It was an ordinary day. Leafing through my Sunday morning LNP Newspaper when I came upon the face of a person whom I thought I knew from somewhere. Sure enough...as I read on I realized that the face on the newsprint I was holding was that of the really neat fellow who took me on a tour of the Ephrata Cloister this past summer. There was only about a half-dozen customers taking the tour, but this guy was really giving us our money's worth with his stories about the history of the Cloister and those who lived there years and years ago. Mike Showalter had the gift of bringing his stories to life as he told story after story the entire time we were visiting with him at the Cloister. Mike would have made a fantastic school teacher, whether it be an elementary or a secondary school teacher. I was taking the tour with just a few others, but he had my attention the entire time. He even gave me ideas as to what I should take photographs of during my tour. The newspaper story told the story of Mike and his gift for bringing people from the past back to life. He had worked for the Pennsylvania Museum and Historical Commission for more than three decades. He recently died after a brief illness, at the age of 57, over 100 people attended his funeral which was held at the Cloister's Saal which was the Cloister's worship hall that was built in 1741. How fitting that his death was honored at the place that he loved. The local newspaper said that he was laid to rest wearing his Cloister garb with the Cloister Chorus singing hymns, some of which were written and composed by Cloister founder Conrad Beissel. Mike's first visit to the Cloister was in 1976 when he was just 10 years old. My guess is that he was immediately hooked on the place. Mike graduated from nearby Millersville University, but didn't attend the graduation ceremony since he was volunteering at the Cloister on that date. Eventually in 1996 he landed a role as museum educator, his "dream job" as stated in his obituary. Many say that Mike was the gold standard for tour guides. During my trip through the Cloister with Mike, I found that he could have played just about any character that he described when leading his tour through the Cloister. I always have my camera in my hand when I take tours through just about any location, and Mike made many suggestions for me when he was leading the couple of tours I went on with him as my tour guide. Michael was a true actor who made your trip come to life. Michael loved to make the characters he was telling his visitors about come to life by doing voices with accents that made the characters come to life. I don't remember ever going on a tour of any place and having a tour guide such as Michael. Michael underwent kidney transplants in 2006 and 2012. He said at the time "The miracles of modern medicine and the gift of life that I have been given by these individuals cannot be given a price tag. I am extremely grateful to my doctors and nurses. I feel truly blessed, and I can only hope that I can live a life worthy of the reward I have been given." He also said that his love of the Cloister helped him through those medical challenges. This truly great teacher will certainly be missed. I'm so glad I was able to hear him talk about the Cloister, the place that he loved so much. It was another extraordinary story in the life of an ordinary guy.
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