Elizabethtown College Honors Educate For Service, Service to the College Award Recipients, During Annual Leffler Lecture

U-GRO Learning Centre Founder Janice ’64 and husband John ’65 Holsinger P’84 P’85 were honored

Elizabethtown College celebrated the 2023-24 Educate for Service – Service To The College Award recipients, Janice ’64 and John ’65 Holsinger P’84 P’85 at the institution’s annual Leffler Lecture on Oct. 26. 

The Holsingers were presented with their award, which is among the most distinguished bestowed upon alumni from Elizabethtown College and the Elizabethtown College Alumni Association. The couple also were featured in a celebratory video to open the event. 

“Janice and John’s commitment to Elizabethtown College has been profound and displayed in so many ways,” Elizabethtown College President Betty Rider said. “They are dedicated Blue Jays and continue to model our College’s Educate for Service mission in all that they do.”

Presented annually since 1966, the Educate for Service awards recognize alumni who exemplify the foundation of the Elizabethtown College spirit and legacy of education. The awards are categorized in three unique areas which include, Service Through Professional Achievement; Service to Humanity; and Service to the College. Learn more about Elizabethtown College’s Educate For Service Awards.

The Holsingers have dedicated their careers to serving others. With a dream to incorporate a background in music and art into a positive educational program for young children, Janice founded the first U-GRO Learning Centre in Palmyra, Pa. in 1973. Working with a local church and teachers who shared her passion for helping children grow and develop into bright students, she created a community of engaged parents and children at U-GRO. 

“Educate for Service for our young people in College means that they need to do something for somebody else,” Janice Holsinger ’64 P’84 P’85, who served on the Elizabethtown College Board of Trustees from 2008-19 said. “It makes you sleep better at nighttime when you do something for others. And that’s what John and I try to do.”

John’s career has been with the management teams in the consumer sales and marketing area for ACME Markets, Incorporated, Altria Group, Incorporated, Proctor & Gamble, and Spectrum Industries. When he retired in 2003, he created JLH Enterprise, a real estate management firm that owned and maintained several U-Gro Learning Centers. He has served on his community’s parks and recreation commissions and has chaired the community’s point football teams.

“Elizabethtown College is an excellent educational institution,” said John Holsinger ’65 P’84 P’85, who served on Elizabethtown College’s Leadership Council until 2010. “I had tremendous help from the professors, from the administration, didn’t matter if they were the president or if they were on the maintenance crew. And I think that it is within us that we need to pay back just a little bit and support the College because it supported us.”

The Holsingers chaired the Be More Inspired Young Center Campaign Steering Committee and have been strong supporters of both capital- and scholarship-based projects at the College. They also created, hosted, and organized the Brethren Heritage Festival, an annual Homecoming and Family Weekend tradition that takes place at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies.

Recipients of the two additional 2023-24 Educate for Service Award honorees, Service Through Professional Achievement and Service to Humanity will be recognized and celebrated, respectively, at the upcoming High Center Forum on March 27 and Ware Lecture on April 11.