 1926 - 2013 (87 years)
-
| Name |
Forest Jasper Beverly [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] |
| Suffix |
Jr |
| Birth |
20 Feb 1926 |
Waycross, Ware, Georgia, USA  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Also Known As |
F J |
| Occupation |
Retired Methodist Minister |
| Residence |
1930 |
Ware, Georgia, USA [4] |
| Militia District 1231 |
| Residence |
1935 |
Ware, Georgia, USA [5] |
| Residence |
1940 |
Ware, Georgia, USA [5] |
| StreetAddress: Albany Ave Extention; Age: 14; AttendedSchool: Yes; EnumerationDistrict: 148-21; GradeCompleted: Elementary school, 8th grade; Income: 0; IncomeOtherSources: No; ResidenceFarmNineteenThirtyFive: No; WeeksWorked: 0; MaritalStatus: Single; RelationToHead: Son |
| Residence |
1993 |
Waycross, Ware, Georgia, USA [2] |
| Death |
8 Oct 2013 |
Waycross, Ware, Georgia, USA [3] |
- Rev. F.J. Beverly Jr. - F.J. Beverly, Great Icon Of The Faith Community, Dies At 87: Newspaper Obituary and Death Notice
Waycross Journal Herald (GA) - Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Deceased Name: Rev. F.J. Beverly Jr. - F.J. Beverly, Great Icon Of The Faith Community, Dies At 87
An icon of the faith community of the Waycross region has died.
The Rev. F.J. Beverly Jr., 87, of Waycross, passed peacefully away Tuesday morning at Baptist Village Retirement Communities, family members said.
Funeral arrangements are pending and are to be announced probably today by Miles-Odum Funeral Home.
He experienced a series of health issues and setbacks in recent months leading to his passing at about 9:15 Tuesday morning.
Beverly, a Methodist minister for many years, pastored churches here and in other parts of the state.
His voice has been familiar to radio audiences in the area, most notably for delivering the Sunday morning devotional word via the Big Brothers Sunday School Class at Trinity United Methodist Church program that was broadcast on WKUB (and previously other radio stations) down through the years. In the 1970s it was the voice of his son, Steve, that introduced him as "your friend and my father" weekly on the broadcasts.
"My father was a friend and minister to all he encounteredand he was a man of great humor," said Steve Beverly, a college professor in Tennessee. "We already miss him but we celebrate the great life he led and the legacy he has left. Mother and I are grateful for all of your constant prayers and encouragement through these last five months."
Beverly was a crowd favorite as an engagement speaker at banquets, meetings and other events, in addition to filling pulpits for revivals and homecoming services. And he may have set the modern-day record for preaching funerals hereabouts.
He gave new meaning to the term "holy roller," as he had a special knack for "reverent humor"- even from the pulpit and, at times, at the graveside - that often left the members of his audience almost literally "rolling in the aisles."
Beverly "He was a special servant of God who knew how to speak comfort to the grieving and to the suffering," said a friend, Gary Griffin. "So he was much in demand to conduct funerals.
"I know that he especially looked forward to the Easter Holy Week services at Winona Park Methodist and to the weekly Waycross Exchange Club meetings, and his friends looked forward to seeing him at both."
For years Beverly was the chaplain of the Waycross-Ware County Sports Hall of Fame and he conducted a memorial service at the hall's annual induction banquet each March before retiring from that duty at this year's banquet.
Rising to deliver his remarks at the banquet, he said, "I have Parkinson's disease, what's your excuse?" evoking laughter from some 200 throats.
"I know people who went to the hall of fame banquets every year just because of F.J., just to hear his stand-up comedy," Griffin said. "His role was to do the brief memorial service and he always did a great job, but he always interspersed some great funny tales. He was a classic speaker."
Page: 1
Copyright, 2013, Waycross Journal-Herald, All Rights Reserved.
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Rev. F.J. Beverly Jr.: Newspaper Obituary and Death Notice
Waycross Journal Herald (GA) - Thursday, October 10, 2013
Deceased Name: Rev. F.J. Beverly Jr.
The Rev. Forest Jasper "F.J." Beverly Jr., 87, of Waycross, died Tuesday morning (Oct. 8, 2013) after an extended illness. He was born Feb. 20, 1926, the son of F.J. "Jep" Beverly Sr. and Inez Robinson Beverly. He graduated from Wa r e s b o r o High School and served in the U.S. Navy during theWorldWar II.
He married Hazel Wigglesworth in 1948 and they have been married for 65 years. To the couple was born one son, Steven Beverly, a professor at Union University.
The Rev. Beverly was educated at South Georgia College, Valdosta State College and Emory University.
He served a number of churches in south Georgia including Trinity United Methodist Church in Waycross and Waresboro United Methodist Church. He was for several years the director of church extension for South Georgia Methodism, moving from that position to a director in the Department of Finance and Field Service of the General Board of Missions of the Methodist Church.
For a brief time he served as director of development for Magnolia Manor in Americus, the Methodist home for the aging. After 42 years of active service, the Beverlys came home to Waycross to live their years of retirement.
He had been active in Trinity United Methodist Church, the Big Brothers Sunday School Class and had preached on at least one half of the Sundays in every year, not only to the Methodist family, but to churches of all faiths, large and small.
He was the recipient of the Brotherhood Award from theWaycross Hebrew Congregation and the Book of Golden Deeds by the Waycross Exchange Club where he was a member and served as chaplain for many years. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge for more than 50 years and was also a member of the Waycross Shrine Club.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by one brother, James T. Beverly, and three sisters, Sarah Mincey, Mary Gillis Page and Barbara Boyette.
Survivors in addition to his wife, Hazel Wigglesworth Beverly, of Waycross, are one son, Steve Beverly (wife Rebecca), of Jackson, Tenn.; two granddaughters, Melody Davis (husband Corey), of Red Boiling Springs, Tenn., and Holly Beverly, of Jackson, Tenn.; two great-grandchildren, Hunter and James Davis; three sisters, Virginia Roberson (husband O.R. "Bob"), of Waycross, Betty Jo Gibbs, of Waycross, and Nell Clark (husband J.M.), of Blackshear; and numerous nieces, nephews and other relatives.
The funeral will be held Friday morning at 11 o'clock at Trinity United Methodist Church. Burial will follow in Kettle Creek Cemetery.
The family will receive friends Friday morning beginning at 9:30 at Trinity United Methodist Church.
The family requests the Waycross Exchange Club, ministers of the South Georgia United Methodist Conference and the Big Brothers Sunday School Class to serve as honorary pallbearers and should meet at the church by 10:40 a.m. Friday for the service.
Memorial contributions may be made to the donor's favorite charity.
Sympathy may be expressed online at www.milesodumfuneralhome.com Miles-Odum Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
Page: 3
Copyright, 2013, Waycross Journal-Herald, All Rights Reserved.
http://www.milesodumfuneralhome.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=2276356&fh_id=10688
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Columnist's.Most Interesting Character' Was.. His Father, The Late Rev. F.J. Beverly Jr. Memories At The Mike: Newspaper Obituary and Death Notice
Waycross Journal Herald (GA) - Monday, October 14, 2013
Deceased Name: Columnist's.Most Interesting Character' Was.. His Father, The Late Rev. F.J. Beverly Jr. Memories At The Mike
One of my father's favorite stories was of a woman who came up to him after one of his trademark compassionate, sensitive funeral eulogies. "Oh, Brother Beverly," the woman said. "You've just got to preach my funeral!" Daddy promptly reached into his coat pocket, pulled out his organizer and said, "Well, I've got next Tuesday open." The woman answered, "I didn't mean that soon."
Next Tuesday indeed came last Tuesday for F.J. Beverly Jr. After a 130-day struggle with complications from Parkinson's disease after breaking a hip May 31, Daddy left us to be with our Lord.
I spent 80 of those days in Waycross, watching over him at Mayo Clinic Health System hospital and Baptist Village with my mother. The journey was often difficult but he is, thankfully, now at rest.
The Journal-Herald's own Gary Griffin and Myra Thrift exquisitely captured his life and ministry last Wednesday. Since this column is about broadcasting memories, I will let their tributes stand alone.
Daddy would not have seen himself in this light but he was a broadcaster as well as a minister. More than 600 of his sermons at Trinity United Methodist Church and in other sanctuaries throughout the city over the years aired on radio and television.
From 1972 through 1975, I had the joy of sharing the mike with him on more than 150 editions of "The Back Home, Open Door Program" on WACL. Sunday nights at 9, he capped the weekend with a message to prepare listeners for the week ahead when they were "back home" from evening church services.
Daddy's philosophy of a successful sermon was built in three steps. Make a congregation laugh for five minutes. Stir their emotions for 10 minutes. Finally, make them think for 10 minutes.
His great humor would be woven into virtually every sermon. I often told him he would have been the Bob Hope of ministers had we found him the right agent. He could do preacher humor as well or better than The Rev. Dennis Swanberg or the late Rev. Grady Nutt.
I wanted to share with you a few of his classic vignettes, some of which we shared at his funeral service last Friday.
In the '60s, Trinity member Vernon Bowen met Daddy in front of the church for 52 weeks. With a voice that could be heard to Hoboken, Vernon said: "Preachuh, my boy's in Vietnam. I want you to pray for him." On the 53rd Sunday, Vernon virtually yanked his son, in full dress blues, down the steps. He told Daddy, "Preachuh, my boy's home from Vietnam! You can quit prayin' for him!" When he was appointed Trinity's pastor in June 1968, Daddy's first visit was to the church's oldest living charter member, Mrs. Corrie Yarbrough. Mrs. Yarbrough was confined to a nursing care facility. "Brother Beverly," she said quite loudly, having lost much of her hearing, "I am so sorry I can't come to church. I want to be there but they tell me I have to stay in this nursing home." Daddy responded, "That's all right, Mrs. Yarbrough. Besides, I'm sure you aren't missing anything by not hearing me preach." Mrs. Yarbrough quickly answered, "Yeahhhhh, that's what they tell me!" As pastor of Sherwood Methodist in Columbus in the '50s and early '60s, Daddy had two beloved members, Guy and Kate Harbuck. The Harbucks were the textbook example of the couple in every church who is always tardy. If worship was at 11, they would show up at 11:10. Schedule a church supper at 6:30 and the Harbucks would be there at 6:45. One night before his sermon, Daddy told his congregation he was often inspired to create poetry. "Tonight, I thought of this short rhyme," he said. "Whenever I think of being late, I always think of Guy and Kate." The entire church roared with the exception of the red-faced Kate Harbuck.
A good friend e-mailed this week to say, "Not many people are blessed to have the relationship you had with your father. That will sustain you in the years ahead."
In a "Leave It to Beaver" episode from 1959, Beaver was assigned to write an essay on "My Most Interesting Character." He struggled with the composition but eventually wrote an emotional theme about his father, Mr.Ward Cleaver (Mr. counted as a word). Here is my adaptation of Beaver's essay: The most interesting character I ever met was my father, Rev. F.J. Beverly Jr. He was never a national celebrity, nor a widely-published author. That's okay with me because people in the community where he lived loved him because he loved them. The words he spoke Sunday after Sunday may not be in a book but they gave people a road map on how to live a rich and fulfilling life in Christ.
He never made a lot of money but he provided me and my mother with what we needed. When I was growing up, he was gone a lot. He often was away nearly 200 nights a year helping to start new churches all over South Georgia, 33 of them, to be exact. Yet, he would drive 150 to 200 miles and arrive home well after midnight just to have breakfast with me.
He took that mission work to the national level in 1967 and spent a month in Puerto Rico. He did the electrical work for a new church deep in the country away from San Juan. He arranged for Mother and me to join him for two weeks, even though the trip was expensive.
Possibly, he could have been a bishop in the Methodist Church. Instead, he became pastor of a church in Waycross because he wanted to be home with me during my high school years.
In 1971, I saw him overwhelmed by the ravages of clinical depression in an era when that illness bore a stigma that made people shy away. He battled depression off and on for more than 40 years. His courage in telling people of that struggle and his encouragement for those who suffer with it to obtain help gave me the courage to tell others in Tennessee of my own two bouts with depression.
He returned to the full-time ministry in 1977. He didn't serve megachurches - but he made a positive difference in every city and with every congregation, even when he had the usual members who love to participate in the sport of telling the preacher what to do.
He loved to laugh and he loved to make others laugh. His stories were full of humor of everyday life, even when they were about his son's misadventures. He left me with a rich treasure trove of vignettes I will share with others for years.
He had a model marriage with my mother for more than 65 years. They never had to go on "Dr. Phil" to detail secrets of their life together. Was it perfect? No, but whose is? They worked through the tough times and took seriously the word commitment.
The life of a preacher's kid can often be lived under a microscope or in a fishbowl. Yet, he never made my barometer "what would the congregation think?" or "how would it make your mother and me look?" In our house, something was either right or wrong. Because of that, I didn't drift into rebellion as happened with some of my fellow ministers' children.
He gave me more than 59 of his 87 years. He must have done something right because he was both my hero and my role model.
He may not sound very interesting to you. That's because he was not your father - just mine.
Steve Beverly is a former Journal-Herald staff writer and columnist. He is professor of broadcast journalism at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., and a college basketball TV broadcaster. "Steve Beverly's TV Classics" airs multiple times a week on Mediastream Channel 42. You can email Steve at sbeverly@uu.edu
Author: Steve Beverly
Page: 10
Copyright, 2013, Waycross Journal-Herald, All Rights Reserved.
|
| Burial |
11 Oct 2013 |
Kettle Creek Cemetery, Waycross, Ware, Georgia, USA [3, 6] |
| Person ID |
I2339 |
tng Genealogy |
| Father |
Forest Jasper Beverly, b. 13 Nov 1892, Waycross, Ware, Georgia, USA d. 10 Sep 1981, Waycross, Ware, Georgia, USA (Age 88 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Mother |
Margaret Inez Robinson, b. 6 Oct 1895, Waycross, Ware, Georgia, USA d. 2 Jul 1973, Waycross, Ware, Georgia, USA (Age 77 years) |
| Relationship |
natural |
| Marriage |
7 Apr 1912 |
Waycross, Ware, Georgia, USA |
| Family ID |
F867 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Event Map |
|
 | Birth - 20 Feb 1926 - Waycross, Ware, Georgia, USA |
 |
 | Residence - Militia District 1231 - 1930 - Ware, Georgia, USA |
|
| Residence - 1935 - Ware, Georgia, USA |
|
| Residence - StreetAddress: Albany Ave Extention; Age: 14; AttendedSchool: Yes; EnumerationDistrict: 148-21; GradeCompleted: Elementary school, 8th grade; Income: 0; IncomeOtherSources: No; ResidenceFarmNineteenThirtyFive: No; WeeksWorked: 0; MaritalStatus: Single; RelationToHead: Son - 1940 - Ware, Georgia, USA |
|
| Residence - 1993 - Waycross, Ware, Georgia, USA |
|
| Death - 8 Oct 2013 - Waycross, Ware, Georgia, USA |
|
 | Burial - 11 Oct 2013 - Kettle Creek Cemetery, Waycross, Ware, Georgia, USA |
|
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| Sources |
- [S73] Carol Robinson Keefe.
- [S396] Ancestry.com, U.S. Public Records Index, Volume 1, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2010;), Database online.
Record for F J Beverly Jr
- [S541] Ancestry.com, U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2012;), https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/81172018.
Record for Rev Forest Jasper Beverly Jr
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=FindAGraveUS&h=52503291&indiv=try
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=FindAGraveUS&h=52503291&indiv=try
- [S337] Ancestry.com, 1930 United States Federal Census, (Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2002;).
Year: 1930; Census Place: Militia District 1231, Ware, Georgia; Roll 391; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 15; Image: 433.0.
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1930usfedcen&h=21685592&indiv=try
[ View Federal Census Document]
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1930usfedcen&h=21685592&indiv=try
- [S474] Ancestry.com, 1940 United States Federal Census, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2012;).
Year: 1940; Census Place: Ware, Georgia; Roll: m-t0627-00720; Page: 14A; Enumeration District: 148-21
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=2442&h=53617244&indiv=try
[ View Federal Census Document]
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=2442&h=53617244&indiv=try
- [S122] FindaGrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/81172018
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=81172018.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=81172018
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