Gerald Louis Fawley

September 17, 1938 - September 5, 2015

Gerald Louis “Jerry” Fawley, age 76, went home to be with his Lord and Savior on Saturday, September 5, 2015 in Sebring, Florida after a year long battle with cancer. He was born 30 minutes before his twin sister, Joan, in Ladysmith, Wisconsin on September 17, 1938 to Herbert and Esther Fawley. Jerry accepted the Lord as his personal Savior at a young age and soon after felt the Lord was leading him to foreign mission work. After graduating from Prairie Bible Institute, he joined Sudan Interior Mission (SIM) and left for Nigeria, West Africa on Christmas Day 1965. It was in Nigeria that he married his college sweetheart, Beverley, and they were blessed with two daughters, Denise and Debbie. Jerry’s mission service in Nigeria was teaching Bible Knowledge in the Government high school and Teacher’s college, and then managing a rest and recreational center. In 1989 they moved to Carlsbad, California where he managed SIM’s retirement center for 16 years before retiring to the SIM Retirement Village in Sebring, Florida in 2005. However, Jerry stayed active in his retirement years working in the village maintenance department, and he also loved moving new residents into the village travelling all over the country to bring their belongings here in a Penske Truck. Another ministry that he found joy in was preparing large containers of supplies to be shipped to missionaries in Africa. He was very active at First Baptist Church of Sebring in Sunday School, Keen Agers, and as a deacon. Jerry is survived by his wife, Beverley, two daughters, Denise (Grady) Chism, Debbie (Hal) Clemmer; six grandchildren, Kyle, Tyler, Kaleigh, Kendall, Kacie and Preston; two sisters, Joan Matthews and Darlene Johnson, and a brother, David (Denise) Fawley. A Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, September 12, 2015 at 2:00PM at First Baptist Church in Sebring, Florida. Friends may make contributions in his memory to SIM Sebring Retirement Village, 4114 Nigeria St. Sebring, FL 33875 or to Good Shepherd Hospice, 1110 Hammock Rd. Sebring, FL 33870 (www.chaptershealth.org)