Casey, John Hamilton
8/22/1998
| I met John in 1973 when he was the pastor of the Greensburg – Wesley Chapel Charge and I was twenty years old, serving my first appointment. One of my congregations wanted to hold a revival, and he was asked to be the evangelist. He was their first choice. Little did I know that this would be the beginning of a twenty-five year friendship with John. Prior to accepting the call to ministry, John served in the U. S. Navy as a sea-bee, was a building contractor, and played semi-professional baseball. On the day he died, he was playing a game in his dreams, and he was winning. John and Edna, his wife of fifty-nine years, served the Woodville Circuit in the Missis-sippi Conference, the Fisher-Mt. Hermon-Sunnyhill Charge, the Greensburg-Wesley Chapel, Charge, and the Clinton-Clear Creek Charge. John retired with forty-two years of service. They raised two daughters, Carolyn and Cathi, and a foster son, Edd Perry. John was a faithful and loving husband. As a father, he was caring and supportive; as a pastor, he was dedicated and compassionate; and, as my mentor, he always listened to me with care and respect. He never expressed arrogance, or jealousy, or envy. He was without guile. During the last five years of his life, I saw his health weaken under the power of his sick-ness. At times, the pain was so intense and the medications so harsh, he worried whether the quality of his life would ever improve. It did not. Yet, his faith was never broken; his trust in God never wavered. |
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| Source: Journal Louisiana Conference, 1997; p. 253 By J Thomas (Tommy) Logan | |
