The Life and Ministry of Don Hostetter

Donald Allen Hostetter
July 14th, 1929 – April 8th, 2007

Donald A. Hostetter, Presbyterian Church executive and legendary pioneer in camping, passed away early Easter morning, April 8th, 2007, following a massive stroke.  He was 77 years old.

Donald Allen Hostetter was born on July 14th, 1929 in West Grove, Pennsylvania to Rev. Dr. Meyer Moyer Hostetter (a Presbyterian minister, Professor of Comparative Religion, and Dean of Bloomfield College) and Rosa Mae Stuaffer Hostetter (a schoolteacher).  Most of his childhood was spent in Presbyterian manses in Faggs Manor and Doylestown, Pennsylvania, with his brother, Leonard, and sister, Eloise.  His love for travel started early with frequent trips with his entrepreneur grandfather, William Witwer Stauffer, including a trip to Ghost Ranch in 1935.

Don earned his B.A. degree in 1950 from Grove City College and his B.D. (M.Div.) degree in 1953 from Princeton Theological Seminary.  His love for camping was established early through scouting in high school, and his decision to choose camping ministry as his vocation came in the summer of 1953 leading a senior high conference at Denton Lake.  That same year he was ordained a Minister of Word and Sacrament as Associate Pastor of Webb Horton Church in Middletown, New York, and has remained a member of Hudson River Presbytery ever since, including serving as its moderator and as a commissioner to the General Assembly.  His training in church camp ministries was supervised by the pioneers of small-group camping in the national church’s Board of Christian Education: Maurice “T” Bone, Fritz Messinger, Gordon Hermanson, Hamlin Tobey, Paul Calvin Payne, and L.B. Sharpe.  Don became Pastor of Gilead Church in Carmel, New York in 1956, the same year he was married to Charlotte Mamounis, the daughter of the local candy and soda shop owner in Doylestown, with his father performing the ceremony.  Don and Charlotte had two sons, Mark and Jonathan.

In 1962 Don became the Field Director for the Presbyterian Christian Education Council, a partnership between the Presbyteries of Hudson River, New York City, and Long Island.  His responsibilities included all aspects of Christian education for the three Presbyteries’ 45,000 members and 300 churches, but most importantly he supervised the camp and conference centers of the Presbyteries, Minden in Bridgehampton and the Presbyterian Center in Holmes.  By 1977, these camping responsibilities shifted to became his full-time occupation, and as Executive Director of the Presbyterian Center at Holmes, Don orchestrated its transformation from a 100-acre eight-week summer camp to a 550-acre year-round camp and conference facility.  Over these three decades, Don authored innumerable works on the direction and future of camping ministry, and established the Consultant’s Network of the national church in 1986 to provide advisory services to the Presbyterian Church’s 140 camps and conference centers.  Don became Executive Director Emeritus of the Presbyterian Center at Holmes in 1994, and continued his leadership of the Consultant’s Network with the national church.  The American Camp Association voted to award Don its highest “Legend in Camping Award,” which was to be presented in March of 2008.  He has been a board member of Hunter College and the chair of the New York City Environmental Education Board.  His wife, Charlotte, died in an automobile accident in 1997.

In 2000, Don was married to Joan Kohlenberg Wise, with his son, Mark, performing the ceremony.  Despite progressing Parkinson’s disease, Don continued to preach, teach, travel and consult right through until his peaceful death surrounded by family in Ireland on Easter Day, April 8th, 2007, following a massive stroke on his return flight from a trip he was leading in Greece on the journeys of St. Paul.

Don influenced thousands, as he brought architecture, religion, history, management and theology to bear on everything he did.  Don was a quick study, loved to share his encyclopedic knowledge, and everyone learned from Don's enthusiastic sharing of his faith and God's world.

Don's teaching spread far and wide across our church.  Many camp directors and board members met Don in times of great challenge and almost always recognized that the questions he asked were the best, that the advice he gave was visionary, and that his company was invaluable in their ministry.  He could hone in on the most crucial factor in a challenge with great precision.

Don's work toward the kingdom of God will always be around us – in Agape Centers, in buildings he improved, in roundtables, in small group camping, in bolo ties and suit coats, in Bible stories around campfires, and in witness to the Resurrection.

Don is survived by his wife Joan; his sons Mark and Jonathan; his grandchildren Forest, Charlotte, Lani, Lea, and Kai; his stepchildren Janet, Joyce and Jim; his stepgrandchildren Amelia, Christopher, Ariana, Abigail, and Max; and his “adopted” grandchildren Leighana and Anika.