Jerry Travelstead entered life immortal on July 22, 2013, at the Care Center at Concordia Village Retirement Center in Springfield, Ill.
Her memorial Service will be at Laurel United Methodist Church on Saturday, July 27 at 11 a.m. Visitation with the family will be held at 10 a.m. until the time of service. Following the service lunch will be served in the church dining room.
She was born Aug. 3, 1928, in Carbondale, Ill., and attended Southern Illinois University where she met and married Jack D. Travelstead, also a student at S.I.U. They have three children: Stan (Anna) of Springfield, Jan Adele (deceased) (Mike) of Fayetteville, Ark., and Craig (Elizabeth) of Naperville, Ill. They also have six grandchildren: Dan Travelstead of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Andrea Travelstead of Columbia, Md., Dr. Lindsay (Patrick) Fazio of Kansas City, Jeremy (Sarah) Travelstead of Springfield, Dr. Brandon (Casey) Thurow of Conway, Ark., and Ryan Brashears (Dallas) of Fayetteville, Ark.
Jack became a United Methodist pastor and Jerry became the perfect pastor's wife. Together they served First United Methodist Church in East Alton, Wesley United Methodist Church in Macomb, and First United Methodist Church in Pontiac. They also served as Superintendent of the Districts in Lebanon, Ill., and Springfield.
They developed a program called Volunteers in Mission, taking people on work missions in Haiti (20 trips), Zimbabwe Africa, Alaska and many places in the United States. They also served for twenty years as NOMADS, traveling the U.S. to work in assigned outreach ministries.
They discovered in those missions skilled craftpersons, who did excellent work, but the economy prevented very many sales. Jerry developed a sales outlet called Twice Giving, whereby she imported new handmade goods (jewelry, etc.) and provided employment for thousands of craftpersons in Third World countries, increasing the economy of those countries and served in that way for 34 years.
She enlarged the Twice Giving concept for the retail store on the campus of the Midwest Mission Distribution Center near Chatham, Ill. Fifty-five volunteers work there each month to sell the mission made gifts, again providing employment for craftpersons in the developing world.
Memorials are requested to be made to the Midwest Mission Distribution Center Endowment Fund, PO Box 56, Chatham, IL 62629
Boardman-Smith Funeral Chapel is serving the family. Sign the online guest book at www.boardman-smith.net.