Rev. Paul Gere

1926 - 2022

Reverend Paul W. Gere, 95, of South Montrose, passed away at home, surrounded by the love of family and friends on Monday, May 23, 2022. Paul's wife of 73 years, Mary Overton (Brown) Gere, survives.
He was born October 10, 1926 on the family farm in Brooklyn, to the late Albert W. and Hazel M. (Snover) Gere.
He was pre-deceased by his sister, Alberta M. Miller (John Miller), brothers, Howard S. Gere (Dorintha Gere), Donald A. Gere (Jesse Gere), and sister-in-law Doris T. Gere.
Also surviving, brother, Homer G. Gere; three children, William P. Gere (Wendy Marsaln), Barbara J. Gere (aka. Roberta J. Russel), Jerald E. Gere (Janet Gere); four grandchildren, Nellie J. Johnson (William Johnson), Caleb L. Gere, Elijah L. Gere (Amber Jacobson), Megen E. Fuller; two great grandchildren, Riley and Carter Johnson; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Paul was baptized and confirmed in the Brooklyn Methodist Church, graduated from the Brooklyn Vocational High School, and attended Keystone College prior to serving in the US Army Air Force occupation forces in Germany. As a teenager he rode his bike to the civil defense post outside of town and worked from midnight – 4am as a volunteer enemy plane spotter in Brooklyn.
Paul enjoyed helping Mary's parents, Tom and Clementine Brown, at the Overton Farms Dairy Bar. After military duty, he was an Instructor for the Veterans Farm Training Program, and as Farm Planning Aid with the USDA Soil Conservation Service. He then went on to work in insurance as a Claims Adjuster and District Claims Manager for Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. (Nationwide Insurance Co.).
He changed career focus in 1958 and received a BS in Psychology from Hartwick College and a Bachelor of Divinity at Colgate Rochester. He was ordained as Deacon in 1965, and ordained as Elder in 1969, with the United Methodist Church. Paul served his first charge as student minister at Mount Vision and Hartwick, NY, then a year in Syracuse as a youth minister while doing graduate work. Paul served parishes in Bernhards Bay/Constantia/Cleveland on Oneida Lake and at Fulton, NY and commuted to do seminary studies in Rochester.
Finally, closer to home he worked as assistant minister in Endwell, NY. While in the Triple Cities he was a Chaplin at the Broome County Jail in Binghamton, NY and even rode with the Binghamton Police Dept. for family crises emergency calls.
Locally Paul was minister in Great Bend, Hallstead, and with Simpson Methodist in Scranton. He spent thirty years as the Protestant Chaplin at the Lackawanna County Prison in Scranton.
In the 1970s Paul joined with an interfaith group in the "Team Ministry", in Scranton. Not quite ready to retire, he continued work as part-time chaplain at the Gino J. Merli Veteran's Center also in Scranton from 1995 – 2012 when he retired at 86 years old.
In 1969, he was the Co-Chairman for the New York State Prison Reform Conference. In the 1960s and 70s was a Tour Director for the Friendship Caravan, which led groups of students through tours of Europe and the Middle East, including, United Nations Center for Palestine refugees, a kibbutz in Israel, Anatolia College in Greece, and Casa Materna in Naples, Italy.
He was involved with many advocacy and community groups including Clergy Consultation Service, CHOICE, Planned Parenthood, The Rap House, Old Mill Village, The Endless Mountains Forum, the Center for Anti-Slavery Studies, League of Women Voters, the Brooklyn Historical Society, and the historic Lenoxville Band.
Paul enjoyed playing clarinet, candle making, tapping the maple trees, boiling maple syrup, studying the beavers that lived in the family pond, teaching his grandkids to cut and load firewood, and taking a "shortcut" while on a drive, sometimes onto unfamiliar roads or in questionable weather.
Paul will be remembered for his smile, his kind words, humility to all people, his adventurous spirit, and as my grandfather.
Arrangements are with the Daniel K Regan Funeral Home.
A private Celebration of Life ceremony will be held in July for family and friends.