5/17/2019
Truman Emanuel Mast, 86, entered into rest on May 17, 2019 at Hospice & Community Care.
He is survived by four children: Pamela Stoner (Barry) of Elizabethtown, PA; Susan Mast of Lancaster, PA; Douglas Mast (Astrid Otey) of Cincinnati, OH; and John Mast (Susan Hochstedler) of Elizabethtown, PA; and seven grandchildren: Mark Mast Wang, Stephanie Stoner, Alexis Stoner, Jacob Mast, Rachel Mast, Benjamin Mast, and Naomi Mast. He is also survived by his sister, Evelyn Miller of Live Oak, FL; and four nieces and nephews. Truman was preceded in death by his wife, Adamarie Glick Mast, in 1986.
Truman was born in Gap, Pennsylvania to Omer Blank Mast and Rachel Neuhauser Mast on November 6, 1932 in the home of his grandmother, Sadie Neuhauser. His paternal grandparents, Emanuel and Annie Blank Mast, also lived nearby.
Truman grew up on a dairy farm and attended a one-room schoolhouse, then Lancaster Mennonite High School. He majored in chemistry at Goshen College, graduated in 1957, and married Adamarie the same year.
Truman attended medical school in Cleveland. He performed research on hearing and auditory neurophysiology at Central Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis and Eye and Ear Hospital in Pittsburgh, and taught neurophysiology at the University of Pittsburgh.
Before moving the family to Lancaster in 1976 to be closer to his and Adamarie’s parents, he completed his internship and residency at Western Psychiatric Institute, Pittsburgh. In Lancaster, he served as a psychiatrist at St. Joseph Hospital and in private practice, supporting many people in their recovery from mental illness.
After a stroke in 1990, Truman recovered his speech and ability to walk through rehabilitation and the support of Orpha Hege, who was his wife from 1988 to 1992.
He moved to Masonic Village, Elizabethtown in 2009.
Truman enjoyed reading, skiing, sailing, deer hunting, travel, and genealogical research. He coauthored an article on “The German Roots of Nicholas Stoltzfus” in 2002 with his son Doug, based on their original research in Europe.
He will be remembered for his love of learning, kindness, generosity, and dry sense of humor.
A memorial service will be held at Sell Chapel, 1 Masonic Dr., Elizabethtown, PA on June 1 at 9:30 AM, with time for visiting at 9 AM, followed by interment of ashes at Millwood Mennonite Cemetery, 441 Amish Rd, Gap, PA at noon. Friends are invited to bring memories of Truman to share.
Donations in Truman’s memory may be made to Doctors Without Borders.