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- (Research):STAUFFER
Virgil Lester Merle Stauffer went to be with the Lord suddenly June 29, 2008. Virgil was born in Didsbury, Alberta November 27, 1940, to Lloyd and Emma Stauffer, the fourth son of a family of seven boys and one girl. He attended Clover Mount one-room country school for the first seven years, getting there by bike, horse or shank.s pony. He completed the remainder of high school in Didsbury, each morning hurrying to complete his assigned chores of milking cows, feeding chickens and slopping pigs, in order to catch the school bus. He took a year off from schooling at age 15 to work with his dad on the mixed dairy farm, five miles west of town. Immediately following high school, Virgil attended Mountain View Bible College in Didsbury receiving his Bachelor of Theology degree. For a short time he enjoyed farming but soon realized God was
calling him to a lifetime of ministry. He pastored churches in Alberta, British Columbia and the US.
Later he continued his theological training at Goshen, Indiana which included one year studying at the Institute of Holy Land studies in Israel. Virgil later received his Doctor of Ministry at Asbury Theological Seminary in 1984. During his pastoral ministry, he led churches in Indiana and the three western provinces and served as a Professor as well as President of Mountain View Bible College. While he served as president, he was influential in the merger of this College with Hillcrest Bible College in Medicine Hat - which became Calgary.s Rocky Mountain College. Dr. Virgil in ministry became a colleague, close friend, spiritual advisor and mentor to so many folks.
Thousands of people hold a piece of Virgil - he lived to give of himself to anyone who needed him. Few have been so gifted in sensing another.s need, and in responding with such compassion and spiritual insight. He demonstrated such an intense love for the Lord and deep caring for people.
Quietly asking the right questions, he made you think more deeply, sometimes raising an issue that you may have been attempting to ignore. He skilfully brought several churches through deep waters, helping them solve serious issues and form a stronger community. An influencer of denominations, institutions and organizations, perhaps his greatest ministry lay in his ability to lead so many individuals to a deeper understanding of their spirituality and to a closer relationship with the Lord. This man of God seemed to travel so far ahead of us all yet so effectively warmly walked alongside individuals. His four decades of ministry served as the schoolhouse that prepared him for the culmination of his life of servanthood. For the past seven years, he served as
director of King.s Fold Retreat Center west of Cochrane. Leading the Center through a series of changes, while overseeing several construction projects, he also administrated, counselled, led seminars and training programs. Virgil is survived by his loving wife Irene of 45 years along with their three children, Myrna Lee (Greg), Wesley (Sandy), and Michael (Carla). Five grandchildren: Amanda (Ryan), Holly, Michael, Andrew, and Ashley. He was predeceased by his parents and sister-in-law, Doreen (Ray), and brother-in-law Ernie (June). Virgil is survived by six brothers and one sister: Willard (Marilyn), Ray (Jan), Clifford, Arnold (Betty), Lillian (Louis), Edward (Joyce), Lyle (Daphne); and several aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, and grand nephew/nieces; his sister-in-law June Neufeld, Joyce Lachman (Clarence), brother-in-law Alan (Rose). Celebration
Services will be held July 7, 2008 at the Centre Street Church in Calgary at 11:00 a.m. (3900 2nd Street N.E. Main Campus) with Rev. Glen Fretz officiating. A private interment will take place in Didsbury Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, friends may make memorial tributes in Dr. Virgil.s memory to The King.s Fold Kitchen Project. http://www.kingsfoldretreat.com/ Heartland Funeral Services
Ltd., Olds entrusted with arrangements. 403-507-8610.
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