People and Places: obituary for former Georgia Baptist Ministers Wives president

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Deaths

Lucille Minchew Comish, of Macon, died Feb. 12. She was 95.

A native of Waycross, Lucille Minchew attended Southwestern Seminary, where she met Allen Comish. They married at First Baptist in Brunswick and worked together for almost 60 years with Southern Baptist churches and the convention, mostly through the Baptist Sunday School Board, now LifeWay Christian Resources. 

Lucille Comish

A much sought-after Bible teacher, she led conferences on Sunday School, Baptist Training Union, and Vacation Bible School during a time when Southern Baptists worked to enroll almost one million people in Sunday Schools in 1954. For many years she and her husband led conferences on Sunday School work at Ridgecrest Baptist Conference Center as well as Glorieta Conference Center. She also served as president of Georgia Baptist Ministers Wives. When she lived in Columbus in the 1960s, Comish organized an interracial Christian women's group. In her later years she was a faithful member of Mabel White Baptist Church in Macon. 

Predeceased by her husband, brothers John and J.V., infant brother Jeffie, and sister Helen Childs, she is survived by her son, Craig, two grandsons, and a brother, Hal. 

Willie Mae Herron, a retiree from the Georgia Baptist Conference Center in Toccoa known as the "flower lady," died Feb. 11. She was 74.

Georgia Baptist pastor Howard "Ray" McKendree, of Sanderson, FL, died Feb. 7 in Jacksonville with his family by his side. He was 91. 

Ray McKendree

McKendree served in the Navy during World War II and afterwards worked as a carman for Seaboard Railroad. A graduate of Luther Rice Seminary and Clarksville School of Theology, he served as pastor at Camp Pinckney Baptist in Folkston and numerous churches in Alabama, Florida, California, and Illinois. Predeceased in death by a son, Nathan, he is survived by his wife of 70 years, Margaret, and children Glenn, of Palmetto, FL; Rodney, of Glen St. Mary, FL; Phyllis Micke, of Glen St. Mary, FL; nine grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren. 

Harold Ledford, pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church in Hiawassee, died Feb. 11. He was 71. 

Harold Ledford

Ledford had celebrated 30 years as pastor of Macedonia this month. In addition to driving a school bus for Towns County for that same amount of time, he had also served as a trustee at Georgia Baptist Children's Home and on the executive committee for the Georgia Baptist Convention, now Georgia Baptist Mission Board. 

Preceded in death by his sisters Eulene Lanning and Elva Dean Gunn, he is survived by his wife, Viola, daughters Lora Ann McClure, of Catawba, VA, and Dodie Lynn Thomas, of Baldwin, as well as five grandchildren and sisters Willaree Johnson, of Cornelia; Brenda Raper, of Mt. Airy; and Judy Word, of Greenwood, SC.

What's Happening

Brewton-Parker College's music department will hold music auditions for prospective incoming students on Monday, Feb. 20. The department will hold auditions for Voice, Piano, Instrumental, Voices of Truth, and the Wind Ensemble. Applicants are eligible to win up to $10,000 in scholarships.

The day will begin at 9:30 a.m. in Gilder Recital Hall. Prior to auditions and rehearsal, applicants will have the chance to speak with an admissions representative, attend a class, and take a tour of the campus. Lunch will also be provided. Applicants should bring their own music and instrument for the audition.

Register online at www.bpc.edu/music. For more information, contact Dr. David Wilson at dwilson@bpc.edu.

Brewton-Parker College, Glorieta, Jacksonville, Macedonia, Ridgecrest, Toccoa