Rev. David Geary Roof

Reverend David Geary Roof

By the Glory of God -

Reverend David Geary Roof, age 80, of Dillsburg, and raised in Steelton, was embraced by Jesus on Friday, November 18, 2016.  David was born on Tuesday, January 7, 1936 in Hershey to the late Geary Andrew Roof and Almeda Jane (Eshenour) Roof.  In addition to his parents, David is preceded in death by his stepmother, Erma (Cover) Roof.

David’s survivors include his loving wife of 53 years, Shirley Ann (Kern) Roof; his three children: Kim Yunez and her husband, Farid, of Dillsburg, David A. Roof and his wife, Conce, of Lebanon, Deb Roof of Dillsburg; his three grandchildren: Victoria Behm and her husband, Brian, and their son, Kairo, Andrew Roof, Sara Yunez; his two sisters: Donna Price, Patricia Pieffer; one niece; and several nephews.

David Geary Roof was born on January 7, 1936 to Almeda Jane Eshenour of Hummelstown and Geary (Ted) Roof of Steelton.  On the 24 ^th of January, 1936, Almeda Jane, who had been confined to bed according to the custom of the time, was given permission to get out of bed.  She stood up, put on her housecoat, clutched at her chest, and fell back on the bed in the stillness of death. A blood clot had settled in her heart, and taken her out of the life of her 17-day old infant, David Roof.

Geary Roof was so distraught that he saw to it that all of Almeda’s possessions were disposed of – either given away, sold or destroyed – including the Ford Coupe which he had bought for her.  David ended up being cared for by Almeda’s sister Esther for two years, but after the death of Esther’s father in a tragic accident in 1938, she and her husband, Bob Kreiner, decided to homestead to Oregon, and at that juncture, the future direction of young David’s life became uncertain.  Should the two-year-old boy move across the country with his Aunt Esther and Uncle Bob or stay with Geary’s half-sister Zora and her husband, who were offering to take him in.  Some members of the family thought that he should go to the Hershey Industrial School for boys.  In the end, Geary Roof decided to move back into his family home in Steelton and raise his son with the help of his own mother, Annie Reed Roof.

Since David was raised in the same household as his three uncles and two aunts, he called Annie “Mom” like they did.  He also got some old fashioned thrashings, like they had gotten too, for “mischievous behavior,” like the time his grandma took a switch to his legs for shooting a hole in the third floor ceiling with his uncle Paul’s .22 caliber rifle.

One day in December 1941, they were all gathered around the kitchen table at 177 Lincoln street, when they heard the news on the radio that Pearl Harbor had been attacked.  For these grandchildren of Civil War veteran Isaac (Israel) Roof, this was a call to duty.  Geary Roof joined the swelling work force of the Harrisburg Steel Corporation which forged iron and steel products for the Army and Navy throughout World War II.  Geary’s brother Robert (Bob) Roof enlisted in the Navy and served throughout the war on the USS Intrepid.  These elder Roofs exhibited the values of the “greatest generation” that would be galvanized in David, who would later decide to join the Navy Reserves.

With the resurgence of church attendance during the war years, it seemed only natural to Geary to take his young son to the little white church that was only a short walk away from 177 Lincoln Street.  It was this little church, the Grace Evangelical Church of Steelton, that would open up a pathway for David into the ministry.  Both David and his father attended this church regularly, almost never missing a Sunday until David joined the Navy Reserves in his senior year of high school and had to spend some weekends at the Bainbridge Training Center in Maryland.  On the Sunday after he returned home from his initial training, David responded to what he felt was God’s call on his life.  In a written statement, David Roof described his conversion experience as follows:

“Two weeks after returning from the training period, which had caused me to miss Sunday School and church for the first time in years, I attended a decision service in our Sunday School.  It was a good service but I went thru [sic] it like I had done other services of this sort.  This service being completed we went into the regular morning worship.  It was no special meeting and nothing was planned as far as any extra emphasis on coming to Christ.  Rev. Thompson always gave an invitation.  He never got to preach his message that day, for the Lord did have some special plans for me.  We had sung the opening hymn and were on our knees for the pastoral prayer.  I was half listening to the preacher’s words when I began feeling quite strange.  I began to feel that I was a terrible sinner.  I pictured my mother over what I was, what I had neglected to do in my spiritual life.  God spoke to me, and I knew what He was saying, ‘This is it.  Make your decision now.’  Tears began to fall from my eyes.  I was a sinner and needed more than I could ever supply for myself.  I needed Christ and the salvation that only He could give.  The prayer was over and we rose from our knees to sit down.  My step-mother [by that time Geary had married Erma] looked at me and said, ‘Do you want to go up front?’  ‘Yes,’ I said and went to the altar rail where I knelt weeping, seeking God’s forgiveness.  I can still hear Rev. Thompson as I moved up the aisle; ‘The service has changed.’  He put away his sermon notes, picked up his Bible and came to me.”

This was not only a pivotal moment in the life of David Roof, but it was also a pastoral model that he would later follow.  Throughout his ensuing pastoral career, he exhibited a willingness to put aside his own plans in order to affirm God’s call on the lives of the people that he was in a position to counsel and aid.  He lived frugally himself, often patching clothes and shoes, so that he could have some excess to give to others in need (that went beyond his faithful tithing to the church).

After graduating from Steel High in 1953, he worked for a while in a downtown Harrisburg drug store as a fountain clerk.  He terminated this job in order to travel to Oregon and work with his uncle Bob Kreiner for a few months, who was an itinerant missionary in that area and church planter.  David travelled with him for miles to attend church and gain valuable ministry experience.

Upon returning to the East, he set out to join the Navy, but was rejected due to a Thyro-glossal cyst in his neck.  His attempt to join the Air Force was fruitless too.  The despair of having his childhood dream dashed, led David to speak more often with Rev. Thompson who told him to pray earnestly and see what would happen.

What happened was that David heard that the Evangelical Congregational School of Theology, which had opened in Myerstown in 1953, was looking for students, so he applied for admittance in 1955.  To his great surprise, he was accepted (because he often described himself as an average high school student).  He entered the Seminary intending to study and enter into full-time service as a minister, but he felt like he lacked experience and discipline since he had seldom carried much responsibility up to this point in his life.  So David decided to make one more attempt at military service, and this time, he paid a visit to a Marine recruiter, who told him that they not only would accept him, but that they also would take care of the problem with the Thyro-glossal cyst.  This ended up being a good move because the Evangelical Congregational School of Theology did not receive approval from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to grant the Bachelor of Divinity degree until 1957, and by that time, David Roof would have already completed his basic training at Paris Island, additional combat training at Camp LeJune, followed by radio communication school where he received a diploma in Radio Telegraphy.  He was stationed in Hawaii in August of 1957 and in May of 1958, he was assigned as Chaplain’s Assistant to the Presbyterian chaplain.  He also worked alongside a Roman Catholic Chaplain and felt that both of these experiences strengthened his faith.  He returned to Camp LeJune in August of 1959 for the remainder of his military obligation in the area of communications. Throughout his life, David would impress people with his capacity to tap out Morse code!

After his 4-year stint in the Marine Corps, David returned to the Seminary with a renewed sense of purpose.  At the annual conference of 1962, David Roof was assigned to his first church, Zion in Myerstown, in the capacity of student pastor.  He married Shirley Kern in 1963, his wife of 53 years. Together they served many other churches over the next four decades throughout the Eastern part of the state of Pennsylvania: Lawn 1964 – 1967, St John’s 1967 – 1973 on the east side of Allentown where he also served as the chaplain of the Optimist Club, Trinity in Frackville 1973-1975, Grace in Ephrata 1975 - 1979, Seibert in Allentown 1979 - 1987, Wyndamere Heights in Lewisberry 1994 – 2000 and Faith in Chambers Hill 2000 - 2003.

While serving the churches in Myerstown and Lawn, David completed a B.A. in history at Messiah College, graduating in 1967.  In 1970, the Seminary in Myerstown received approval to grant a Master of Divinity, so during his pastorate in Frackville, David Roof commuted to the Seminary in order to complete this degree.  He also did some graduate work at Lehigh University.

Between his pastorate at Allentown Seibert and at Wyndamere Heights, he served as the District Superintendent of the Eastern Conference of the Evangelical Congregational church for seven years.  This gave him an opportunity to minister to the ministers and mentor the young pastors who would eventually enter into church-wide leadership positions.  He served on several church-wide committees and performed other roles for the church over the years including the Administrative Council, the Conference Relations Committee, Delegate to General Conference, Division of Evangelism, Retirement Village Board, and the Twin Pines Camp Board.  He also served for several years as the director of one week of summer camp and enjoyed interacting with the staff and campers.  David Roof has often been described as a gentle and good-humored colleague, a loving husband and father, a man of great faith, and a dedicated pastor who exhibited good will toward all.

All are welcome to join David’s family at his funeral service on Wednesday, November 23, 2016, beginning at 11:00 a.m. at Wyndamere Heights Evangelical Congregational Church, 736 Wyndamere Road, Lewisberry, PA 17339.  A committal service with the presentation of military honors will immediately follow the service.  David’s family invites everyone to join them for a greeting of family and friends and reception at his church following the committal service.  Burial will be private and at the convenience of the family in Indiantown Gap National Cemetery in Annville.

Contributions in celebration of David’s life can be made to Global Ministries Commission, 100 West Park Avenue, Myerstown, PA 17067, www.ECCCenter.com, or Evangelical Seminary, 121 South College Street, Myerstown, PA 17067, www.Evangelical.edu.

David’s family has entrusted his care to Myers – Buhrig Funeral Home and Crematory in Mechanicsburg, (717) 766-3421.  Read David’s full obituary, view his memorial video and portrait, and sign his official guest book at www.Buhrig.com .