Rev. Jimmy Lee Gilbert

A memorial service for the Rev. Jimmy Lee Gilbert of Cordele will be held Wednesday, September 21, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. in the chapel of Rainey Family Funeral Services. The family will receive friends prior to the service beginning at 1:00 p.m. Jimmy passed away peacefully Monday, September 19, 2022 at his residence. He was born in Cordele and was the son of the late Oscar S. Gilbert and Betsy Vernette Pate Gilbert Whiddon. He was a retired Methodist minister. Jimmy was a 1966 graduate of Crisp County High School Rebels and of Candler School of Theology at Emory University. He served churches in the Americus, Dublin and Statesboro Districts until his retirement in 2010. A loving and faithful pastor, the love was returned from far beyond his congregation, coming from all the surrounding communities where he served. Jimmy is survived by the love of his life and his wife of almost 54 years, Sarah Gutherie Gilbert of Cordele; sisters, Mary Ann Gilbert Lusk and her husband, John Lusk of Unadilla and Kathy Whiddon Arnette and her husband, Roger Arnette of Alabama; his children and their spouses, Jim and Susan Gilbert of Abbeville and Michelle G. and Jeff Collins of Cordele; five grandchildren, Dillion Ordway and his wife, Katelynne Ordway, Shelby Ordway Czerwonka, Samantha Gilbert, Sarah Ann Collins Hopper and her husband, Dr. Russ Hopper, and Jared Collins; and three great-grandchildren, Wyatt Czerwonka, George Czerwonka and Cora Elizabeth Hopper.