Bishop Larry J. Dennison
Bishop Larry J. Dennison, age 63, passed away April 2nd, 2018 at his home. He was
born in Gainesville, Fl, and was a graduate of the largest graduating class at
Gainesville High School, class of 1972. Bishop Dennison received his Bachelor’s,
Master’s and Doctorate in Ministry. He was a Certified Pastoral Addiction Counselor,
Licensed Christian Marriage and Family Therapist, a registered Pre-Marital
Preparation Course Provider. Bishop Dennison was the founder and Pastor of
Compassionate Outreach Ministries beginning in 1985 until the present time. He also
served as the Pastor and Overseer of many other Churches and Pastors. Bishop
Dennison was a member of the Christian Pastor’s Association and the Alachua County
Christian Ministerial Alliance, which merged and now is the Alachua County Christian
Pastors Association (ACCPA) which he served as a charter member, executive board
member and Historian. He was inducted into the Florida Star Religious Hall of Fame.
Bishop Dennison was featured in Gospel Today an international magazine, as one of
‘The Most Loved Pastors in The World.’
Bishop Dennison is survived by his wife; Margaret A. Dennison, Gainesville, FL,
children, Jonathan D. Dennison, Shawndria L. Dennison, both of Gainesville, FL,
siblings, Cleveland Dennison (Claudette), Sylvester, GA, Lillian Dennison,
Gainesville, FL, Addie Davis, Orlando, FL, Ruth Russ, Daytona Beach, FL, Elzora
Trimor, Baltimore, MD, Geraldine Adtkins, Plant City, FL, Lucinda Durr, Tampa, FL,
and one grandchild, Jada D. Dennison, Gainesville, FL.
Dr. D. R. Williams
Dr. Detroit R. Williams, 79 of Gainesville answered the Masters call, without fear, struggle or pain on Tuesday, October 28, 2014 at the E.T. York Hospice Care Center. Dr. Williams served as Pastor of The Williams Temple Church of God in Christ for 46 years, Superintendent of The Gainesville district and First Assistant to the Jurisdictional Bishop.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Clifford and Eva Mae Williams, four brothers, Joseph Thomas, Clarence Williams, Joe L. Williams and David Williams, and one sister, Mabel Ann McClendon. Left to cherish precious memories are siblings: Clifford (Jeanette) Williams, Gainesville; Clara (Raymond) Porche, Andrea (Rick) Gipson, Otis (Rita) Thomas, Tampa, FL; Thelma Hunter, Flora Thomas, Ft. Myers, FL; Dolores (Aaron) Black, Missouri City, TX; Amy Clemson, Gainesville; Special Sister-in-law, Lillie Williams, Alachua, FL and a host of nieces, nephews and cousins. A number of Spiritual Sons and Daughters and his Williams Temple Church Family.
Dr. Arnold Lastinger
Dr. Arnold Lewis Lastinger went home to his heavenly reward at 7:00 PM Tuesday evening December 8, 2016. Surrounded by family, he went to his eternal home singing, ‘Amazing Grace’.
Dr. Lastinger was born in Jacksonville, Florida June 10, 1939. He married Frances (Joy) Clark, on June 2, 1958. They have five sons, Allen Lastinger, David Lastinger, Steven Lastinger, Tim Lastinger and Jon Lastinger. Dr. Lastinger is also survived by two sisters Delana Clark and Judy Marden, and three brothers, Ron Haltiwanger, James Squires, and Bobby Squires.
Dr. Lastinger was a pastor, teacher, mentor and friend. They pastored in Orange Park Florida, Mobile and Slocomb Alabama, Thomasville and Americus Georgia and Gainesville Florida where they pastored for twenty-five years. After retirement, they began to train and mentor other pastors and church leaders around the world. The final few years were spent in Kiev Ukraine, where Dr. Lastinger served as President of Evangel Theological Seminary. – See more at:http://m.legacy.com/obituaries/gainesville/obituary.aspx?n=arnold-lewis-lastinger&pid=176924628&referrer=0&preview=false#sthash.yB0ISsx2.dpuf
Dr. T. A. Wright
The Rev. Thomas A. Wright, a civil rights group leader and longtime pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Gainesville, died. He was 94.
The Rev. Thomas A. Wright, a civil rights leader across North Florida and longtime pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Gainesville, died Tuesday. He was 94.
Wright is being remembered as a community leader who created a scholarship for disadvantaged students, helped the church acquire an affordable apartment complex for low-income residents and promoted economic development for east Gainesville.
“There is only one word to describe his worth and value — immeasurable,” said the Rev. Milford Griner.
Added Alachua County NAACP President Evelyn Foxx, “He was a giant.”
Wright’s funeral service is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. at Mount Carmel at 2505 NE Eighth Ave., according to the Chestnut Funeral Home. Wright had recently been under hospice care.
Wright was born in Moultrie, Georgia, and grew up in Boynton Beach. He was one of eight children in a very poor household, he told The Sun several years ago.
After World War II, he attended Florida Memorial University on the GI Bill. He did well there, he said, and he was recommended for a scholarship to Howard University’s School of Divinity.
Wright was one of the two main leaders in the civil rights movement in St. Augustine who eventually drew the attention and support of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Wright eventually moved to Gainesville and became pastor of Mount Carmel, a position he held for about 45 years. He also became very involved in the community, creating a scholarship program and helping establish the Gardenia Gardens apartment complex west of the church on Northeast Eighth Avenue, which the church owns.
For 17 years, Wright served as president of the Alachua County NAACP. He also led the Alachua County Ministerial Alliance and several other organizations.
In the 1960s, Wright was instrumental in the efforts to desegregate Gainesville High School. His daughter, LaVon, was among the first blacks to attend GHS.
“He was a positive person. All he ever really wanted was for people to be treated fairly, and he was really concerned about the citizens of east Gainesville,” Foxx said. “He wanted to be sure economic development came to that part of our community.”
Wright was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Florida — one of only a handful of African-Americans to be honored with one.
Before coming to Gainesville, Wright was pastor of St. Mary’s Missionary Baptist Church in St. Augustine. While there in the ’50s and ’60s, Wright was part of nonviolent training for students, some of whom took part in lunch-counter protests at the Woolworth’s in St. Augustine.
The family moved to Gainesville after receiving threats in St. Augustine.
“He was Mr. Civil Rights. His whole life’s work was in seeking justice for all. He was truly a drum major for justice. He leaves quite a legacy, and his children and grandchildren should be very proud of his work,” said Cynthia Chestnut, a former state legislator representative and county commissioner. “His shoes will never be filled because he was one of a kind. Our community is very, very fortunate to have had him choose to live in Alachua County. He was just a remarkable person.”
Wright is survived by his children, son Philoron Wright of Gainesville; daughters LaVon Wright Bracy of Orlando and Patricia Wright Murray of West Palm Beach; 16 grandchildren; 41 great-grandchildren; and nine great-great-grandchildren.
Dr. Aaron S. Young
A religious leader in Gainesville’s black community, who was known to always have a smile on his face and a song in his heart, has died.
Nicknamed “Smiley” by one of his uncles, The Rev. Dr. Aaron S. Young, pastor and founder of Victory Temple Church of God in Christ, died of complications from chest pains at Shands at Alachua General Hospital at 12:44 a.m. Sunday morning, according to his wife, Evangelist Lashon Young.
Young was 54.
Young was the eighth child born to the union of George Franklin Young II and Lula Mae Young, who opened Mom’s Kitchen on NW 5th Avenue more than 45 years ago. Young eventually became the proprietor of the business. He graduated from Gainesville High School in 1971. He was a licensed barber.
He started Victory Temple in 1988, five years after being ordained as a pastor. He also was the second administrative assistant to the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) state Bishop, R.L. Dixon, Central Florida Jurisdiction No. 1.
Young’s wife said her husband was a kind and loving man, who loved to help people.
“He was my best friend,” she said. “He was loving, caring, gentle and respectful.”
Young said she was attracted to her husband because of his love for God and people. The couple celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary on April 5.
“He loved people regardless of who they were, or where they came from, or how they looked,” Young said. “He would always start up a conversation with people wherever we went, and he was always smiling.”
Young said she met her husband as the two grew up together as members of Williams Temple COGIC.
“He was my Sunday School teacher, and he would love to say after we got married, ‘Now I see why you were such a faithful Sunday School student,'” Young said, mustering a laugh.
She said that was another thing about her husband.
“He liked to make people laugh,” Young said. “He focused on happy things. He never focused on the negative, and that was his motto. He loved to tell our family, and our church family to focus on the positive. He was always a positive person.”
She said he was excited about the building of the new sanctuary that is under construction on SE Williston Road.
“He woke up in the middle of the night out of his sleep 18 years ago, and told me God had told him to build a church,” Young said. “I asked him where was he going to build the church, and he told me to pray on it as he left out of the house in the middle of the night to go claim the land.”
Young said when her husband returned home and told her he had found the land where they would be building on, “It was the same land God had revealed to me as I was praying. We were always close like that. We didn’t have any members. We didn’t even have a microphone. When we signed the deeds for the property, his name went on them.
“He was a barber and I was a nurse. I gave the church my entire paycheck, and others began to join the church and help us. Victory Temple will continue, and we are going to complete building our new sanctuary.”
Mattie “Liz” Mosley, one of Rev. Young’s sisters, said her brother was always a leader.
“He was a deacon and a preacher at a young age,” Mosley said. “He used to have a barber shop and a sandwich shop by the cab stand on 5th Avenue. He even ran for the city commission twice. He was always into business and politics.”
Mosley said she visited Victory Temple, and heard the end of her brother’s last sermon on July 15.
“He passed out Bible markers that had scriptures from Romans 8:28, Mark 11:22 and Psalm 34:11,” Mosley said. “As I began to leave service, he called my name and said, ‘Liz, I love you! I love you! And don’t you ever forget it.”
Prophet George Young III said that he and his brother were very close.
“I will miss him, but I look forward to seeing him again,” Young III said.
Young said the future of historic Mom’s Kitchen is in the hands of his sister-in-law.
“I hope she sells it and goes on with her life,” Young III said. “She is going to have a lot on her hands carrying on the ministry and raising her family. Maybe somebody else in the family will buy it, but I wouldn’t advise her to try to hold on to it. As of now, the doors are still open.”
Evangelist Young had no comment on the future of Mom’s Kitchen.
Survivors include wife, Evangelist LaShon Young; two sons, Aaron S. Young Jr. and Austin; two daughters, Ariana and Angel; seven sisters, Dorothy Bailey, Lillie Mae Gardner of Tallahassee, Mattie “Liz” Mosley, Ethel Cook, Frankie Mae Scott, Azie Lee Young and Nancy D. Brown; four brothers, Willie Lee Young, George Young III, James R. Young and Earl E. Young; and a host of relatives.
Bishop Walter Camps, Sr.
Bishop Walter Camps, Sr., 74 went home to be with the Lord on Sunday, December 16, 2007. He was born in Jonesville, Florida.
He received his formal education through the Alachua County public school system. He worked in various occupations later retiring after twenty years from Regional Transit System.
Bishop Camps established Holy Temple of God in 1975 which was the first church in Keystone Heights, Florida. He has several churches in Florida, Georgia and Illinois. He has been faithful in the services of the Lord, busy doing kingdom work.
He leaves to cherish his memories: a devoted and caring wife, Wilma Bloneeze, five daughters: Belinda Mims (Harold), Dallas, Texas; Terrilyn Janet Camps-Boone, Gainesville, Florida; Frances Marilyn Crawford (Sidney), Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; Beverly Crawford (Todd), Gainesville, Florida; Evelyn Camps, Dallas, Texas; two sons: Walter Camps, Jr.(Claudia), Gainesville, Florida; Alfred Camps (Beatrice), Gainesville, Florida; three sisters: Jesse Mae McKnight (Bishop James E. McKnight); Pearlie Sanders, Janie Sanford (Horace); one brother John C. Camps, Orlando, Florida; seven brothers-in-law, five sisters-in-law, fifteen grandchildren and four great-grandchildren; also many nieces, nephews, cousins and treasured friends.
HUNT, SR., ELDER L.C.
Lifelong resident and faith leader of Newberry; FL, Elder L.C. Hunt, Sr., entered into eternal rest at the age of 68, on October 31, 2016 at North Florida Regional Medical Center. Elder Hunt was a member of St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church; and through his faith and dedication he became the Pastor of New Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church Lake City, FL. He was a member of the Jerusalem Association, and Florida General Baptist Convention, Inc.
Elder Hunt is survived by his wife; Bessie Hunt, Newberry, FL; children, Lee Curnel Hunt, Jr., Jermaine Turner, James Turner (Latasha), all of Newberry, FL, Adam Hunt (Ty), Ocala, FL, Precious Smith, Archer, FL, Lisa Hunt, Tampa, FL, Ruby McDonald (Kevonte), Chiefland, FL; siblings, Rev. Herbert Hunt (Loretta), Tampa, FL, Rev. Walter Hunt (Tubbie), Newberry, FL, Rev. Larry Hunt (Dorothy), Tallahassee, FL, Mercida James (Eddie), Gainesville, FL, Rosa Miller (David), Winter Haven, FL, sixteen grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.
Pastor George B. Dix, Sr.
Supt. Hugh Anderson, Sr.
Bishop Henry Williams
Ed O’ Neal
believed and he taught his family to do the same.
Psalms 37:23 says, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.” God ordered Ed’s steps and he lived a life of order. Whether at home, work, or in the community, Ed’s reputation was one of respect. Pastor O’Neal loved his family and he saw to it that his children were well cared for and their needs were provided for. It is said that children need two basic things: love and discipline, and there was no shortage of that in the O’Neal home.
labor of love designed to encourage his “flock” in the Lord.
EUGENE GAINEY
GAINEY, EUGENE Reverend Eugene Gainey, age 87 passed away February 4, 2020 at the Plaza Rehabilitation Center, Gainesville, FL. Rev. Gainey moved to Gainesville from High Springs in 1951, and later became Pastor of First Missionary Baptist Church where he served until his retirement. He was Pastor Emeritus, past Moderator of the Jerusalem Association, past Mason, past member of the Ministerial Alliance, and member of the Board of Trustees for the Florida General Convention. He is survived by his wife, Jerlene Gainey, Gainesville, FL, son, Detrick L. Gainey, Gainesville, FL, daughter, Gloria J. Simmons (Kenneth), Gainesville, FL, two grandchildren,
Jessica Simmons, Gainesville, FL, Taylor Simmons, Gainesville, FL, and two great grandchildren.