Royster and Kathryn Hedgepeth

Jul 15, 2022 | Members Corner

It is said that “God works in mysterious ways,” and we are living proof that is true. How else to explain how a small-town boy from southside Virginia and a city girl from southern California ever met, much less fell in love and married? Our lives were so different.

Kathryn’s dad owned a newspaper in Anaheim, and Royster’s was a sharecropper-turned-tobacco buyer. She is a cradle Episcopalian. Royster was raised a Southern Baptist and became an Episcopalian as an adult. When we met, Kathryn had never lived outside of the greater Los Angeles area. Royster had been in the Army, lived in five states and was then working for the University of Illinois. We’re convinced that the Holy Spirit brought us together in 1984—and kept us in contact (even though we never lived in the same state) until we were married in December 1988.

Since then, we have traveled many miles together, living in Colorado, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and, since 2011, Wilmington, while raising money for large universities, small nonprofits and the Alzheimer’s Association. We’ve seen Royster’s children grow up and add four grandsons to our extended family, and we love our four-legged children, Emily, Deacon and Lexie.

Through all our adventures, our love and our faith have grown. Royster is active in the Order of the Ascension and Kathryn in Daughters of the King. Both are Episcopal groups dedicated to prayer and service, cornerstones of our lives. We are blessed every day by the friendships and love of our St Paul’s family—and we do consider you family.  God has been so very good to us.