. Ethel helped train MCC volunteers and continued her writing and editorial work, taught Sunday School, and was a Girl Scout leader. She started wearing “Jackie O” hats to church instead of the customary covering over her neat bun.

She literally let her hair down, when, in 1967, Ed was appointed by the Peace Corps to be a director in Nepal. For Ethel, this was transformational.

Her high school yearbook had described her as one who “seeks unbeaten paths of thinking…original…unpredictable…with poetic, artistic, and musical abilities…to study people is her hobby.” Years later, in her PhD application, Ethel reflected:

From 1967 to 1974 our family lived in Nepal, India, Thailand, and Iran. Rich and rewarding, these years permitted me freedom to manage a personal life that incorporated hedonistic goals as well as humanitarian, social, and professional concerns. I traveled, collected, became immersed in Nepali and Indian thought and art, dipped into Indian and Nepali history and religion, worked with women-directed welfare agencies and organizations in Kathmandu and Calcutta, and helped in the training of Peace Corps volunteers and served as a counselor. I taught in the American schools of Kathmandu and Calcutta. As our years in Peace Corps came to an end, my decision to go to graduate school was firmly backed by my husband and family.

Returning to Goshen in 1974, Ethel started graduate studies, receiving an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Western Michigan University in 1976. Additional graduate studies at Purdue University’s Family Counseling Program and at Indiana University’s Kinsey Institute equipped her for a lifelong practice of individual and family counseling.

Ethel worked at Family Counseling Services in Elkhart, IN, for 12 years, where she developed a program for families who experienced sexual abuse, working with both victim and abuser. Her compassion, skill, and ability helped people to heal and to grow into the fullness of their unique potential. Her leadership and training skills were acknowledged by certification as Clinical Member and Approved Supervisor by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapists, and as Certified Therapist and Supervisor by the American Association for Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists. She was an inspiration and mentor to many.

From 1989 to 1998, Ethel and Ed returned to their beloved Kathmandu, where Ed was Executive Director for United Mission to Nepal. Ethel continued her work in private practice as psychotherapist and consultant, serving a multi-cultural population of expatriate and Nepalese residents with sensitivity grounded in her faith, and an energetic engagement in the diversity and experience of others.

Ethel delighted in the vibrant food, art, and cultures of Southeast Asia. With openness of heart, curiosity of intellect, and the ability to create beauty in the spaces around her, her home was invitation, respite, and witness to a constant flow of people from all walks of life, belief, and purpose. Her generosity created a safe haven of comfort and pleasure for all who sat in fellowship and conversation around her table.

As a therapist deeply committed to the health and safety of children, Ethel was invited by the Japanese foundation, Arigatou International, to be a consultant at conferences in Japan and Switzerland on the theme, The Welfare of the Child . Through her moral and financial support, she enabled the Nepali translation of the children’s book, Take Care With Yourself:  A Young Person’s Guide to Understanding, Preventing, and Healing From the Hurts of Child Abuse .

Ethel was a member of Assembly Mennonite Church in Goshen since 1974. Throughout her life, she was active in Mennonite Church discussions about women’s empowerment and human sexuality. She served on the planning committee of the first Women in Ministry conference, on the Listening Committee on Sexuality , wrote for the MCC Women’s Concerns Report and edited issues on incest and sexual abuse.

In 2001, Ethel received the Keep the Faith, Share the Peace award from the Mennonite Church USA Assembly. In 2006, she was honored by Goshen College with the Culture for Service Award .

Wherever she lived, Ethel cultivated plants and flowers. She loved walking beaches of the world looking for shells, fossils, and stones worn by water and wind. She always found places to swim, and loved swimming in the ocean beyond the breakers with an elegant and steady stroke. Ethel loved to travel and share her experiences in richly descriptive correspondence valued by family and friends.

Ethel is survived by husband Edgar; children Michael (Maaret Koskenalho, d.); Mary Martha (Gordon Prieb) and their child Eli; Peter (Kathryn Rowedder); and Philip (Sandra Anstaett) and their children Noah, Christopher, and Rachel; and her brothers Stanley and Byron.

Ethel is preceded in death by siblings Lois (Kenagy), Marnetta (Brilhart), and Clayton Paul.

A memorial service will be held 3:00 pm, November 16, 2019, at Assembly Mennonite Church in Goshen, IN. Sharing and supper to follow.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Mennonite Central Committee, P.O. Box 500, Akron, PA, 17501, with Relief Kits for Refugees in memo line.