Rosalind Joyce (Rosie) Gerber Stoner, beloved wife, mother, grandmother and friend, who at 92, entered her eternal rest on August 16, 2024, at Optalis Skilled Nursing of Grand Rapids, Michigan, (formerly Samaritas) having suffered a stroke seven weeks earlier.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, William (Bill) Stoner in 2018. She is survived by her children, David (Wendy), Tim (Patty), Jonathan (Amy) all of Grand Rapids, Philip (Beth) of Brentwood, Tennessee, and her daughter, Sharon Blasen of Chicago; as well as 18 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on April 2, 1932, to John Gerber and Florence Seager of Reed City, Michigan. Rosie continued her post high school education at the Baptist Bible Seminary of Johnson City, New York, completing a one-year Bible degree. It was there that she met Bill. After marrying in September of 1951 and moving back to Grand Rapids, she earned her RN degree at Butterworth Hospital in 1954. They went on to serve for three decades under the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) as missionaries to Chile, Spain, and a yearlong assignment to Hungary. After returning to the United States, they were actively involved at Maple Lawn Baptist Church and The Potter's House School of Grand Rapids, as well as the ministry of the Narrow Gate Foundation in Duck River, Tennessee.
Rosie also found an outlet that combined her love of sewing while providing for the needs of others as she fashioned around 7,500 outfits to be distributed through Samaritan's Purse
Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts. She had been putting the finishing touches on some dresses the day before her stroke. Those outfits were forwarded on to Samaritan's Purse and confirmation of their arrival came back with this message, “Just a side note, a sample dress and shorts were sent by request to the VP of donor services at Samaritan's Purse, to be placed on the corporate “prayer shelf”! A testament of her legacy that her fingerprints span the globe, dressing boys and girls for Jesus!”
A private family burial at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was held on August 21, 2024.
*All obituaries are submitted by family and friends of the deceased.
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