Jerry Lenning Obituary

Jerry Marie Curtis Lenning, 93, devoted wife of the late John O. Lenning, passed away on Wednesday, October 15, 2025. Jerry was born on September 20, 1932 in Little Rock, AR. She was the beloved and only daughter of the late Jerry Lewis Curtis and Anna Marie Riffe Curtis. At the age of 10, the family moved to California. Jerry attended Hollywood High School where she graduated in the Hollywood Bowl before completing a degree in Education at Pepperdine University. She met her husband of 43 years, Johnny, in Carmel, CA while he served in the US Army and she was a school teacher in Monterrey, CA. Johnny and Jerry were married on June 27, 1959 at Glen Eyrie Castle in Colorado Springs while the two worked for The Navigators. The newlyweds moved to Greenville, SC where Johnny graduated from Furman University and went on to work as an Associate with Cliff Barrows and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Johnny served as the Producer of "The Hour of Decision", Billy Graham's weekly radio broadcast, from 1960-2001. Jerry was a homemaker until their oldest child went to college. She made a return to the classroom as a second-grade teacher at Mitchell Road Christian Academy for 15 years. Jerry was an avid tennis player and member of the Green Valley Country Club women's tennis team. She loved the coast, soaking up the sun, collecting sea shells on the beach, and talking with anyone about her relationship with Jesus. Over the past 30 years, much of her energy was directed at being an active and engaged "Nana" to her 13 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren. The Lennings were involved members of White Oak Baptist Church in the 1960's and 1970's, Taylors First Baptist Church during the 1980's and 1990's, Brookwood Church in the 2000's and more recently, Grace Church. Left to cherish the memories of Jerry are her four children, Scott Lenning, his wife Tami Pyler Lenning, and their three children of Birmingham, AL, Sherry Taylor and her husband Jeff Taylor, and their two children of Greenville; Susan Wolverton, her husband Tagg Wolverton, and their four children of Rock Hill; and Stuart Lenning, his wife Jill Brooks Lenning, and their four children of Greenville. In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by her granddaughter, Amber Leigh Lenning. A memorial service to celebrate her life will be held on Saturday, November 29th at 11:00 a.m. at Grace Church on Pelham Rd with a receiving of friends at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to THE GREATEST JOURNEY, a children's discipleship course for Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan's Purse. PO Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607.