Death of Jack McKinley Sherley, former missionary to England
Global Ministries is saddened to learn of the death of Reverend Jack McKinely Sherley, former missionary to England. Reverend Sherley, 92, a pastor, chaplain, and professor, formerly of Lexington, Kentucky, and Fort Worth, Texas, died Friday, October 7, 2011, at a hospice in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Reverend Sherley was born March 25, 1919, in Spring Valley, Kansas, and moved with his mother, Caroline McKinley Pell, to Los Angeles, California, in 1923. He was married to Marcella Bus Sherley of Fort Worth, Texas, from 1940 until her death in 1998. After graduating from Texas Christian University in 1940 and Brite College of the Bible in 1944, he was ordained as a minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). He served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps, stationed from 1944 to 1946 with the Third Marine Division on Guam and the Sixth Marine Division in Tsing Tao, China. Reverend Sherley was a chaplain with the Veterans Administration in New York and New Jersey from 1946 to 1952 and with the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital (now the Federal Prison) in Lexington from 1953 to 1977. At Lexington Theological Seminary he was professor of pastoral counseling from 1953 to 1977.
Following his retirement, Reverend Sherley served as a missionary in Birmingham, England, with the Division of Overseas Ministries from 1977 to 1980. Returning to the United States, Reverend Sherley served as interim pastor for Disciples of Christ churches in Graham, Eastland, and Bowie, Texas; Casa View Christian Church in Dallas, Texas; and Bethany Christian Church in Fort Worth, Texas.
He was preceded in death by his second wife, the former Elizabeth Grubbs Leggett of Lexington, Kentucky, in 2009. Reverend Sherley moved to The Colonnades in Charlottesville, Virginia and attended Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church, Unitarian Universalist. He is survived by two daughters, Deborah and Benjamin Rose of Charlottesville, Virginia, and Christine and Douglas Evans of Gilford, New Hampshire; two grandchildren and their families Kate, Phil and Anastasia Makrides of Waynesboro, Virginia, and Andrew, Jenna, and Wesley Evans of Sunderland, Massachusetts.
A memorial service was held on October 10 at Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church, Unitarian Universalist, 717 Rugby Road, Charlottesville, Virginia. The family asks that memorial contributions be made to the American Cancer Society , 1445 East Rio Road, Charlottesville, Virginia 22901. Condolences may be sent to: Mrs. Deborah Rose, 300 Riverbend Drive, Apt. 1B, Charlottesville, VA 22911-8813.