Gerry had been in precarious health for years when he responded to the growing need for a system and an administrator for the fledgling tithing ministry. His involvement with the ministry that was later named for him began when Paul Forbes asked him and three other friends to come to Franklin Lakes to speak about it. And when, in 1979, it began to show signs of serious expansion, it was Gerry who just naturally handled the details. But he really wasn't well.

       There were evenings when he went far afield to visit with a pastor and parish council and probably shouldn't have. And times when he simply couldn't drive himself, and his wife, Annette, volunteered for that job. That's how it was the night he ended up being taken to the hospital from one rectory.

       However, when I interviewed him in 1983 a few months before he died, I mentioned how much good he'd accomplished and how many lives he had touched. His eminently practical response was to point out that the effort and the gratification it brought may well have - "umhh, ahh, been beneficial, healthwise."