REMEMBERING

The district is remembering with gratitude the lives of H. Lamar Gibble and Larry Elliott, both of whom passed away recently. Our prayers are with their friends and family in this time of loss.

Lamar Gibble, a member of the Highland Avenue congregation, passed away Oct. 29 in Elgin at age 91. After serving several pastorates, Gibble joined the Church of the Brethren General Board’s World Ministries Commission staff in September 1969 as Peace and International Affairs Consultant/Europe and Asia representative, a role he held until his retirement in March 1997. He traveled to dozens of countries and was a driving force in the Church of the Brethren Agricultural Exchanges with Poland, China, and the former Soviet Union. In 1989, he also served half-time as executive secretary of the World Council of Churches Commission of the Churches on International Affairs. He was born and raised in Pennsylvania, where he met his wife, Nancy—with whom he celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in August. He was a graduate of Elizabethtown College, Bethany Theological Seminary, and American University. A memorial service will take place at Highland Avenue on Nov. 26 at 10 a.m., with a live-stream available on YouTube.

Larry Elliott passed away in Fort Collins, Colo., on Oct. 5, three days shy of his 82nd birthday. Larry was born in Fredericksburg, Iowa, and grew up in the Church of the Brethren there, later graduating from McPherson (Kan.) College and spending two years in Brethren Volunteer Service in Garkida, Nigeria. After returning to McPherson for a time and marrying his wife, Donna, they returned to Nigeria to work with Church of the Brethren mission efforts for more than two decades. They moved back to the US in 1988 and settled in Mount Morris, Ill., where Larry worked as sales and marketing director for the Pinecrest retirement community until retiring in January 2005. He and Donna were active members of the Mount Morris congregation until moving to Colorado in 2013. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, and several grandchildren. Memorial gifts can be sent to Brethren Disaster Ministries or to Church of the Brethren global mission work in Nigeria.