Necrology, Febuary 2024
       

"For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed,

we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

(Listed in sequential order)

The Reverend Susie Johnson Harris, retired Itinerant Elder in the Central Annual Conference of the Eleventh Episcopal District, the beloved aunt of Bishop Marvin C. Zanders, II, Presiding Prelate of the 16th Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Reverend Dr. Ronald Slaughter, Pastor of St. James AMEC, Newark, New Jersey, in the First Episcopal District

Reverend Fred Raggs, Retired Itinerant Elder of the Eighth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church

Ms. Andrea Willis, the daughter of the Reverends Andrew and Natalie Willis, Arkansas Annual Conference, and the niece of Presiding Elder and Reverend Tyrone and Ina Kaye Broomfield, Twelfth Episcopal District

Dr. Dolly Desselle Adams, Retired Supervisor, widow of Bishop John Hurst Adams, the 87th Elected and Consecrated Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church;  Dr. Adams was a mentor to many pastors and their spouses;  she was an Educator who served four years as National President of The Links, Inc., and The Links Foundation, Inc., and she served five years as National President of the Black Women’s Agenda, Inc. among her civic and social circles

Mr. Earnest White, beloved son-in-law of The Reverend Willie Bell Coleman-Smith, retired Itinerate Elder in the Central Annual Conference who serves on the ministerial staff of St. Mark AME Church, Orlando, Florida, Eleventh Episcopal District

The Reverend Joe Louis Gay, Sr, a Retired Itinerate Elder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church who served in the Orlando Conference (now known as Central) and West Coast Annual Conferences, the beloved husband of Roslyn Hammond Gay; father of Consultant Kathryn Thompson (Presiding Elder Jimmy Thompson of the Lively Lakeland District); Minister Joe L. Gay, Jr. (Donna); Reverend Gregory V. Gay, Sr. (Lashunda), Pastor of Mt. Olive AME Church, Tampa, Florida, and Disaster Relief Coordinator for the 11th Episcopal District, Angela Scarbrough (DuShun)

Mr. Eddie Bill Tyler, Jr.,  father of Reverend Mark Kelly Tyler, Ph.D., pastor of Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia Annual Conference of the First Episcopal District

Mrs. Virgie Coleman Hughes, mother of Brother Howard Hughes and the mother-in-law of Reverend Orsella Hughes, pastor of Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Hartford, Ct., New England Annual Conference of the First Episcopal District African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Presiding Elder (Emeritus) Merrell Johnson, who retired from the Northwest Texas Conference, Tenth Episcopal District, the husband of Sis. Ruby Johnson, a charter member of Conn-M-SWAWO+PK’s of the African Methodist Episcopal Church

Mr. Ewart Harrison Joell (age 97), the stepfather of Presiding Elder Lucinda Burgess, pastor of Richard Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church, London UK; the European Annual Conference of the 16th Episcopal District

Mr. James Edward Rivers, the brother of The Right Reverend Michael L. Mitchell, Presiding Prelate, Twelfth Episcopal District African Methodist Episcopal Church

Sister Ruth Bell Rhone, the wife of the late Rev. Dr. David Rhone, Sr. and the mother of the Rev. Dr. David B Rhone, Jr., Presiding Elder of the South Atlanta District of the Sixth Episcopal District; she was First Lady to many AME congregations in the West Florida Conference for over 45 years and was a long-standing member of the Women’s Missionary Society and the Minister’s Spouses Alliance of the Eleventh Episcopal District

Elder Willie Kenlaw, Jr, the father of the Reverend William Kenlaw III, pastor of Oak Street AME Church Baltimore, Maryland, Second Episcopal District

Retired Presiding Elder Ernest A. Rouse, Sr., who served faithfully as a Pastor and Presiding Elder in the Ninth Episcopal District for 45 years, 30 years as a pastor and 15 years as Presiding Elder of the Mobile District; he also served as 1st vice chairman and chief interrogator of the Episcopal Committee

 

For inquires concerning the Necrology Listing email: OEasleyL@amecfic.net.

On behalf of Social Action Commission Chair, Bishop E. Anne Henning Byfield, Mrs. Jacquelyn DuPont-Walker, Director/Consultant-Social Action Commission, we extend profound sympathy to all bereaved families. "We wish you the peace that comes from knowing God Is There and pray that He will keep you in His Promised, Gentle Care."

 

In Sympathy and Prayer,

Ora L. Easley, International Administrator