Smith, Edgar Edward
8/2/1981
1914-1982 |
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| A loving father, a companion to an exceptionally talented wife, Mrs. Mattie Lee Square Smith and gifted children—Sgt. Albert James Smith, Josephine Yvonne Smith, and Mrs. Jerry Dean S. Cook—was born on August 11, 1914 to the late Br. Jessie Gloster Smith and Mrs. Josephine Branch Smith. Rev. Edgar Edward Smith passed on to his great reward, led through the shadow of death by his Saviour and Friend, Jesus Christ, who returned to take him home on August 2, 1981. Rev. Smith was a deserving servant of Christ who lived and interpreted the Gospel to a large number of churches including churches at Wilson, Conrad, St. James, Springfield, Shiloh, Rosedale, Roberts, Denham Springs, St. Luke, Scott, Port Allen, JeJeune, Asbury-Natchitoches, and at the time of his death served at Mallalieu, Lafayette and St. James, New Iberia. Rev. Edgar Smith spent forty-one years in the Christian ministry and by God’s grace led a number of persons to Christ. He was a premier pastor, a church builder and financier, and one who could be trusted to lead God’s children through the social conflict and hardships of the depression years, World War II, Korea and North Vietnam, and could minister to the needs of those who were disappointed, depressed and grieved, rejected and lost, lonely and friendless, as well as many who had been left behind and out of the mainstream of our society. Edgar was a man of intense zeal and commitment falling only by a heart attack after preaching at two worship services and giving communion at the Mallalieu Church in Lafayette and the St. James Church in New Iberia. His congregations loved him and his family, who joined him in dedication to teach his people--The United Methodist Church—the great music and hymns of the Christian faith and to instill within them self-actualizing virtues that would lift the levels of their spiritual and moral commitment to Jesus Christ. Rev. Edgar Smith was a “drum major for God” in the area of social justice and race relations. He pioneered tasks that lifted the dignity of the young and aging and, through daily living and honesty, was an inspiration to his own family and to the churches where he served. Smith will be missed by the ministers of the Louisiana Annual Conference and the United Methodist Church who join the Smith family in grief over the family’s and the conference’s tremendous loss: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant . . . enter into the joy of your Master.” (Matt. 25:21) |
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| Source: Journal Louisiana Conference, 1982; p. 160 By Rev. L. L. Haynes, Jr. | |
