Portrait of Jerry Key. IMB Photo
Jerry Stanley Key, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Brazil, died March 29, 2025. He was 92.
Jerry was born July 29, 1932, in Shattuck, Oklahoma, to the late Stanley D. and Virgie Key. He graduated from Perryton (Texas) High School and received the Bachelor of Arts from Baylor University, Waco, Texas, and the Doctor of Theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas.
He recalled the influence of his parents and “their strong spiritual and missionary emphasis” as foundational to his spiritual formation. While seeking missionary appointment he wrote, “Three years after I was saved, at the age of ten, I felt God speaking to my heart and telling me that He wanted me to do some special task for Him.” At a youth camp in 1947, God called him to be a foreign missionary.
On Sept. 2, 1950, he married Johnnie Helen Johnson. He served as a pastor and completed his college education. During this time, he recalled, “Our mission purpose burned strongly in our souls during these days even though we knew we were a number of years away from appointment.” In 1954, they moved to Fort Worth for seminary, where he worked as a teaching fellow in the department of missions and continued to serve as pastor at a local church.
While seeking missionary appointment he wrote, “Throughout these years there has been a quiet conviction that God’s will for us lay in foreign missions. As I look back on the years of my life, I can see many mistakes which have been made. But I can also see a great and wonderful God providentially guiding my life in the path of His own choosing.”
In 1959, the International Mission Board appointed Jerry and Johnnie missionaries to Brazil. He planted and revived churches and served as a professor at the Baptist Seminary in Rio de Janeiro.
Jerry was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Johnnie Helen Key.
He is survived by his children, Stan Key (Debbie) of Alpharetta, Georgia; Jay Key (Naomi) of Jacksonville, Florida; Guy Key (Elena) of Orlando, Florida; Jaren Key of Fort Worth, Texas; and a number of grandchildren and great grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held July 12 at Birchman Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.
Donations in his memory may be made to the Lottie Moon Offering, IMB, 3806 Monument Avenue, Richmond, VA 23230, or online at Generosity Resource Center – IMB Generosity.
Read an obituary here.