Well, stupidly I called a local repair company to get an estimate and diagnosis. The repairman turned on the dryer, held the safety button in, and when only a portion of the heater element lit up, said that was the problem. An online site shows how to test for continuity in the coils but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to test them properly so I called the repair company.
After being told by the repairman that the whole heating pan had to be replaced, I checked with Appliance Parts Pros and found that the coils were still available as a "heater element kit". My parts arrived in 2 or 3 days and yesterday I installed the coils as per the directions in the parts package. Since the last dryer I repaired was built in about 1980, the new G.E. was a little different where the coils attach to the insulator terminals, but I was able to understand the connections from the instructions and a small amount of mechanical ability!
The dryer works perfectly and peace is restored in my household. Thanks, AppliancePartsPros.