Jerry Oas

Jerry was born on June 30, 1938 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to the late Manley and Mavis Oas.
Jerry loved his family.
He has three siblings; M. Donald Oas of Minnetonka, MN, Tom Oas (Judy) of Tucson, AZ, and Raylyn Kuglin (Norm) of Stuart, FL
His children; Julie Oas Easley, TN (husband, Ernest), Jay Oas, MN (wife, Tami), Karen Oas Stafford Read, TX, Kris Oas, TN (wife, Heidi),
His grandchildren: Jordan Easley, TN (wife, Audra), Jonah Easley, WA (wife, Kathy), Jessica Easley McCaslin, GA (husband, Matthew), Kelsie Stafford, TX, Dustin Stafford, TX, Aubrey Oas, TN, Kinley Oas, TN
His great grandchildren: Jailee & Asher Easley, TN, Keegan & Kayson McCaslin, GA, Evan, Adele & Elijah Easley, WA, Lucas Scoggin, TX
Nieces and Nephews: Ann Oas Eudy (Jeff), Angela Eggert (Brian), Aaron Kuglin (Kristy), Adam Oas (Michelle), Ethan Oas (Kayla)
At age 7, his family bought property in Glen Lake, MN to build their family home. It was all hands on deck. One of little Jerry’s jobs was to mix the cement in a box by hand for the footings.
His mom was a wonderful cook and passed that along to all of her children. They not only liked to cook but they loved to eat!
He took private dance lessons for a couple years in grades 5 and 6 with girls. He was a little charmer.
As a 14 year old freshman, Jerry’s football coach invited him to attend a Young Life Camp in Colorado Springs in December of 1952. He surrendered his life to Christ that week and his new-found faith and life-change ignited his personal ministry. Within a year, Jerry had introduced his entire family to Jesus. His grandparents, parents and all his siblings were saved because of Jerry’s conversion and witness. Many in his family today are scattered all over the globe in various ministries - sharing Christ with others. What a glorious legacy he leaves behind!
Jerry graduated from Hopkins High School in 1956. He attended Bethel College in St. Paul, MN and spent much time on the football field, baseball field and in the drama department. He was in several plays during his college career.
After college graduation, he was hired as a salesman for 3M company in St. Louis, MO and did very well. God burdened his heart and called him to full-time ministry in his mid-20’s after he went on some international mission trips and served as an interim pastor for a year. He returned to Bethel Seminary in MN to earn his Masters Degree in Theology and planted/pastored 3 Southern Baptist churches. Southtown Baptist Church in Bloomington, MN, Greenwood Baptist Church in Plymouth, MN, and First Baptist Church in Monticello, MN
Always a smile on his handsome face, a genuine love for people, and a BIG charismatic personality drew others to him which gave him a platform to share Christ with them. God placed him in ministry leadership positions with FCA, Minnesota Twins Baseball league, Chaplain for the Plymouth Police Department, Downtown Minneapolis Homeless Outreach and frequent interaction and influence with his friends who were city leaders. He was able to show genuine compassion and would often get emotional about his love for the Lord and his passion to reach people.
He, and his late wife Judi, opened their home to 100+ foster children in the greater Minneapolis area for 10 years.
In the next chapter of his life, he taught middle school science in Dallas, TX and worked for the Dallas Arboretum - which he loved.
In the past several years, he’s lived in Stuart, Florida at The Pointe - a wonderful senior living community where he became the campus pastor - preaching Sunday services, singing, leading a mid-week Bible study and ministering to everyone that lived there. His heart for evangelism was on display and he wanted everyone he came in contact with to know Jesus like he did. He loved to sing and his strong, baritone voice could be heard above everyone else in the room. ANY room!
In the spring of 2021, Jerry moved to Cleveland, Tennessee to be near much of his family that lived here. He looked forward to getting involved at First Baptist Church (where his eldest grandson Jordan is the Lead Pastor), singing in the choir, taking fun trips with the senior adult ministry, attending his grandkid’s sporting events, eating dinner at eldest daughter Julie’s house and helping his youngest son Kris with his camp ministry.
Although the worship service at FBC was a little more lively than what he was accustomed to, he realized very quickly that it was alive and refreshing. He experienced the Lord in a vibrant new way and was often emotional and excited as he witnessed what God was doing here. He realized it wasn’t about his music preferences - it was about worshipping Jesus! It didn’t take him long to go “all in” with Jesus and recommit his life - pleading for God to give him his new assignment so he could continue his ministry in Cleveland.
Three weeks before he left FL, he had a bad fall and bumped his head which left his left arm weak and him needing a cane or a walker to get around. The doctors in FL said it wasn’t a stroke or his heart but for him to see the TN doctors as soon as he got moved and settled. He did, but really needed to see a Neurology specialist and there was none available in the entire east TN area that was taking new patients. Long story short… within 5 weeks, he had fallen so many times in his apartment and in parking lots that he was no longer able to live independently. Many EMS visits and hospital stays led to ineffective rehab which led to a permanent stay in a skilled nursing facility. All of his exciting plans for moving to Cleveland went unfulfilled. The medical professionals all agreed it was some sort of neuromuscular disease and there was no stopping it. He went from walking a mile a day and ministering to those in his community in Florida last April, to being totally paralyzed and bedridden within a 9 month period of time.
His family came from all over the country to see him and he loved the time with them. He learned the value of video phone calls and could communicate pretty well until about a month ago.
He had his favorite staff members at Life Care Center in Cleveland where he lived. Hospice of Chattanooga was especially helpful and kind to him that last 5 months. There were frequent visits from precious senior adult church members that love our family and cared about him. The godly owner of the apartment he leased was a total blessing - checked on him, released him from the lease and even refunded the deposit. God seemed to place all the right people in his life at just the right time.
Southern Gospel Music and listening to good preaching became the joy of his life near the end and he listened to it 24/7. Fully lucid in his thinking, his faith was still strong. He got to the point where he was ready to trade in the prison of a useless body for a new glorified body. He died peacefully on Sunday, February 13, 2022 just a few hours after spending time with Julie & Ernest and watching the Super Bowl pre-game with Kris. Today? Face to face with Jesus!
There will be a brief graveside service at Lee Cemetery in McDonald, TN at 11:00am Friday.
Because his life was eternally changed when he met Jesus in a camp setting at age 14, Jerry has always been passionate about summer camp ministry. While pastoring, he was often the camp director or the cook and would drive van loads of kids to camp each year. He would always - even this last summer - get a list and pray for the students by name during the week they would be at camp. He could no longer BE there but he was committed to pray for them.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Jerry’s memory to Camp Cherokee, 3870 Keith St NW, Cleveland TN 37312. This can also be done by texting the word “GIVE” to 74784 on your phone, choose “Camp Cherokee” in the dropdown menu and follow the prompts on the screen. Your memorial gift is totally safe and tax-deductible