13 Jun On This Day in UB History: June 13 (Floyd and Kathy Lundy)

Kathy Custer, a member of Maple Hill UB church (now Homefront) in Grandville, Mich., went to Sierra Leone in October 1977 as secretary to Jerry Datema (who had been her pastor for a few years in the 1970s).

Jerry Datema was elected bishop in June 1981. Kathy came home on furlough that summer, but at the request of the Board of Missions, she returned to Africa in early September, a month early, to help prepare things for the new field secretary, Floyd Lundy.

Floyd and Janet Lundy arrived in Sierra Leone on November 5, 1981. It was not unfamiliar territory: they had served two terms in Sierra Leone 1964-1971. After they returned to the States in 1971, the Lundys settled in DeGraff, Ohio, where Floyd taught in the high school and pastored a church. Then, after a ten-year absence, Bishop Datema approached them about returning to Bumpe to take on the field secretary job. So—back to Sierra Leone.

Kathy Custer served alongside Floyd Lundy for eight months, and then returned to the States in June 1982 for TMJ surgery on her jaw. Her ailment prevented her from returning to Sierra Leone. Instead, she began working in the Missions department–once again, as secretary to Jerry Datema.

Floyd and Janet Lundy concluded their term in 1983, and returned to the States in July of that year. In November 1984, Janet was diagnosed with lung cancer, and then in mid-1985 with a brain tumor. She passed away.

On June 13, 1987, Floyd Lundy married his former secretary in Sierra Leone, Kathy Custer. Since then, they’ve been living in Bellefontaine, Ohio.

And today–June 13, 2017–Floyd and Kathy are celebrating their 30th anniversary. Congratulations!