Mae Froysland, wife of Au Sable Founding Trustee Bert Froysland and the Institute’s most faithful friend and supporter, passed away on June 14, 2018. Mae was a graduate of Taylor University (Indiana), one of Au Sable’s current participating colleges, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. Mae began the practice of her profession as a social worker at Lydia Children's Home in Chicago, and followed that with nearly 40 years as a child care teacher and director at Mayflower Preschool, Orchard Hill Reformed Church Preschool, RBC Ministries Day Care, and Whistlestop Day Care, all in Grand Rapids, Michigan, literally teaching and caring for an entire generation of children, while, over the same time and more, teaching 4-5 year olds at Christ Church in Grand Rapids.
Mae and Bert began their association with the Institute as friends of Au Sable’s founder, Dr. Harold Snyder. Joining Harold’s effort in working to establish what was then Au Sable Trails Camp, Harold asked Bert to serve as the camp’s Business Manager in 1963. Of course, with no permanent Au Sable staff at that time, Bert did a lot more than write checks. He also helped Harold build many of the buildings and facilities the campers would need and use during their time at Au Sable. Although she didn’t work construction, Mae did almost everything else, along with raising her children at Au Sable each summer.
With Harold, Bert and Mae persevered, watching Au Sable grow from a “science camp” to, by 1979, an Institute of Environmental Studies. Becoming good friends with Dr. Cal DeWitt, the Institute’s Founding Executive Director, Bert served on the Au Sable Board of Trustees, while Mae continued a constant presence of love and care of Au Sable’s people and the Institute’s mission to inspire and educate people to serve, protect, and restore God’s earth. Mae Froysland continued her ministry in these efforts right up to the present time, enduring and easily outlasting Au Sable’s first Executive Director, Cal DeWitt (who served Au Sable for 26 years) and the five other Executive Directors who followed. Au Sable’s current Executive Director, Dr. Fred Van Dyke, took up that position in 2011, and so enjoyed seven years of Mae’s ministry at Au Sable. “The thing that always stood out about Mae,” Fred recalls, “is that her first concern was about people. She was very sensitive to a person’s emotional state. I can remember more days than I can count when Mae would come to see me and ask how I was doing, and never took “Fine” for a real answer. If I was discouraged about how things were going at Au Sable, or for me personally, Mae always got straight to the bottom of it and offered precisely directed and heartfelt encouragement. Many days it was Mae who made my day and helped me keep going through good and bad.”
Thank you, Mae, for showing us all how to live a wonderful and loving life unaffected by circumstances, whether good or bad. We want to carry on the way you taught us to. And because you taught us so well and with such enduring love, we will never forget your lessons, and we will never forget you.
Harold Snyder remembers, “Mae Froysland came up to northern Michigan to help her husband participate in the development of Au Sable Trails Science Camp in 1963. Through many years she and husband and children, Rick and Andrea, lived in summer camp type facilities and took their meals with the campers and other staff in the slowly evolving dining facilities. Mae enjoyed her afternoons watching her children playing and swimming with the other staff kids and the many campers. Through the years our staff kids became like cousins and the parents became lifelong friends as we devoted our times and energies to campers and our own kids. As the Au Sable program expanded to yearlong activities such as church retreats and local science education programs, Mae became an ardent supporter of the weekend retreats and enjoyed participating in them. As one of the founders of the Au Sable venture, I say thank you Mae Froysland for all you have done for God's Kingdom.” Dave Mahan, who served as Au Sable’s Associate Executive Director for over 30 years, recalls “Mae's unfatigueably positive attitude about all things Au Sable, often in the face of daunting challenges. She was always an incredible encourager.”
It has been two months since Mae’s passing, but it has taken us time at the Institute to fully gather our memories and feelings about someone who meant so much to us for so long. The end of Mae’s life did not end Mae’s blessing to the Institute. Instructing those attending the funeral not to give flowers, Mae instead directed them to make a financial gift to the Institute. Generous donations came, as expected, within the first few weeks of Mae’s funeral, but more donations continued to arrive for weeks afterward. Altogether, the financial gifts in memory of Mae Froysland provided nearly $5,000 in funds to advance Au Sable’s ministry and work.
Thank you, Mae, for showing us all how to live a wonderful and loving life unaffected by circumstances, whether good or bad. We want to carry on the way you taught us to. And because you taught us so well and with such enduring love, we will never forget your lessons, and we will never forget you.