Glenn Frank Lawhon

Glenn Frank Lawhon July 17, 1923 - October 24, 2017 Dear Daddy, You have accomplished so many things in life worthy of praise in this world and in Heaven. Like your wife who went on before you, you will also hear the Good Lord say, “Well done, you good and faithful servant…” You were the first born of 4 sons to your parents, C. K. and Maude Lawhon. Your parents always wanted a daughter, but they had to wait for you to marry Willie Mae Carter to get that daughter. They called her Midget (because she was so small), and she called them Mama Maude and Daddy C. K. Right from the start, Willie Mae was loved by your family and you were loved by her family. It was a marriage ordained by God and unity and love ruled in your lives. Thank you for putting my mother (your wife) on a pedestal and loving her as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. It was an honor and a privilege to grow up in our home and have your love for one another as an example to follow. Of all your many accomplishments, the one I cherish the most is your love for my mother, even above your love for us, your children. That gave me and my siblings security because we knew we would always be together. We had nothing to fear because your love made us feel safe and complete. It gave us faith to trust in our Heavenly Father because if an earthly father can be trusted, how much more can the Father and God of the Universe be trusted. We never heard you call our mother by her given name because she was your “Sweetie Pie” and that is what you called her all the days of your marriage. You were together until December 6, of 2016 when she went home to be with the Lord. You were married for over 73 years. Your love was a true unconditional love filled with romance, sacrifice, and being there for one another for better or worse. Of course, you would say, “There was no worse,” and there wasn’t between you and mother. However, you had to go through a lot when you lost two sons and when you had to go through serious illnesses together. Nevertheless, love and God got you through the better and the worse. There could be no sweeter love than what you and mama shared for a lifetime. And like the movie, “The Notebook,” you and your Sweetie Pie lived out your final days together in a Nursing Home. Even though the time you spent at the Nursing Home is not what I want to remember most about your lives, you two remained constant in your love and devotion to one another and the desire of your hearts was to leave this world together. You enlisted in the Navy prior to asking my mother to marry you. Shortly after you were married on October 18, 1943, you received orders to fight in World War II. Thank you for your service to our country. You were always proud of being a World War II Veteran, and never forgot it, even in your final days when you suffered with dementia. I was born while you were fighting for your country, and my mom made sure she named me after you. I was a few weeks old before you got to see me. You always liked to tease me about my first words being “Waa-Waa” when I looked up at you, holding me in your arms for the first time. But it didn’t take long for me to look up at you with a smile on my face. You and mama were blessed with 4 children. One of your noteworthy careers in life was becoming an x-ray technician. You worked in the mobile units back in the days when TB was a serious problem. Your expertise as an x-ray technician helped to diagnose positive cases of TB and saved many lives as a result of early detection. You were also a successful Building Contractor and owned your own business in Jacksonville, Florida. You made a good living being a contractor and provided well for your family. You did well with all of your occupations in life. When you owned an automobile dealership, you gave your customers the best deal possible. You were a man of integrity, and people looked forward to opening their door to you when you became a Life Insurance Representative. I often hear favorable comments from your customers, after all these years later. But the thing we are most proud of you for is when you answered the Lord’s call on your life to become a preacher. You were ordained to preach the gospel on July 25, 1965, at Silver Glyn Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida. You were almost 44 years old when you graduated from Luther Rice Seminary in Jacksonville, Florida with your Bachelor of Divinity Degree on May 12, 1967. I will never forget the conversation you had with me when I was a young married woman. You told me the Lord had called you to preach in 1950 when I was just 5 years old. But you waited to surrender to that calling because you had your mind on being a good provider. You asked me to forgive you for neglecting the most important thing in life — being obedient to God and seeking His will above all else. God brought us all to Him at the Trinity Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida. That church is where you surrendered to the ministry and where we as a family made things right with the Lord. You brought many people to the Lord through being a pastor at different churches and in different cities across Florida. You were pastor of the First Baptist Church in Sopchoppy for around 8 years and the final church you pastored in this area was the Wakulla Station Baptist Church. You always told it like it was and you studied to show yourself approved before God and man. You were an excellent Bible teacher and preacher. You were conservative in your beliefs and you were proud of not being politically correct. Many people are preaching the gospel today because you answered the call to become a preacher. So while saving lives as an x-ray technician was important, preaching the gospel and being used of the Lord to lead people to Christ is far more important because life here is like a vapor, but life in Heaven is eternal. Daddy, your wife and your children thank you for all your accomplishments. Some of them go unnamed, but God will reward you for those named and unnamed, those deeds seen and unseen, for it is the hidden man of the heart that pleases God. Your love was always strong in our home and we could always trust and depend on you. You are our Hero. To God be the Glory for bringing you and mama together, completing His plans through your loving union, and for all the generations that have come into being because you said, “I do” on October 18, 1943. Your influence and your love will live on from generation to generation. You were preceded in death by your wife, Willie Mae Carter Lawhon; parents, C. K. and Maude Lawhon; mother and father-in-law, Calvin and Verdell Carter; your sons, Les Lawhon, Gary Lawhon, and Calvin Lawhon; your brothers, Jimmy Lawhon and Freddy Lawhon (Margaret Lawhon); sister-in-law, Mary Lou Carter; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins You are survived by one daughter, Glenda Sparks (Charles) of Crawfordville, FL; daughter-in-law, Shirley Williams, of Lucedale, MS; three grandsons, Michael Crosby, Glenn Hamel (Vera), Keith Lawhon (Amanda) of Crawfordville, FL; and one step-granddaughter Michelle Sparks Raymond (David) of Tallahassee, FL; twelve great grand-children and 5 great-great grandchildren; your brother Donny Lawhon (Carrie) of Crawfordville, FL; your brother-in-law, Harper Carter; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. Visitation will be Monday, October 30, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Bevis Funeral Home, Harvey Young Chapel, Crawfordville, FL. Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. at Bevis Funeral Home, Harvey Young Chapel in Crawfordville with burial to follow at Arran Cemetery. David Conn of Bevis Funeral Home, Harvey Young Chapel in Crawfordville is assisting the family with arrangements. (850-926-3333 or www.bevisfh.com)

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Glenn Frank Lawhon

July 17, 1923 - October 24, 2017