Boddie, Wyatt David
1/1/1993
| Wyatt David Boddie (W.D.) was born in the parsonage family of Rev. and Mrs. D.B. Boddie in 1915, and his call to the United Methodist ministry was nourished in this loving ambiance. He graduated from Centenary College in 1937, received the B.D. degree from Duke University in 1941 and was admitted to the Louisiana Conference that year. His first appointment was Felicity Church in New Orleans in 1941 followed by the Lisbon Circuit, Springhill, Bunkie, Rayville, Crowley, the Monroe District, First Church Monroe, and the New Orleans-Slidell District. After his retirement in 1983 he accepted an appointment as Associate Minister of Visitation at First United Methodist Church in Shreveport. At the time of his death in 1993, he had served a total of 52 years in the United Methodist Ministry. In his many years as a United Methodist minister, he emphasized evangelism in his preaching and was outstanding in pastoral visitation. He was elected chairman of the Conference Board of Evangelism, a delegate to numerous national Conferences on Evangelism, a delegate to the Jurisdictional Conference and other positions of leadership in the Louisiana Conference. Centenary College bestowed upon him the Doctor of Divinity degree in 1971. While at Duke University, he met and married Margaret Smith, the daughter of a United Methodist minister, who not only was his devoted spouse but also a strong leader and church worker in her own right. They are the parents of two daughters, Linda and Susan, and one son, David, and the grandparents of four grandchildren. Although his achievements as a minister in the Louisiana Conference are noteworthy, the essence of the man W. D. Boddie is to be found in the quality of his inner selfhood. True righteousness was uppermost in all his relationships, his family, his friends, his colleagues, his churches, and all aspects of the world in which he lived. His attitude toward people, the church and current history was always positive and optimistic. No doubt these qualities sustained him in his long and severe illness. Perhaps a more fitting requiem for W. D. Boddie is found in the poetic words of Charles Wesley in the United Methodist Hymnal: “Forth in thy name, O Lord, I go, my daily labor to pursue; Thee, only thee, resolved to know in all I think, or speak or do. The task thy wisdom hath assigned, O let me cheerfully fulfill; In all my works they presence find, and prove thy good and perfect will.” |
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| Source: Journal Louisiana Conference, 1993; p. 226 By Rev. Bentley Sloane | |
