Antoinette Spry

Antoninette "Toni" Spry was promoted to Heaven on April 28, 2026, at the age of 80, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Born on December 12, 1945, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Daniel Rossano and Eva Rossano, Toni attended Temple University before enlisting in the United States Navy as a dental technician. There she met Phil Spry; their romance was swift and their marriage became the great love and partnership of her life.

In 1969, Toni and Phil committed their lives to Christ, a decision that shaped everything that followed. While Phil trained for ministry, Toni raised their children, served faithfully in the church, and helped lay the foundation for a lifetime of shared ministry. Together they taught Sunday school and led youth group at Los Gatos Christian Church in California, then planted nine churches across the United States.

Toni brought her own considerable gifts to every work they touched. When their first church needed a pianist, she taught herself to play. She taught Bible studies for women and, with her friend Lou Beardsley, co-developed the material that became the bestselling book The Fulfilled Woman, later translated into multiple languages and used by women worldwide.

She also helped sustain the broader ministries she and Phil built. Toni served as president of Tellstart, an automated phone system that supported the planting of over one thousand churches. She co-hosted a drive-time radio program on WAGP, the Christian station they founded, and helped establish a crisis pregnancy center in Beaufort, South Carolina.

More than "the pastor's wife," Toni was Phil's true partner-fellow laborer, steady support, and the quiet force who made much of their shared work possible.

In his later years, she cared for Phil through his final illness with unwavering devotion. After his homegoing, she continued serving: founding a book club, teaching Bible study, attending exercise classes, and working as a chaplain at Cape Fear Valley Health in Lillington, North Carolina, where she offered comfort and prayer to those in need.

Toni is survived by her daughter Susan Minton and husband Tim; son Philip Spry Jr.; grandchildren Elizabeth, Julia, and Catherine Minton; Philip III, Nikki, Jonathan, and Christopher Spry; and her brother Rick Rossano and his wife Maria. She was preceded in death by her husband Phil Spry; her parents, Daniel and Eva Rossano; and her sisters Joan Sharff and Gloria Beahan.

Those who knew and loved her rejoice that she is now in the presence of the Lord, reunited with Phil, and enjoying the fullness of joy she spent her life pointing others toward.

In lieu of flowers please make contributions to My Brother's Keeper International Ministries, for their efforts in Romania.