Vergil Gerber, age 93, a resident of Windsor Park Manor in Carol Stream, IL, passed away Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at home. He was born February 6, 1916 in Fort Wayne, IN. He was the son of Laura and C.A. Gerber who was a Professor of Music at the Fort Wayne Bible College.

Vergil Gerber graduated from Fort Wayne Bible College in 1935, Taylor University in Upland, IN in 1938, pursued graduate work in music at Harvard, graduated from Northern Baptist Seminary in 1945 and received an honorary doctorate from Denver Conservative Baptist Seminary in 1970.

He was married to Dorothy Lois Bee in 1941 and is the father of five children: Richard (Nancy) Gerber, Ruth (Gary) Leman, Judson (Elizabeth) Gerber, Jared (Beth) Gerber and Janna (Bruce) Jacobs. He was also blessed with 16 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.

Vergil was a man of faith with a passion for Missions. He and his wife, Dorothy, served under the Conservative Baptist Missions for 33 years in Ecuador, Argentina, Costa Rica and Mexico. The last 12 years of his ministry he was the Executive Director of EMIS and conducted Church Growth Workshops in over 50 countries. In his retirement years he did Church Planting in Hanover Park for 13 years.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, May 30th at 2:00 P.M. at Windsor Park Manor, 124 Windsor Park Dr., in Carol Stream. Interment will be private.

Memorial gifts may be directed to the Windsor Park Manor Benevolent Fund, 124 Windsor Park Dr., Carol Stream, IL 60188.