The Rev. Sterling W. Bristol

The Rev. Sterling Willard Bristol, age  68, River Hill Drive, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania went home with his Lord after church on Sunday, November 4, 2018, at 12 noon, at the Geisinger Medical Center, in Danville.

He was born on February 3, 1950 in Hartford, Conn. a son of Winifred Marie (Martin) Bristol  of New Hartford, Conn. and the late Willard H. Bristol.

After a severe accident  when he was seventeen, he was told he would not be able to continue his education. Sterling graduated with honors from Central Connecticut State University in 1975, where he with great success, campaigned for wheelchair accessibility. He also earned an honorary Doctorate of Divinty degree.  Sterling worked for ten years in the Veterans Administration Office in Wilkes Barre, where as a manager, he was instrumental in helping veterans receive prosthetics.

He was the founder and lead pastor of Breakthrough Ministries For Jesus in Bloomsburg. His calling was to teach and minister the salvation, love and power of God. Sterling ministered and evangelized in many places over the years including Haiti, Trinidad and prisons, and was a founding member of the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship. He taught the fullness of God's word in truth and power, which was also reflected his own walk of faith and perseverance. He was the author  of "100 Fold Strength" and many Christian study guides.

Sterling will be forever loved and missed by his family, and many brothers and sisters in Christ.

Surviving in addition to his mother are four siblings: Susan Bristol and her husband Bill Brewster, Avon,. Conn.; Hollace L. Bristol of Winsted, Conn.; Adam P. Bristol of Lyme, New Hampshire; and Yvette R. Bristol, of Avon, Conn.; and many nieces and nephews.

In addition to his father, he was preceded in death by two sisters: Christine Bristol Eckstrom and Winifred Bristol dePolanco.

Funeral services will be held on Monday at 2 p. m. in the Emmanuel Dutch Hill Bible Church, 604 Dutch Hill Road, Bloomsburg, with the Rev. George A. Zerbe, pastor of the Church and Pastor Tony Cruz, of the Freedom Life Church, Lewisburg, officiating. Interment will follow in the Dutch Hill Cemetery. There will be a viewing at the Church from 1-2 p. m. A reception will follow in the Church Social Hall.

There will also be a memorial service in Connecticut on Monday, November 19, 2018, at 4 p. m. at the First Congregational Church Canton Center.

Donations to the Sterling W. Bristol memorial fund will support the Emanuel Dutch Hill Bible Church, the Freedom Life Church, and the Full Gospel Business Mens Fellowship and may be given using the following link: https://www.gofundme.com/sterling-bristol-memorial-fund

Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of the Dean W. Kriner, Inc., Funeral and Cremation Service, 325 Market St., Bloomsburg, PA  17815