Mary Jane Lederach Hershey

Mary Jane Lederach Hershey died on Saturday morning, July 18, 2026, at Grand View Hospital. She was born on May 5, 1930 in Trooper Pennsylvania to parents, Willis Kulp and Mary Mensch Lederach. For 66 years she was married to, and dearly loved by, Hiram Robert Hershey (1926-2020).

In 1945 her parents moved to her grandparent's home in Lederach and in 1948 she graduated as valedictorian from Souderton High School. She earned degrees from Goshen College, Drexel University, and Gwynedd Mercy College. After teaching for five years in local high schools, and after her children were in elementary school, she became involved in the family real estate business, Hershey Farm Agency, Inc., working for fifty years as office manager, agent and associate broker.

In her young adult life she was deeply involved in parenting issues and was a leader for La Leche League, Nursing Mothers groups, Childbirth Education and FAMLEE. Through these involvements she helped to open local hospitals to birthing with fathers present. With Souderton based FAMLEE she taught Parent Effectiveness Training to numerous groups.

Mary Jane was one of the founders of the Harleysville Mennonite Heritage Center (MHC) where she served as the first director (volunteer) of the organization at its initial site in Souderton. In mid-life she served two terms as President and was later honored as Trustee Emerita. She continued with the organization into her 90's, working at organizing and indexing collections that had been deposited into the Kauffman Archive.

During her years with MHC, she became aware that there was an extraordinary record of faktur creativity associated with the Mennonite Meetinghouse Schools at Skippack and Salford. She said she felt the fraktur were asking her to tell their story. After 24 years of researching this phenomenon, in 2003 her book This Teaching I Present: Fraktur from the Skippack and Salford Mennonite Meetinghouse Schools, 1747-1836 was published. The director of the American Folk Art Museum cited the book as "One of the most delightful and colorful studies of Pennsylvania German material culture ever to be published." It received an Award of Commendation from the American Association for State and Local History and is #41 in the series, Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History.

Her life centered around family and faith. She had a passion for bringing people together and working at justice issues. She participated in demonstrations locally and in Washington DC and Philadelphia. She and Hiram hosted many African, European and international groups. They spent a summer term in China teaching conversational English and she joined two delegations to Haiti with Christian Peacemaker Teams (now Community Peacemaker Teams).

A member of Salford Mennonite Church she served as an elder and with the Justice and Peace Group where she helped to initiate the Donation of the Month, the Peace Fraktur for sixth graders, the Peace Panels, Peace Camp, and she assisted with the resettlement of refuges. Her life motto was "Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God".

Mary Jane shared this faith statement: "I didn't understand completely the meaning of the 'Spirit of God', but often I felt a compulsion to work at justice issues. I credit those moments as movements of God's spirit within me."

Times together with Hiram, their children and grandchildren brought sparkle and contentment to her life. In reflecting about their growing family, she wrote, "Each one was special. We were family. We believed in and cared for each other."

Her family includes Hiram Peter Hershey and his wife Mary Jane Mulcahey and their children, Rebekah M. (Ben Kim), Sarah M., Michaela Elizabeth; James Lederach Hershey and his children Anna Kathryn (Mike Dimmig) and James Matthew; and daughter Mary Elizabeth Hershey and her spouse Merle Bergman. All her children are residents of Harleysville or Philadelphia. Her cherished son Thomas L. Hershey pre-deceased her in January 2026. She has one great-granddaughter, Emerson Jane Kim.

Siblings, Ruth Mensch Lederach Rittgers (St. Petersburg, FL) and John Mensch Lederach (Goshen, IN), zoomed every Sunday evening, starting during Covid, continuing until the death of her sister Ruth in 2024. After Ruth's death, Ruth's husband Phil Rittgers joined the Sunday evening conversations. Her brother Paul Mensch Lederach died in 2014 and her brother Byung Dong Kim passed in 2022.

In lieu of flowers, friends who wish to do so, may make contributions to the endowment at the Mennonite Heritage Center, 565 Yoder Road, Harleysville, PA 19438. She had a deep concern that the vision of the MHC would continue after the demise of the founders. During the last decade of life, with the help of her brother Byung Dong Kim and many friends, the MHC endowment was significantly increased. Cards may be sent in care of Beth Hershey, 1264 Old Sumneytown Pike, Harleysville, PA 19438.

Her body is being donated to Humanity Gifts Registry. At her request there will be no public service. Her family will gather privately to remember.