Portrait of Nettie Gammage. IMB Photo

Nettie Gammage, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Korea and the Philippines, died April 16, 2025. She was 96.  

Nettie was born July 14, 1928, in Dixon Springs, Tennessee, to the late Leslie Thomas Oldham and Maggie Wilburn. She graduated from Trousdale County (Tennessee) High School; received her diploma from Baptist Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, Memphis, Tennessee; and attended Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee.  

While seeking missionary appointment, she recalled that at the age of 19 her eyes were opened to the real meaning of the Christian life. She wrote, “It was in Training Union that I first remember hearing the Great Commission. It was as if God were speaking directly to me about mission service, but I feared that He could not use me on the mission field. As I continued studying missions and vocations, I began to correlate a long interest in nursing with missions.”   

After graduating from nurse’s school, she enrolled as a student at Oklahoma Baptist University, where she worked as campus nurse. In June 1956 she went to California to work for the summer at Brookside Hospital in San Pablo. During this time, she met Albert Gammage. They were married on Dec. 15, 1956. She worked in the obstetrics ward at Herrick Memorial Hospital in Berkley while Albert completed seminary.  

While seeking missionary appointment she wrote, “Since being informed of the needs in Korea … we have a growing sense of God’s call to that field.” 

In 1957, the International Mission Board appointed Albert and Nettie missionaries to Korea. They later served in the Philippines. 

Nettie was preceded in death by her husband of 49 years, Albert Gammage Jr. 

She is survived by her sons, Lee Gammage (Kathy) and Tom Gammage (Brenda), and four grandchildren. 

A funeral service was held April 25 at Wade Funeral Home in Arlington, Texas, with burial in Parkdale Cemetery, Arlington.  

Donations in her 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.