Memorials › James Kenneth Verner

James Kenneth Verner

9 Feb 1940 – 25 Aug 2014

Birth9 Feb 1940
Death25 Aug 2014
CemeteryNew Hope Cemetery
Center , Shelby County , Texas , USA
Added byEleanor Barrick on 21 Jun 2018
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/135115785

Bio

Law enforcement officers responded to multiple incidents near the Center Downtown square Tuesday, August 20, 2014. The first 9-1-1 call was shortly after 10:30 am and Center Police Department officers responded to San Augustine Street in front of Pizzeria for an unknown male who had fallen from a ladder. The male was later identified as Kenneth Verner, of Center, a local businessman who makes custom signs. It is suspected his fall was the result of a health problem. (He had heart by-pass in Feb. 1993.) ACE EMS responded to the scene and transported Verner to Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital. He was unresponsive at the scene. Bro. Kenneth Verner, 74, of Center, passed away Friday, Aug. 22, 2014 at Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital. Services were held at 10 a.m. Monday, Aug. 25, 2014 at New Hope Congregational Methodist Church in Center with Rev. Carl Smith and Bro. Aubie McSwain officiating. Burial followed at New Hope Cemetery. Visitation was held Sunday, Aug. 24, 2014 from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. at Mangum Funeral Home. Dairy Queen - big box GOLD Rio Theatre - big box GOLD James Kenneth Verner was born to James Walter Verner and Velma Vallie Davis Verner in Commerce on Feb. 9, 1940. He graduated Lubbock High School in 1958 and then attended Westminster College and Bible Institute for biblical studies, where he graduated valedictorian. Kenneth met and married Laura Lee in Dallas, in 1960, and in 1963 they moved to Magee, Miss., where he began pastoring the Congregational Methodist Church. In 1969 he moved his family to Clute, where he pastored the Congregational Methodist Church for seven years, and then moved to Center, to pastor New Hope Congregational Methodist Church, from which he retired in 2011. He also pastored the Tennessee Presbyterian Church in Shelby County, Texas, on several occasions, and was doing so at the time of his death. After Laura passed away in 2002, Kenneth renewed an old friendship with Evelyn Lawson Meeks, who had also been recently widowed, and they married in 2003. Kenneth was a man of many interests and talents, and he pursued those with diligence over the years. He learned carpentry skills from his father and used them throughout his life. As a young man, he was trained as a draftsman, and he applied those skills as the designer of numerous residential houses and church buildings. His early interest in fine arts permeated all of his work, and he developed these skills through courses of study at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, the University of Houston, and Stephen F. Austin State University, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a specialty in watercolor. In addition to fine arts, Kenneth worked as a commercial artist and sign painter and owned and operated JKV Art/Design. While serving as pastor, Kenneth also served in numerous administrative roles in the larger structure of the Congregational Methodist Church. Among these, he was director of Hilltop Camp in Garrison, for over twenty years, District Conference Chairman for twenty-five years, and the member of various boards, including missions and publication. Locally, he was an active member of the Ministerial Alliance for many years. As the eldest of six living children, Kenneth became a father figure to his siblings, who often called on him for advice or just to talk. As a husband, he was devoted and loving. As a father, he taught his sons how to work, the value of honesty and dependability, and how to care for people. He is preceded in death by his mother, Velma Vallie (Davis) Verner; wife, Laura Lee Verner; father, James Walter Verner; brother, Gerald Eugene Verner and infant brother, Jonathan Verner. He is survived by his wife, Evelyn Lawson Meeks Verner of Center; son, Craig Verner and wife, Shannon,of Quinlan, and their sons, Jace and Drew; son, Timothy Verner of Center; sisters, Mary Mitchell and husband, Roy, of Nacogdoches, Naomi Brimhall and husband, Ron, of Bryan, Jane Anderton and husband, Merrell, of Sheffield, Ala., Carolyn Wines and husband, Darren, of Lake Jackson; step children and step grandchildren, James Everett Meeks and wife, LeighAnne, of Tracy City, Tenn., and their daughters, Rena Elizabeth, Elizabeth Anne, Hannah Grace and Rebekah Leigh, Johannah Ries and husband, Dale Wayne of Franklin, N.C. and their children, Nathanael Dale (and his son, Jadon Elijah) and Stefani Erin Mason and husband, Matthew, Timothy Lyn Meeks and wife, Erica, and their children, Phillip Quinten and Raven Eeray, Jeremy Houston Meeks and wife, Kimberly Erin, of Fayetteville, Tenn., and their son, Micah Samuel. Pallbearers were James Everett Meeks, Jason Verner, Clifford Grimes, Jace Henry, Gabriel Vidal and Tommy Lawson.

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