Rev. Godfrey Miller O’Rear died at Irwin County Hospital in Ocilla, Georgia on Wednesday, May 15, 2019. He was born in Winchester, Virginia on October 15, 1929 to Miller O’Rear and Virginia Kurtz O’Rear. He married the former Elizabeth Hoffer on September 15, 1951 and after her death he married the former Doris Pisarchuk.
Rev O’Rear is a graduate of Handley High School in Winchester and what is today Carin University near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was ordained to the Christian ministry in 1950, with the first 42 years of his 60 years of ministry divided into 14-year segments.
The first of these was in Rural Home Missionary Service, where he held pastorates in the very small communities of Dixie and Range Alabama and then in Tulia, Texas. The next 14 years found him on the staff of Montana Institute of the Bible, which at that time was in Billings, Montana, later moving to Lewistown, Montana. At that college he held the positions of Vice President and Director of Public Relations. The final 14 years were spent as Pastor of the Renton Bible Church in Renton, Washington.
Following these years of service, he spent the next three years in Venezuela South America, where he was the pastor of the Madacary Community Church, ministering to the English-speaking people living in that area.
He then moved to Bozeman, Montana, where he spent the next five years as president of the Montana Bible College. He and his wife, Doris then moved to her home in Fitzgerald, Georgia, where he spent seven years as Chaplain of the Blue-Gray Community Hospice. He was a faithful member of the Rotary Club as well.
Rev O’Rear was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth and by his son, Michael. He is survived by his wife Doris Pisarchuk O’Rear of Fitzgerald, his sons David O’Rear (Diana) of Laurel, Montana and Daniel O’Rear (Sandy) of Colorado Springs, Colorado, a daughter, Connie Zimmerman (Ronald) of Billings, Montana, and by a daughter-in-law, Laura O'Rear of Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is also survived by 13 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held 1 PM, Saturday, May 18, 2019, at First Presbyterian Church in Fitzgerald, with the Rev. Steve O’Neal officiating. Interment will be held at Laurel Cemetery in Laurel, Montana.