Virginia Gilmore, 98, Wiley Church pastor

Virginia Hackett Gilmore inherited the nondenominational Wiley Church in Marlton from her father, the Rev. John S. Hackett, who had become pastor of its predecessor, Wiley Methodist Church, in Camden in 1927.

He founded the Wiley Mission in Camden in 1931, and moved it and its church in 1940 to Marlton "to dedicate all of its efforts in health care to the aging and frail elderly," the church website states.

Mrs. Gilmore and her husband, Cecil P. Sr. led the mission from the death of her father in 1940 until they retired in 1980, son Gary said. The church is part of the nonprofit Wiley Mission, along with the mission's Wiley Retirement Community, Gary Gilmore said.

Mrs. Gilmore was pastor of the church from 1940 until the 1960s, when another son, Cecil Jr., replaced her as pastor.

But, Cecil Gilmore Jr. said, she was always "the spiritual leader."

On Wednesday, July 15, Mrs. Gilmore, 98, of Marlton, died at the Health Care Center of Wiley Mission.

In the 1960s, Cecil Jr. said, she was invited to speak at a Fellowship Day sponsored by Holiness Christian Church in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

"She was so much on fire with her message that her hat flew off," Cecil Jr. said. "She knew how to move crowds."

William F. Hyland Jr., a Marlton lawyer who is vice chairman of the Wiley Mission board of trustees, is the current choir director at the church. As a previous choir director there, Mrs. Gilmore at the end of worship services "would always have a kind word as to how much she enjoyed the music that morning," Hyland said.

A Wiley Church member since the late 1980s, Hyland said she "had time for everyone and was always gracious."

Gary Gilmore is the current president and CEO of Wiley Mission, Cecil Jr. is chairman of the board of trustees, and brother J. Douglas Gilmore is the pastor, Hyland said.

Born in Millville, N.J., Mrs. Gilmore graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden.

She was a licensed minister in the Evangelical Christian Church before it merged into the Wesleyan Church.

Being the pastor was only part of her ministry.

"My parents would get up in the morning and do a 15-minute radio program before they would take me to school," Cecil Gilmore Jr. said. The daily radio program, known as Wiley Gospel Echoes, on WCAM, among others, was followed on Sundays, when "we would broadcast our service live from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m."

Then the family and others "would all get into our cars" and drive to churches from Pottstown to Carlisle, Pa., to preach again.

Sometimes, he said, "we never even got dinner."

Cecil Jr. said he was born in 1939, "and I remember coming home in the middle of the night" after such distant worship services.

But the sacrifice was worthwhile in a more secular sense, he said, "because that's how Wiley Mission was able to stay afloat," by passing the hat after services.

Besides her sons, Mrs. Gilmore is survived by sons Donald and Richard, daughter Virginia, 24 grandchildren, 42 great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren.

A visitation was set from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, at Wiley Church, 99 E. Main St., Marlton, before an 11 a.m. memorial service there.

Donations may be sent to Wiley Mission at the above address or to www.wileymission.org.

Condolences may be offered to the family at www.bradleyfuneralhome-marlton.com.

610-313-8134@WNaedele