Farewell Maurice & Adrienne Gersbach
Sabbath May 10 was the last time Maurice & Adrienne Gersbach were worshiping with the Busselton Church Family after fifty-six years of association with the Busselton Church.
As part of the Mother’s Day programme a special tribute was paid to them both. Family members attended from Perth and Merredin and the grandchildren led the singing of the couple’s favourite hymns. The service was followed by a lunch of soup and buns, allowing folks to wish them well in their move to live at Rossmoyne Waters in Perth.
Maurice’s connection to the Seventh-day Adventist faith goes back to his grandparents and the colporteur Fred Reekie. His father was appointed to be the manager of the Carmel Weetbix factory and thus the family came to WA in 1932 and later to a dairy farm at Metricup in 1944.
Initially the family worshiped in the Carbunup Hall and then a few years later in Busselton with the Lyle, Vaughan, Louis, Stacey, Jones and Cockersole families. Maurice and Brian Stacey were baptised at Busselton Beach in January 1947. Not long after this the family were asked to join the Margaret River folk to bolster church numbers.
Adrienne’s maternal grandmother became involved with the Seventh-day Adventist faith through a mission programme at Fremantle and often took Adrienne to Sabbath School. When she was around age 10 her mother joined the church, but her father didn’t come to faith until 1980.
Adrienne’s mother took an interest in Bible studies when Adrienne was around ten years old and they began attending Perth Church. She started playing the organ for church when she was still too small to reach the pedals of the old pump organ so old Pastor GI Wilson would bend down to work the pedals for her when she played.
She attended Avondale for two years to do a secretarial course and then accounting the following year. She came back to WA and was working as a legal secretary when she started dating Maurice.
They had actually met at a youth congress in 1956 but started dating in 1963 and married in the Perth church in 1965.
The couple rented an old group settlement home on the Rosendaal farm at Metricup for a couple of years. Later purchasing a farm in Metricup and ran beef cattle.
In 1969 the couple, now with Delwynne and Stephanie as toddlers, began worshipping at Busselton in the Kent St. church with the Chapman, Lyle, Lawson, Cooper, Brown, Curnuck, Cousins, Trigwell, Ansell, Rozendaal, Burge, House and Turner families. They were members at Busselton for the move to the current church complex in 1972.
They have both served the church in numerous positions over that time. Adrienne has always shared her musical talent with the church playing for church programmes and for the choir but has also been a lesson teacher for both the children and adult classes. She has been an elder, treasurer, worship leader, ABC secretary and staff for Kid’s club. Maurice has also held numerous roles, he has been a Sabbath School lesson teacher, Sabbath School superintendent, elder, Deacon and maintenance, safety officer, and sang bass in the choir. When the school was functioning, he was on the school board.
There have been many who have contributed in similar ways to the life of our church to bring us to this point and as we pause to consider how much Adrienne and Maurice have participated, I think it’s obvious that we will miss them enormously. Although they wont be worshiping with us each Sabbath they will always be a part of the Busselton Church family.
The church at Rossmoyne will be greatly blessed to have Maurice and Adrienne join them.