David Paul McBeth

David P. McBeth, 93, of Mechanicsburg, died unexpectedly on Saturday, May 10, due to a cardiac event at Messiah Lifeways in a memory-care neighborhood of the facility.

David was born the first of five children in Arcadia, FL, to Paul W. and Esther McBeth.

He is survived by four children: Carol (Gary) Shetler, Goshen, IN; Stephen (Jana) McBeth, Atlanta, GA; Dora Witters, Dover, PA; and Timothy (Maria) McBeth, Colorado Springs, CO; eight grandchildren: Leslie Nigh Lewis, Lauren McBeth, Stephanie Curtiss, Julia McBeth, Justin Witters, Nicolette Scalph, Tyler McBeth, and Abigail McBeth; three step-grandchildren, Courtney Shetler, Clarissa Shetler, and Zachary Shetler; and one great-grandchild, Noah Scalph. David is also survived by his youngest brother, John McBeth, Akron, PA.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Lois; his parents; his sister, Rachel Brand; and two brothers, Joseph McBeth and Ethan McBeth.

He loved to engage people in conversation. His memory of the details people shared with him and their connections with each other was phenomenal. He even remembered these after he experienced memory loss of more recent events in his daily life during the last couple of years. 

Upon graduation from Messiah College with a bachelor’s degree in religious education, David married Lois Fern Hostetler on June 10, 1952, and they had 65 years of marriage before she died in 2017. David followed his father in becoming an ordained minister in the Brethren in Christ Church and served a rural church near Hiawatha, KS, and a church near Massillon, OH, before moving to study three years at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, KY.  He supported his family during that time by co-managing the seminary print shop. Upon receiving his M.Div degree at Asbury, he then served for three years as pastor at the Brethren in Christ church in Palmyra, PA, also teaching Bible correspondence courses for Messiah College during that time.

David next began work as an administrator for Messiah College, Grantham, PA, and spent 19 years (1963-1982) with the college. Most of those years he served as Director of College Advancement. A Messiah College brochure in the year 2000 credited David with initiating several alumni services, including establishing the first alumni office, coordinating Homecoming programming for 18 years, initiating The Bridge magazine, and convening the first alumni advisory council along with leading four major capital campaigns for buildings erected during that time period. In 2000, due to a generous gift from his children to fund the McBeth Alumni Center, a place for alumni administrative offices on campus, the Center was named in honor of David ’52 and Lois (Hostetler ’52) and their service to Messiah College.

David also completed a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min) degree from Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena, CA) in 1981 after a number of years of taking long-distance courses and at least one summer of  weeks-long concentrated, in-person study at the Fuller campus, with his wife and two youngest children with him in Pasadena.

After his time at Messiah concluded, David became the Stewardship Director for the Brethren in Christ denomination for four years, traveling all over the U.S. to connect with the people of the denomination.  Finally, during the last 20 or more years of his career, he embarked on fundraising consulting work through the Ketchum Corporation (the largest public relations and fundraising firm in the U.S. at the time), focusing solely on working with churches, Christian colleges, and other non-profit fundraising campaigns [libraries, Christian schools, church-related retirement facilities, and several healthcare organizations (including Hospice of Central PA) in Pennsylvania and several adjoining states]. 

David was a lifelong learner, had a curiosity about many topics, and loved reading. 

David also volunteered his time during all of his adult life to serve on many church-related and denominational committees, including much at his beloved Grantham Brethren in Christ Church where he was a member for 61 years. He made it a top priority to support the work of the church, denomination, missions, and Messiah College financially as well.

David and Lois (along with their children in earlier years) were at many of the denomination’s General Conferences (held in the summer) at five locations across the United States, including in Ontario, Canada. 

Dave initiated taking family vacations in the early 1960s (mostly camping in those days) and continued to enjoy driving short and long distances as well as traveling throughout his life. He and Lois took a number of trips to see other parts of the world, including attending two Mennonite World Conferences. When his adult sons and their families moved a lot farther to the western U.S. and his older daughter (and her young daughter) moved to the Midwest, he was glad to make the long trips for keeping in touch with them and his grandchildren. And he never missed a local concert or event that involved one of his grandchildren.

David loved music, especially classical and choral music, and he sang in a number of choirs who performed oratorios over the years. He was an active participant in the Messiah Lifeways Singing Men for quite a few years. His older daughter remembers him taking the whole family to the free Sunday afternoon concerts in the State Forum hall in Harrisburg, PA. Also, his children remember that he listened to the Metropolitan Opera performance on the radio each Saturday  while he washed the family car outdoors. 

In 1998 Dave and Lois moved into a cottage at Messiah Lifeways, and when David moved into assisted living in the fall of 2023, he had spent 25 years on the Messiah Lifeways campus, including serving on the Board of Messiah Lifeways for a number of those years. 

The memorial service for David McBeth will be held on Saturday, June 21, at Grantham Brethren in Christ Church, 421 Grantham Road, Mechanicsburg, with visitation beginning at 9:30 a.m. and concluding at 10:50 a.m. prior to the service at 11:00 a.m. A lunch will be served after the service in the Fellowship Hall of the church. Cremation has occurred, and his remains will be buried at Grantham Memorial Park.  There will be no graveside service. 

Memorial gifts in lieu of flowers may be given to Messiah University in his name or to the Brethren in Christ U.S. World Missions. You can find the online links below.