Sam and Mary Ruth Mizener

The Mizeners, Sam from New England, and Mary Ruth from the Midwest, met at a church conference, married in 1964, and chose to live in Pittsburgh for most of their married lives. They have two children.  Daughter Laurel lives in Forest and son David resides in Morgantown, WV. They have three grandchildren, as well as two great grandchildren.   

Sam, with an industrial arts degree from California State University, became a high school industrial arts teacher.  He enjoyed the challenge of equipping his students with skills relevant to the real world, instead of merely teaching them how to build birdhouses.  For various reasons, Sam made the difficult decision to leave teaching and spent three years working as a mechanical engineer and safety administrator at Westinghouse Transportation.

His career took another turn when a friend and a distributor for Zimmer Orthopedic (today, Zimmer-Biomet Orthopedic) suggested that Sam consider orthopedic sales. Since he couldn’t stand the sight of blood, and the position required being present in the operating room, he initially demurred. However, the friend, knowing Sam’s aptitude for all things mechanical, persisted and won. With more than forty years of both selling and managing responsibilities, orthopedics proved to be a fit for Sam’s natural gifts and abilities.

The Mizeners, like many other young couples when first married, had no money. For that reason, Mary Ruth withdrew from college and secured a job at a local bank with a goal to pay off Sam’s student loans. She accomplished that in one year allowing them to be debt free.  The next year they bought their first car—a teal blue Volkswagen Beatle that cost the princely sum of $1600.

They purchased a lot and built their first home in 1968.  Sam, with a plethora of building skills and a teacher with free summers, did most of the work.  Ten years later they built a second home--Sam again the main builder and Mary Ruth joining the work crew as painter, decorator, furniture refinisher, etc. Together they are consummate do-it-yourselfers.

By the early 1990s, Sam and Mary Ruth were empty nesters. Mary Ruth, always interested in learning, returned to college, and received a bachelor’s degree in human resources. While she never put that degree to use in a formal sense, she’s quick to point out that it has been useful in many ways!

Sam retired in 1995, and a year later they moved to Florida, a sojourn that lasted only four years. As Sam laughingly says, “I flunked retirement! I missed the challenges of working.”  Ultimately, they decided to live near one of their children and settled in Lynchburg. Sam subsequently went back to work with Zimmer for an additional eleven years. He retired for good in 2015, and this time it’s working!  

Through the years Sam and Mary Ruth have traveled much of the world together. Mary Ruth enjoys reading, art, gardening, and making cards with her granddaughter. She recalls with pleasure her years of volunteering at Randolph College’s Maier Museum. Sam can often be found working on “projects” or riding his recumbent trike on the Blackwater Creek Trail. The couple has always been active in their churches. Today Rivermont Evangelical Presbyterian is their church home. In addition, they are avid friends of New Covenant Schools.