Rev. E. E. "Gene" Asbury

ELDRIDGE EUGENE ASBURY Tupelo - The Rev. Eldridge Eugene "Gene" Asbury died November 16, 2015, after a short illness. Born in Elberton, GA, on January 10, 1929, he was the son of James Stewart Asbury, Sr. and Aileen Gaines Asbury. After graduation from Elberton High School in 1946, he was a student at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA, where he was graduated with a degree in journalism in 1950. Following his graduation, he worked as a reporter of Northeast Georgia news for the Anderson, SC, Independent, as an English teacher in Elberton High School, and as a building materials salesman and cotton buyer in a family business. A news article that he wrote for The Elberton Star led to the building of the first real hospital in that city. In 1952, he joined the Georgia National Guard as a private. Two years later, he was commissioned as second lieutenant through extension courses offered by the Army General School in Fort Riley, KS. He was promoted to the rank of captain before resigning from the military after eleven years of service. In 1954, he moved to El Paso, TX where, for two years, he worked as a teller for El Paso National Bank. In 1956, he began a twenty-seven year career with Standard Oil Company of Texas, now Chevron Corporation. He was transferred from El Paso to Pascagoula, MS, when Chevron built its refinery on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. On November 29, 1963, he was married to Karen Marie Ellington at St. John's Episcopal Church in Pascagoula, MS. He is survived by his wife and two sons, David Eugene Asbury (Lynne Chapman) of North Vancouver, BC, Canada, and John Stewart Asbury of Asheville, NC; two grand-daughters Blain and Devon Asbury of North Vancouver, BC; and a brother William Lee Asbury (Betty) of Warner Robins, GA. As a lay member of St. John's Episcopal Church in Pascagoula, he served as senior war-den and was one of the organizers of the first Honduras Medical Mission of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, which has continued its ministry for more than thirty years. In 1966, he was transferred by Chevron to Louisville, KY, where he worked for eleven years before returning to Pascagoula in 1978. He retired from Chevron in 1984 and was enrolled in St. Luke's Episcopal Seminary at the University of the South, Sewanee, TN. On receiving a Master of Divinity at Sewanee, he was ordained a deacon on May 16, 1987, at St. John's, Pascagoula, and was appointed vicar of the Church of the Incarnation, West Point, MS, where he was ordained priest on November 29, 1987. In West Point, he was active in procuring funds needed to establish the Sally Kate Winters Home for Abandoned and Abused Children. After serving Incarnation for four years, he accepted a call as rector in The Episcopal Church of the Mediator-Redeemer, McComb/Magnolia, MS. At Mediator-Redeemer, he helped organize a transition home for persons with emergency housing needs. He also wrote A History of the Episcopal Church in Pike County, MS, and prepared a pamphlet for Forward Movement Publishing titled African-American Spirituals in the Episcopal Church. He was also instrumental in founding a Cub Scout troop for children with special needs. In 1999, he "retired" and accepted a call as associate priest at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Tupelo, MS, serving until his second "retirement" in 2007. In 2008, he was called to rejoin the All Saints staff as a minister of pastoral care and outreach until his third retirement in 2009. After that time, he served in various community groups, including that of board member for Tupelo-Lee Humane Society, Shepherd's Center of Greater Tupelo, Shelter and Assistance in Family Emergencies (S.A.F.E.), the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, and the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependency. He also continued serving on the All Saints Servant Ministry Committee, especially in its Saints Brew free breakfast ministry for those in need; and he served as a supply priest at Episcopal Churches in Aberdeen, Columbus, Corinth, Greenwood, Grenada, Holly Springs, Macon, Okolona, Starkville, Tunica, and West Point. In 2012, he received the Paul Harris Award from Rotary International for community service. Visitation will be Wednesday, November 18, from 1:30 to 3:00, at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Tupelo, immediately followed by the rites for Burial of the Dead and Holy Communion, and committal in the columbarium at the church. The Rev. Paul Stephens will be the celebrant. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the All Saints' Episcopal Church (for Saints Brew Ministry), 608 Jefferson St., Tupelo, MS 38804. Expressions of sympathy may be left at www.peguesfuneralhome.com . "Give us grateful hearts, O God, for all your mercies. Keep us ever mindful of the needs of others."