Communications

The Reverend Sharon G. Bowers of San Marcos, Texas, died September 17, 2021. She was diagnosed with leukemia in December 2019. A member of Trinity Presbytery, Sharon was a hospice chaplain in the Austin and New Braunfels, Texas, areas who described herself as a liberal Christian feminist. Sharon graduated from Crestwood High School in Dearborn […]

The Reverend James Kirkland Smith, 86, of Fayetteville, Tennessee, better known as Kirk, died October 6, 2021, of congestive heart failure. He was a member of Columbia Presbytery, where he served on numerous committees, and most recently pastored Kelso Cumberland Presbyterian Church and Champ Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He also served on the board of directors […]

Elisha “E.C.” Columbus Hurley The Reverend Dr. Elisha Columbus Hurley, 74, better known as “E.C.,” of Clarksville, Tennessee, died August 31, 2021. He was a member of Nashville Presbytery. Born February 18, 1947, in Harlan, Kentucky, to the Dexter Hurley and Malva Brown Hurley, E.C. grew up in the Church of God in a coal-mining […]

William “Billy” Donald Little, 89, of Providence, Kentucky, died October 2, 2021. For 48 years Billy was an elder for First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Providence (Cumberland Presbytery).

John Dugger Baxter, 84, of Greeneville, Tennessee, died October 1, 2021. John was a member of New Bethel Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Presbytery of East Tennessee) where he served as Sunday School Superintendent for a number of years.

Janis “Jan” Kay Edmonson, 79, of Lexington, Tennessee, died October 1, 2021. She was a member of Lexington Cumberland Presbyterian Church (West Tennessee Presbytery) where her husband, Al, is an elder. She had served another church as secretary.

The Reverend Michael Eugene Duke, 76, of Dickson, Tennessee, died September 28, 2021. Michael was a member without charge of Nashville Presbytery. Michael responded to a call for candidates issued on the floor of Mayfield Presbytery meeting at the Wingo, Kentucky, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, October 12, 1968. At the time he was serving as director […]

Leonard “Len” Springer died October 3, 2021, while visiting Asheville, North Carolina. Len was from the prominent Arkansas Cumberland Presbyterian family of Ether and Mildred Springer. His brother was the former Cumberland Presbyterian minister the Reverend Morris H. Springer. Len’s sister was Grace Willene Springer Davis and his nephew former Cumberland Presbyterian editor and Team […]

Bethel’s Bass Fishing Coach to host National Television Show, “Legends of the Outdoors TV” MCKENZIE, Tenn., October 4, 2021 – The Legends of the Outdoors™ announced the creation of a new outdoors television show hosted by Garry Mason. Mason, a professional hunting, and fishing guide for over forty years, founded the Legends of the Outdoors™ […]

Ismael “Izzy” Joseph Martinez, Jr., 43, of Fort Worth, Texas, died October 1, 2021, of COVID-19. Izzy is the son of the Reverend Soledad Martinez (Red River Presbytery) who was previously hospitalized for five weeks with the disease.