Wilbur Dean Fetterhoff

Wilbur Dean Fetterhoff, 96, of Flora, Ind., met the Lord with grateful and open arms on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026.
Born in 1930, Dean was saved by the Lord as a teenager while attending a youth outreach service led by B.R. Lakin in Flora, Ind. From that point until the day of his death, Dean was a devoted minister and servant of Christ. While attending Bob Jones University, Dean met Billie Jean Hardy, and they were married on Feb. 15, 1952.
Following his graduation from Bob Jones University, Dean enrolled in Grace Seminary and began his career as a servant of Christ, as a minister for the Grace Brethren Board of Evangelism. From 1959 to 1973, Dean and Billie lived in Wheaton, Ill., serving in various ministries, including as pastor of Wheaton Grace Brethren Church and business administrator at Wheaton Christian Grammar School. During this period, Dean and Billie traveled extensively to speak at evangelistic meetings across the country.
In 1973, Dean and Billie moved to Marietta, Ga., where for the next 40 years Dean served faithfully as senior pastor and pastor of missions at the local Grace Brethren Church. For his entire life and ministry, Dean was supported by his equally devoted wife Billie as they raised their two sons, Robert and Richard.
In 2013, Dean and Billie moved to Wooster, Ohio, to be close to their son Robert and their ever-growing family of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Despite their retirement from pastoral service, Dean and Billie continued to serve the Lord faithfully by ministering to friends, family, neighbors and strangers, of all walks of life, young and old, with grace and wisdom that changed lives long after their exit from formal ministry.
Dean was a devout father and husband who prayed that the Lord would allow him to love his wife until the last day of her life. When Billie passed on Sept. 21, 2025, they had been married for 73 years. The loving leadership and gentle, Gospel-driven counsel of Dean helped foster a love for the Lord in generations of not only his own family, but the households of all to whom he ministered.
As a couple, Dean and Billie embodied the message of Matthew 6:19–21: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven …” With Dean’s passing, he and Billie leave behind a legacy of faith, love, leadership, kindness and gentleness through their two sons, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
A memorial service celebrating Dean’s life and his welcoming into the embrace of his Savior will be held in Winona Lake at the Chapel of Grace Village at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14. A committal service will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at the Mausoleum at Sherwood Memorial Gardens in Wooster, where he will be laid to rest next to his wife Billie, that they may share together in eternity the love and faith they shared so gladly in life.
In honor of Dean’s lifelong devotion to sharing the Gospel, memorial contributions may be made to Encompass World Partners, P.O. Box 620067, Atlanta, GA 30362; or Walk The Bible, Box 1, Wooster, OH 44691.
“And when, before the throne, I stand in Him complete, ‘Jesus died my soul to save,’ my lips shall still repeat.”