Mrs. Geraldine Marie McClaflin, Bethany, passed away on Tuesday, September 28, 2010 in Lake Havasu City, Arizona while visiting her daughter. She was 79. Gerri was a member of Bethany First Church of the Nazarene and the Association of Retired Ministers and Missionaries (ARMM). She was preceded in death by her husband Rev. Dale McClaflin, her parents Walter T. (Bill) and Opal Bessire, her brothers Tommy and Billy Bessire, her sister Evelyn Karlik, and granddaughter Geraldine Frances McClaflin. Gerri was born on July 28, 1931 in Hillsboro, Texas. She began college at Bethany Peniel Nazarene College in 1949, and on August 15, 1949 she married Dale McClaflin. Dale and Gerri shared 57 years of marriage together. They moved to Kansas City, Missouri where Dale went to Nazarene Theological Seminary. Dale and Gerri pastored Nazarene churches throughout the country for over 40 years. They pastored churches in Butler and Independence, MO, Alamogordo and Albuquerque, NM, Lincoln, NE, Pensacola, FL, McComb, MS, Lufkin, TX, Houston, TX, and Bismarck, ND. In 1995 they retired and moved to Bethany, where Dale served as a volunteer chaplain for Bethany First Church of the Nazarene. Gerris life was centered around Dales and her ministry. She loved playing the piano, and she also played the organ, sang, taught, and worked in churches throughout her life. Gerri is survived by her daughter Elizabeth of Lake Havasu, AZ; daughter Marilyn Diane and her husband Dr. W.J. (Dub) Lane of Slidell, LA; son Rev. Elmer D. McClaflin Jr. and his wife Maggie of Boonville, MO; adopted son George McClaflin and his wife Marcie of Albuquerque, NM; as well as twelve grandchildren: Jim Sweeney, Denise Nelson, Julie Sweeney, Jaime Michaelson, Erin Lane, Richard Lane, Steven McClaflin, Ian McClaflin, Laura McClaflin, Bobby McClaflin, Daniel McClaflin and Thomas McClaflin. Gerri is also survived by sister Carolyn Duncan and her husband Kelly of Athens, TX as well as countless friends and family. Funeral services will be Thursday, Oct. 7, 2:00pm at Bethany First Church of the Nazarene with interment in Resurrection Cemetery.