Book Photo from Amazon.com
Don’t wait! Get a copy of Aunt Arie’s book Walking in the Shadow of My Past.
Copies are available at Barnes and Noble in Greenville, at barnesandnoble.com, at iTunes.com, and at Amazon.com. You can also buy a copy from Audrey Vines.
For a short video Aunt Arie recorded in 2014, click here.
Occasionally, Uncle Dave will talk about his father, Pa Bob, and Pa’s feelings about having served in the army.
Uncle Dave recalls: “Serving in the United States Army was Pa’s crowning achievement. He only reached the rank of Private First Class, but for him it was like being a general.”
Terra Gay, daughter of William and Candi Gay of Conley, Georgia, will receive the Hope Diamond Award for her stellar work as Senior Director for Points of Light and as founder of the Ngambika Academy. The Hope Diamond Award recognizes a woman who is an agent of change in the field of education. To contribute to the scholarship fund visit http://www.ditr.org/leading-ladies-luncheon.html
September 9, 1910– November 20, 2007
Bishop Willie Leander Phillips was a man of God. Because he was a man of God, he was a family man.
For Bishop Phillips, family meant raising 15 children with Gennie Gay, his wife of over 70 years. For him, family meant having six of his children become ministers. For him, family meant tending to the needs of his church family as their pastor.
For Bishop Phillips, family meant serving as the bishop for over 35 years guiding elders and eldresses, plus providing spiritual inspiration, direction and guidance for the churches affiliated with the General Tabernacle in Kinston, NC.
Bishop Phillips was the only preacher in the Gay-Parker family for more than 20 years before anyone else in the family became a preacher.
At Minister Crystal Gay’s initial sermon on September 6, 2015, Bishop Robert Gay paid homage to Bishop Phillips by recalling that Bishop Phillips was the first preacher and bishop in the family. Bishop Robert Gay also recalled the mentoring impact that Bishop Phillips had on him and other ministers in the family.
Bishop Willie Phillips, a man who served God, a family man, left a lasting legacy. It is a legacy woven through the pursuit of God’s will in his work guiding family, church congregations, and ministers in a proper pathway to life and to God.
To view a recently revised update by Edith G. Barnes & the Gay/Parker Family Formal Gala Committee, click Update for G-P Gala
Created by Edith G. Barnes & Gay/Parker Family Formal Gala Committee
In one part of the 2015 Gay-Parker reunion dinner, the names of the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren of each of Pa Bob and Ma Lillie’s eight children were announced.
Pa Bob and Ma Lillie’s Children Presenter of the List of Family Names
Herman-Dannie Ruth Dupree Gay children Nicole Rupert
Willie Leander Phillips and GennieGay Phillips Family— Morris Gay
Arie Gay Vines and FreemanVines Family Chiquita Daniels
GeorgeLawrenceGayFamily Dorothy Vines Daniels
Lucille Gay Blow Family Angela D. Gay
SimonPeterAndersonandErmaDellGayAnderson
Robert James Gay family Peggy Gay Wadsworth
David Gay and Mary Whitehurst Gay Mary Gay Worsley
The list of names above for each of the eight children will be later compiled into a series of conventional family trees.
CORRECTION: Dennis James Anderson, the youngest child of Simon Peter Anderson and Erma Dell Gay Anderson, was omitted from the list of children.
Photographs by Marion Barnes
The weather cooperated with this year’s family reunion plans. Friday’s pre-Fourth of July fish fry was well under way and near its end when a summer cloud burst wrapped things up for the evening.
On Saturday while the rain poured down, the family celebrated by listening to the Vines Sisters and Family sing “Still Have Joy” and the family’s favorite, “We Will Work.” Later, the family listened to a reading of the family tree for each of Pa Bob and Ma Lillie’s children.
Just before the dinner was served, the family listened to Bishop Carlton “CD” Gay, husband of Delois Wilson Gay, and son of Herman and Dannie Ruth Gay, deliver the keynote speech. Bishop Carlton Gay warned and advised the family to stay and stand with the Lord. Golden Skillet of Plymouth, NC cooked the tasty fried and roasted chicken, pork barbecue, cole slaw, hush puppies, and seasoned green beans, and prepared iced tea.
After dinner, presentations included honoring members of the family who served in the military, a brief talk by Faylene Gay Cooper, daughter of Uncle Albert and Aunt Odessa, and an announcement that headstones were placed at Pa Bob’s and Ma Lillie’s graves on Friday, July 3rd.
The dinner closed with reflections from Aunt Arie, Uncle Rob, and Uncle Dave, along with comments from Edith Gay Barnes and Uncle Rob about October plans for a formal celebration for Aunt Arie and Uncle Dave to be held at Cornerstone Baptist Church, located on Allen Road.
For more Marion Barnes photographs from the fish fry and the reunion dinner, watch this 2015 reunion slideshow.
gayparkerfamilyreunion 