Sheila A Gipson

Rev. Dr. Sheila Ann Gipson was born on October 15, 1952, in Gamboa, Panamá, the second child of identical twins to Stanley and Grace Maria Small. In 1963, Sheila moved with her family to New York City.

A lifelong learner, Sheila reached her first academic milestone when she graduated from Cathedral High School in New York City, New York, in 1970. Her next two achievements highlight her mathematical mindset and passion for creating solutions amidst complexity. In 1975, Sheila earned her B.A. degree in Mathematics from Hunter College in New York City. In 1977, she obtained an M.S. degree in Computer Science from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Her pursuit of knowledge evolved to match the growth in her Christian walk, earning a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1999; and her Doctor of Ministry degree from Drew University in 2012. She enjoyed a career in the telecommunications industry, working at Bell Telephone Laboratories and GTE Telephone Laboratories from 1975 to 1985 before dedicating her work to raising her daughters and entering Christian ministry.

Sheila loved the Lord, accepting her call to preach the Gospel in 1993 and becoming an ordained minister in 1999. From 1999 to 2023, she served as an Associate Pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, New Jersey, leading multiple ministries that highlighted her gifts as an organizer, connector, and mentor. As a chaplain at St. Peter’s Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey from 2016 – 2020, Sheila used her gift for languages, offering comfort in English and Spanish. Sheila visited six continents, with many travels related to foreign missions. Whether preaching in South Africa and Brazil, counseling children of death row inmates in China, working on human trafficking in Australia, organizing the building of wells in Haiti, serving leper communities in India, or delivering resources to African college student refugees in Poland, she cared using her gifts of humor, mentorship, and love of languages. She studied Russian, Hebrew, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and would include the computer languages she knew such as COBOL, Pascal, C, and Assembly. She was especially drawn to her genetic heritage and felt at home in Ghana, visiting seven times from 2007 to 2022. No one was better at planning than Sheila, and she could see patterns in everything from travel logistics to numbers to computer games.

One of the best parts of Sheila’s journey was meeting the love of her life, David, at Purdue University. On December 17, 1975, Sheila married David Lee Gipson of Springhill, Louisiana. This union was blessed with two daughters, Sonia Maria and Cynthia Ann. David and Sheila extended their family to include a nephew, Reggie, and two nieces, Graciela and Christy. As her family aged, Sheila lovingly served as caregiver for her mother from 2001 to 2007. On the passing of her mother, Sheila and David permanently welcomed her brother, Bill, into their home.

You did not leave a conversation without Sheila persuading you to follow your dreams or to join her on a trip. There are many other things that Sheila did, “...which the world itself could not contain in the books that would be written,” (John 21:25). Sheila went from here to Eternity on May 30, 2023. She is predeceased by her parents, Stanley and Grace Small, a sister, Betty, mother-in-law, Odell Gipson, and brothers-in-law, John Harris,Gerald Hayes, Sr., and Ernie Ovad.

She leaves to cherish her memories, her husband of almost 48 years, David Gipson of Bradenton, FL; two daughters, Sonia (Eric) of Albuquerque, NM, and Cynthia (Chinor, Sr.) of Somerset, NJ; two special nephews, Reggie (Betty) of Middletown, DE, and Gerald, Jr. (Yherytza) of Frisco, TX; three special nieces, Graciela (Jami) of Somerset, NJ, Christy (Kyle) of Coral Springs, FL, and Suzanne of Belle Mead, NJ; seven grandchildren, Aja, Chinor II, Naomi, Zacharias, Sarai, Isaac, and Jami, Jr.; one great-grandson, Ian; one brother, William of Bradenton, FL; three sisters, Veronica of White Plains, NY, Esperanza of Tamarac, FL, and her twin, Sandra of Belle Mead, NJ; two goddaughters, Jeanna and Tatiana, and a host of family and friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made out to Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Society, Inc. (www.LottCarey.org/donate), in her name.

A memorial service will be held, Saturday, June 10, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. at Mt Bethel Baptist Church, 901 N.W. 11th Ave. Ft Lauderdale, FL 33311.