Obituary of Stanley T. Wherry

The Reverend Stanley T. Wherry died Thursday, November 29, 2018. He was born on May 21, 1942 at his family's home in Hamlet, Illinois. He graduated in 1960 from Aledo Community High School, Aledo, Illinois. Stan earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Monmouth College, Monmouth, Illinois and married his high school sweetheart and life-long partner Mary Ann Gustafson in 1964. He received his Master of Divinity in 1967 and his Master in Christian Education in 1968 from McCormick Seminary, Chicago, Illinois.

Stan was ordained as a minister in 1967 and began his more than fifty years of an inspired and inspiring ministry that called him from First Presbyterian Church in Elgin, Illinois to Westminster Presbyterian Church in Albany, New York in 1969; then in 1972 he moved to The First Congregational Church, Manhasset, Long Island, New York. From 1976 to 1999 Stan was pastor of the Leesburg Presbyterian Church in Leesburg, Virginia, and then from 1999 to 2012 Stan served the Calvary Presbyterian Church, Wyncote, Pennsylvania. Stan meaningfully concluded his ministry from 2012 to 2018 as part-time Minister of Visitation for Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pennsylvania.

Stan's integrity of faith, genuine kindness, deep caring, ready humor, and ability to connect through listening both to what was said and what was left unsaid, helped others to feel less alone, to recognize and celebrate goodness, and to let go of negative judgments that isolate, hurt, and divide. He often proudly acknowledged that his ministry was enabled and sustained through his enduring and remarkable 54 year partnership with his wife Mary Ann.

Stan is survived by his wife, Mary Ann Gustafson Wherry, his son, Nathan Laird Wherry, his daughter, Gretchen Anne West, his grandsons Brayden and Parker West, his brothers Gary, Marvin, and Ken Wherry, and his sister Kathy Workman. He is preceded in death by his father Theodore Wherry, his mother Lillian Malone Wherry, his brother Robert Wherry, and his sister Carol Hafner.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 8 at 11:00 a.m. in the Abington Presbyterian Church, 1082 Old York Road, Abington, PA, where friends will be received after the service. The family requests that memorial contributions be sent to Calvary Presbyterian Church, Wyncote, Pennsylvania or to Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pennsylvania.