Marian G. (Longenecker) Burkholder

Marian Grace Longenecker Burkholder, 83, died on May 12th, 2023 at Messiah Village after a lengthy period of declining health. Marian will be remembered for her charismatic personality; fabulous sense of humor; her talents as a musician, public speaker and teacher; and her kind, encouraging and compassionate heart towards all those in need.  

     She was a wonderful mother to her three daughters, Kathy, Karen and Kristen, and raised them without competitiveness or gossip. It is because of her that these three women enjoy the friendship and love they still feel for one another to this day.  

      Marian was born October 14th, 1939 to Henry Z. and Rachael (Metzler) Longenecker in Middletown, PA. She was joyfully celebrated as the oldest of 5 girls: Carolyn, Elaine, Gloria and Nancy. 

   In her youth, she was known as an excellent singer and creative musician. She developed her own style of hymn variations and wrote some originals. At around the age of 15 she left home to attend Eastern Mennonite High School.

   In 1957 she attended Eastern Mennonite College and majored in elementary education, even though her heart was in music. Marian was paired with James Aaron Burkholder in a music room; she was his accompanist as he was taking voice lessons at the time. The rest is history; after graduating in 1961 from Goshen College with a B.A. in elementary education, she and Jim married three days later!

Between 1965 and 1971 the “Jimarian duet” became the Burkholder Five with the addition of Kathleen Grace, Karen Ruth and Kristen Rachelle. These daughters were the greatest joy of Jim and Marian's lives.

The Burkholders became a singing family, sharing often and widely. Four-part harmony -- both a capella and accompanied on acoustic guitar by Jim -- was their trademark sound. They also did instrumentals on German recorders and shared memorized poems and scripture as the occasion warranted. In one year they gave 52 programs, having memorized over 100 songs, to church groups, retirements communities, outdoor festivals, banquets, camps and civic clubs.

   In 1973 Marian and her family settled down on Hillcrest Road in Perkasie, Pennsylvania, when Jim became pastor at Perkasie Mennonite Church. Marian made her mark as a pastor’s wife, conducting Easter and Christmas Cantatas, leading the congregation in song and maintaining a robust children’s choir for the nearly twenty years she and Jim ministered there.

   Marian did several book studies for women, in many of the Mennonite churches in the Bucks County area. She did public speaking engagements for women and taught about Parent Effectiveness Training and mothering. She was also a substitute teacher for a time in various schools in the area.

   Marian’s piano teaching began in the 1960s, and after a short hiatus to focus on raising her children, in the 1980s she started teaching music again with the same zeal and commitment she gave to all her musical endeavors. Her roster expanded (at one point she had 32 pupils) as she not only taught music but lavished her students (and her students’ parents!) in love, good cheer, stickers and prizes out of her Prize Box. Her piano recitals were legendary. 

   In 1991 Marian and Jim moved to Biglerville, PA, when Jim served as pastor at Bethel Mennonite Church from 1989 to 1999. After Jim’s retirement, he and Marian lived in Dillsburg, PA from 2000-2009, where Marian continued to teach piano. In 2010 they moved to Messiah Village in Mechanicsburg.  

   Marian was predeceased by her husband, Jim, in 2018 and her sister, Elaine Clymer, in 2015. She is survived by her daughters Kathleen, wife of Phillip Dudero (grandchildren Benjamin and Genevieve); Karen, wife of James Good (grandchildren Michael, Sarah, Jonathan; great-grandchildren Miles and Emily); and Kristen, wife of Nathan Raleigh. 

   She is also survived by her sisters Carolyn Horst, Gloria Lehman and Nancy Pellegrini, and a dear cousin, Kathryn Fry. 

   Marian's memorial service will be at Slate Hill Mennonite Church, 1352 Slate Hill Rd, Camp Hill, PA 17011 on Friday June 30th. There will be a time of visitation with the family beginning at 4:30 PM, with the service at 6 PM. Her ashes will be interred immediately afterwards, followed by a time of food and sharing around 7:15 in the fellowship hall.

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