Gerrie was born on February 17, 1933, to Kathryn Elva and David Evan Beaver in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After graduating in the Class of 1951 from Philadelphia High School for Girls, also known as Girls' High, she went on to marry Ensign Louis Orr Schaefer, spending three and half years at various postings with the US Navy.
After the US Navy, Lou and Gerrie lived and traveled extensively on the east coast following Lou’s job as a construction field engineer. After daughter, Kim and son, David were born, Louis was transferred to Cleveland, Ohio with the Austin Company where son, Kenneth was born. Gerrie provided a wonderful home, took classes at Case Western Reserve and was involved in various community outreach programs. Additionally, Gerrie and Lou were one of the founding families at Pilgrim Lutheran Brethren Church in Mentor, Ohio, where her love for missions was born.
In 1968, the family was again transferred, this time to Houston, Texas. In Houston, Gerrie touched many lives through youth ministries, leading bible studies and mentoring countless young adults and couples at Spring Branch Community Bible Church. Gerrie attended community college and received her LVN diploma and in 1983 received her Bachelor of Nursing from Harris County Community College at the age of fifty. She applied her nursing skills in the emergency room and ICU of Ben Taub and St. Luke’s Hospitals in the Houston Medical Center.
The late 70’s presented another transition as Lou and Gerrie relocated to Conroe, Texas, where they served the Forest Glen Christian Camp and Conference Center in Huntsville, Texas. Gerrie shared her skills as camp nurse during the summer, living in a tent, helping cook for a crowd in the camp kitchen and sharing her love of Jesus with many campers, staff and volunteers along the shores of beautiful Lake Grace. Gerrie and Lou are faithful members of Conroe Bible Church, touching many lives through the Awana program, Bible and Small Group studies, and the Pregnancy Assistance Center North ministry. While in Conroe, Gerrie also served as an ER nurse at Conroe Regional Medical Center and was asked to develop and manage the first Breast Cancer Detection Center in Montgomery County.
After retiring in 1997, Gerrie and Lou followed a life-long dream to serve the Lord on a foreign mission field. From 1997 until 2000, they lived in Luampa, Zambia and served with Sudan Interior Mission (SIM). At the remote bush hospital and leprosarium for the care of those suffering Hansen’s Disease, run by the Evangelical Church in Zambia, Gerrie served as a nurse delivering many babies, assisting in surgery and caring for many patients that walked several days through the bush to get to the hospital. She also shared her gift of Bible teaching and study to many hospital staff, career missionaries, and women of the surrounding villages. In 2003, Gerrie and Lou moved to Honduras to serve in the remote jungle hospital, Loma de Luz, with The Cornerstone Foundation. Her love for ministering to others led her to a life in the service of those in need.
One of Gerrie’s greatest joys in life was being “Mimi” and spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren: Lindsay, Natalie, Hayden, Campbell, Sam, Braxton and Maxwell. She and Louis (Poppop) made it a point to put together numerous incredible vacations, creating lifelong memories for each of the children and grandchildren.
Gerrie was preceded in death by her brother, David Evan Beaver Jr., her mother and father, Kathryn and David Beaver, her mother-in-law and father-in-law Mildred and Louis A. Schaefer, her brother-in-law, Kenneth Charles Schaefer, and multiple aunts, uncles and cousins originally of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlantic City, New Jersey. She is also now reunited with two unborn children, and one infant son born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta and deceased only a few days after birth.
She is survived by her husband of 67 years, Louis Orr Schaefer of Willis, Texas; daughter Kim Schaefer of Houston, Texas (formerly Baltimore, Maryland); son David Louis Schaefer of Nacogdoches, Texas and son Kenneth Steven Schaefer (“Ken”) and daughter-in-law Lori Campbell Schaefer of Fort Worth, Texas; five grandchildren: Lindsay Kathryn Schaefer Landrum and husband Curtis R. Landrum of Nashville, Tennessee; Natalie Anne Schaefer Evans and husband Andy Evans, her two great grandsons, Braxton and Maxwell Evans of Cypress, Texas; Hayden Louis Schaefer of Nacogdoches, Texas, Campbell Steven Schaefer and Samuel (“Sam”) Orr Schaefer of Fort Worth, Texas. She will be greatly missed by many friends, colleagues and missionaries all over the world, who join us in celebrating a life well-lived and share in great joy that she is at peace with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
A celebration of her life will be held at Conroe Bible Church in Conroe, Texas on Saturday, January 4th, 2020 at 2 pm. Reception following at the church. Cashner Funeral Home, of Conroe, is handling arrangements. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation to Forest Glen Christian Camp in Huntsville, Texas, SIM International in Fort Sill, South Carolina, The Cornerstone Foundation in Biloxi Mississippi, or the Pregnancy Assistance Center North in Conroe, Texas.
