MAY 22 – Uriah M. Shetler, 82, of Farmville, died Saturday, May 19, 2012, at his residence after a lengthy illness of Parkinson's and a five-year battle with cancer. He was born June 27, 1929, in Apple Creek, Ohio, to the late Mose L. and Mary (Miller) Shetler. When he was ten, his mother died and his father remarried to his aunt Barbara Miller.

On November 22, 1951, Mr. Shetler married Rachel Stoltzfus in Oakland, Maryland. They moved to Catlett and in 1956 he was ordained a minister in the Beachy Amish Fellowship Church. In 1958, they moved to Holmes County, Ohio, and was the founder of the Beachy Amish Fellowship Church there.

He was a widely known traveling evangelist in the late 1950s and 1960s. With fire and zeal, he preached the gospel and held meetings in many churches. Under his preaching, hundreds of people became believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and he spent many hours and traveled great distances to speak of the changing grace of Christ. His prayers to God were powerful, his care for individual needs were deep, and his words were used by the Holy Spirit to penetrate many souls. He was ordained Bishop in 1963 in Holmes County, Ohio, and was very instrumental in assisting and establishing churches in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Paraguay, South America.

In 1971, the Shetler family moved to Paraguay, and there he served as Bishop in the Light and Hope Church. Mr. Shetler became fluent in Spanish and had a heart for the natives there. In 1981, the family returned to the United States and settled in Farmville where he served as Bishop at the Farmville Christian Fellowship Church until he retired due to his illness in 1991.

Surviving are his wife, Rachel; 13 children, James (Geneva) Fowler of New Carlisle, Ohio, Martha (Lloyd) Slabaugh of Nappanee, Indiana, John Shetler of Hartville, Ohio, Anna (Albert) Miller of Farmville, Priscilla (Mark) Eichorn of Paraguay, South America, Stephen (LaVerda) Shetler of Perkins, Oklahoma, Daniel (Phyllis) Shetler of McAlisterville, Pennsylvania, Mary (Alexi) Espinoza of Honduras, Central America, Miriam (John) Miller of Pamplin, Dorcas Shetler of Farmville, Eunice Joy (Ken) Mast of Dundee, Ohio, Bernice Shetler of Farmville, and Julia (Jeff) Hertzler of Axton; 50 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; five brothers, Joni, Lewis, Levi, Eli, and Norman; and five sisters, Elizabeth, Martha, Ada, Mary, and Ella. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a son, James, three grandchildren, Adrian, Rosella, and Darla Jewel, and one great-grandchild, Fabian.

Services were held on Tuesday, May 22, at Concord Baptist Gymnasium. Interment was in the Farmville Christian Fellowship Church cemetery.

Puckett Funeral Home, Farmville, served the family. www.puckettfh.com