Bob is a native of Wilmington and a cradle Episcopalian having grown up in St. John’s. He is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill and the Graduate School of Banking at LSU. I call Rocky Mount home and was a lifelong member of the First Christian Church Disciples of Christ until a dear friend who was a member of St. Paul’s invited my children and me to attend a Sunday service. Well as you might expect, I fell in love with St. Paul’s and knew that I had found my new church home. With the guidance of the Rev. Jack Ormond, I began my journey to ordained ministry.
Bob has served the churches he attended as junior warden, senior warden and treasurer. He has also served the diocese during three terms on the executive council.
We were married at St Paul’s in February 1985. A few months later, First Citizens Bank transferred Bob as a vice president to the Jacksonville, North Carolina, office. In 1995 Bob began a second career in healthcare administration with Onslow Memorial Hospital. During our 30 years in Onslow County, Bob served on many non-profit boards and committees. His county board participation included president of United Way, chairman of the Department of Social Services and Health and Human Services and as an Onslow county commissioner.
I was ordained as a deacon in the Diocese of East Carolina in June1992. I served as Deacon at St. Anne’s Jacksonville, St Phillip’s in Holly Ridge, and St. Paul’s. Over the years my ministry has taken many different paths to include youth ministry, Kairos, Cursillo, Happening and the development of the Caring Community Clinic in Jacksonville, which provides free medical care to the uninsured citizens of Onslow County.
We have been blessed with three wonderful daughters from previous marriages. Bob’s daughter Beth is our youngest. Katie is my youngest. Kelly has given us two grandchildren. Tyler is a junior at UNCW and Barrett is a high school senior at the UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. We are very thankful to live in the same area as our children.
We always wanted to live in Wilmington upon retirement. We joke that after thirty years we have returned to the promised land. Having St. Paul’s as our church family has made our return complete.