Peabody High School graduate Marcellus “Jerry” Gilmer died Aug. 31 in Medford, Oregon.

He was buried in National Cemetery in Eagle Point, Oregon.

Born July 21, 1934, to Marcellus Jennings and Bernice Gilmer near Douglass, he graduated Kansas State University with a journalism degree, and received a master’s degree from American Baptist Seminary of the West.

He married Maxine Beeton on Aug. 14, 1955 at First Methodist Church in Peabody.

Jerry worked for the Peabody-Gazette-Herald in high school, which led to journalism jobs in Peabody, Kent, Washington, Issaquah, Washington, and Burns, Oregon.

Jerry served in the Army as a company clerk until 1960, and was stationed at the DMZ in Korea.

Jerry was a pastor and Veterans Administration medical system chaplain and chief from 1975 until he retired in 2000.

He was preceded in death by son, Darrel William Gilmer; granddaughter, Jessica Gilmer; and sister, Doris Mae Miller.

He is survived by wife Maxine; son, Jerry M. Gilmer; daughter, Cheryl Hoffman; sister, Iola Russell; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.