Geraldine M. "Gerry" Rayburn

GERALDINE “GERRY” RAYBURN, 81

Geraldine “Gerry” Rayburn, 81, of Lake Wales passed away Tuesday, February 4, 2008 at Winter Haven Hospital of heart failure.

Born August 11, 1926 in Mount Vernon, NY, she was a graduate of A.B. Davis High and Victory Business School and married Jack Rayburn in 1947. She is preceded in death by her husband, Jack Rayburn. Survivors include her sons, Robert Lynn Rayburn of Winter Haven; Ralph Peter, and wife Jan, Rayburn of Miami Shores; daughter, Pamela Anne, and husband Royce, Grooms of Winter Haven; brother, Arthur De Nunzio of Weston; grandchildren, Calvin and Jenson.

While still in New York, she was an artist for Terrytoons, a model for an illustrated cover of Ladies Home Journal, and a volunteer at Mount Vernon Hospital, helping in Pediatrics. In 1955, after moving from Eastchester, NY to Miami, FL; she became President of her children’s elementary school and later their high school. She was also the President of Council of the Catholic Women at St. Monicas Catholic Church, a board member of the Diocese of Miami Council of Catholic Women, and assisted the co-coordinator of the Boys Town of Florida Air Show. Gerry was a charter board member of Cameo, a muscular dystrophy research group, the University of Miami Cancer Research Center, and the St. Thomas University Women’s Organization, and was involved in fund raising. She was the Public Relations Director for the Apartment Hunter magazine, and gave community news and book reviews at Channel 10 in Miami. She was also a member of the North East Women’s Club and the Country Club of Miami, playing on the tennis team and played golf. As a freelance fashion commentator and coordinator she prepared shows for Saks Fifth Avenue, Jordan Marsh, and Burdines. Through her efforts, Pierre Cardin, of Paris, France, agreed to present her first fashion show in the United States for a fund raiser for Muscular Dystrophy.

Moving to Babson Park in 1975, she became active in the Babson Park Women’s Club. Her membership at Holy Spirit Catholic Church and as an Eucharistic Minister & Rector, she visited Lake Wales Hospital and local nursing homes once a week for five years. She was certified as a minister to AIDS victims and bereaved counseling. She was a Curcillo Movement member for 35 years and was commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel in 1965. She was a certified volunteer since 1976 at Lake Wales and Avon Park Correctional Institutes, developing fellowship under the Kairos Ministry Program. She was a chairmen of the new Holy Spirit Catholic Church’s building committee, past-president of the original Parrish Council, Lake Wales Arts Council Board Member, and President of the Lake Wales Little Theatre. Foremost was her love and devotion to her family.

A memorial service will be held 1:00 PM, Saturday, February 9, 2008 at the Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Interment will be held at the Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell. In lieu of flowers, donations to Kairos Ministry or the Lake Wales Arts Center would be beneficial to both groups.

Marion Nelson Funeral Home, Lake Wales.