Earl Edward Vastbinder

Earl Edward Vastbinder, 90, of Brentwood, Tennessee went home to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on November 17, 2025. Earl was born on July 26, 1935 in Moraine, Ohio. He is preceded in death by his parents Ernest Clayton and Lucy (Smith) Vastbinder, his brothers James and John Vastbinder and his granddaughter Holly Nanney.

He is survived in death by his wife of 63 years, Joy Vastbinder, his daughters Jennifer (Steve) Nanney and Heidi (Stuart) Garber, his grandchildren Channing (Taylor) Brown, Jayne-Stuart, Hamilton (Katie) and Campbell Garber and Carson Nanney, great granddaughters Kathryne and Caroline Brown, his sister Shirley (Elwood) Dornbusch and many nieces and nephews and other family members and friends.

He was raised in Dayton, Ohio and attended Olivet Nazarene College and graduated from University of Dayton. He obtained his MD from The Ohio State University. Upon graduation, he married Joyce (Joy) Mangum. They immediately moved to Montgomery, Alabama to enter the Air Force, serving in Great Falls, Montana at Malmstrom Air Force Base. After an honorable discharge as Captain, he completed his residency at Columbus Children’s Hospital in Colombus, Ohio where he and Joy had two daughters.

The family moved to Lexington, Kentucky in 1967, where he served in academic medicine, practicing adolescent medicine, sports team medicine and as the first director of the Clinical Associates Program. While at UK, he travelled with the AMA performing site visits for accreditations and gave Head Start physicals to school children in Appalachia. He loved God and saw all people as God’s opportunity for him to serve. Seeing a need for more rural healthcare, he spoke before the Kentucky State Legislature to fund the creation of a Physician’s Assistant Program at UK. This year 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of that program.

In 1976, he sensed a call to Christian higher education and moved the family to Nashville, Tennessee for him to serve as Chair of the Allied Health Department of Trevecca Nazarene College. He established the first and the longest tenured P.A. program in the state of Tennessee.

While at Trevecca, he was able to incorporate his calling to share the Gospel while healing. He wanted to prepare young people to follow God’s calling in their lives in order to spread the love of Jesus. On his sabbatical year, he served with Nazarene Compassionate Ministry in Haiti and in South Africa, training primary healthcare workers.

In 1985 he came to Vanderbilt University with an appointment in Pediatric Medicine and as a physician for Vanderbilt Student Health. He retired in 2004 to assume one of his favorite roles, grandfather. Papa spent Sunday afternoons playing round robin at the zoo, the Frist Museum and the Adventure Science Museum. He drove to Clarksville frequently to see his other grandchildren. Nothing delighted him more than to read with them all.

He and Joy loved working outdoors. He built beautiful stone walls in the gardens of their home. He and Joy moved to the Heritage in 2022 where he spent almost every meal and opportunity in the hallway to tell people about Jesus. The most important things to Earl Vastbinder were God, his family and people.

The family would like to give special thanks to his many beloved caregivers, especially Jan Norby, Jen Walker, Senior Helpers Karen, Andrea and Lina and all the compassionate caregivers at Vanderbilt University Hospital.

Memorial contributions may be made in lieu of flowers to Samaritan’s Purse, Child Evangelism Fellowship or Covenant Presbyterian Church.

Visitation will be held at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee on Friday, November 21, 2025 at noon with a memorial service to follow at 1 pm. A private graveside service will be held that morning.

The following link is for the livestream of the service: https://www.youtube.com/live/YW3cSSen7To__;!!M2D_dUfSiN4E!OH77kZwOis9865uPRrRNCIb32pAzO898XLPziUnDgrtzDYxaj2qm2uFkZeotbPOmoBHfGUM0beFYtM8Nf0VanzMN5cvQFw$