HANNA LAW RICHARDSON KITCHIN

October 16, 1912 – October 9, 2011

by Hanna Kitchin Herring, Trinity Church, Scotland Neck, 2016

Hanna Law Richardson Kitchin

Following the death of my mother in the fall of 2011, I learned that a few older priests in the diocese affectionately referred to her as ‘Ms. Episcopalian.’ My mother loved God, her family and her Church, in that order. While God was uppermost on her list of passions, family and Church followed closely. Born in Hartsville, South Carolina, she was baptized in First Presbyterian Church where she worshipped with her family in the parish founded by several of her ancestors.

After graduating from Queens College in Charlotte, she taught school in Scotland Neck, North Carolina. There she met and married William Arrington “Buck” Kitchin and began worshipping in the Episcopal Church. When their eldest son was confirmed in 1950, Hanna also received the Laying on of Hands from the bishop. Because of her strong relationship with her Creator, when she met an issue that she could not fix or change, she often confessed in her journal that she “turned it over to God.”

Following her husband’s death in 1978, now freed from ministering to his needs, Hanna became deeply involved in church work. Her list of contributions is remarkable. ln the local parish she served as a Sunday school teacher, acolyte master and adult choir director. She was the first female Senior Warden to be elected to the vestry of Trinity Church. Her passion was the Altar Guild and she served that organization for many years as its director. As such, she also conducted Altar Guild workshops in numerous churches throughout the diocese and served, in 1989 as Chairperson of the Diocesan Altar Guild. During the years that Trinity Church had an active Episcopal Church Women’s organization, in addition to normal ECW operations in which she participated, Hanna also organized and arranged speakers for Quiet Days which were attended by hundreds of people from surrounding areas.

Hanna was elected treasurer of the Province IV Altar Guild in June of 1994. In 1995 and again in 1999, she served on the Nominating Committee for the National ECW Board. She also attended Altar Guild sessions at our National Church Conventions in Phoenix (1991), Indianapolis (1994), Philadelphia (1997) and Minneapolis (2003).

ln 1983 Bishop Estill appointed my mother to a three-year term on the Commission on Ministry, for which she was justly proud, and in 1992 she served on the Nominating Committee for the next bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina. In 1995 she served as Chairwoman of the History and Records Committee for the diocese.

ln all of these – loving God, her family and her Church – Hanna Law Richardson Kitchin regarded it, as she wrote in her journal, as “serving the Lord.” She died one week prior to her 99th birthday and now rests in the comfort of the God she so loved.

MARGARET S. (TOG) NEWMAN

b. April 9, 1936

by Mary Louise Burress and Sue Burress Wall, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Winston-Salem, 2016

Margaret S. (Tog) Newman

Tog Newman has had extensive experience with cultural, civic, and community leadership in Winston-Salem, the state, the region, and the nation. She has been an active member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church since she and her husband moved to town in 1962, serving as a Sunday School teacher, bazaar committee chair, outreach committee member, Diocesan Conference delegate, faith and justice committee member since its inception, and small group member.

Feeling a serious calling to make life better and richer for those around her, she branched out into several local and regional activities. One example of this was the St. Paul’s outreach funding group, a group that determined where limited resources would best serve the community. Tog was a perfect fit for this job; she had “a finger in every pie.”

Tog was executive director of Leadership Winston-Salem for seven years, and a member of the Piedmont Triad Leadership Network, Common Vision, and Rotary—where she was one of the first women members. She has been an officer in numerous arts organizations, becoming president of most, and chaired the North Carolina Arts Council and the North Carolina Center for Non-profits.

Tog’s connections and deep involvement in non-profits gave her a wealth of knowledge and experience, which she willingly shared with St. Paul’s. She broadened the scope of community involvement within the Parish.

She also received many awards:  the prestigious North Carolina Award described her as a “visionary leader, lover of the arts, advocate for equality, fairness and justice, a very able administrator with a passionate and generous soul.”

Tog brought all these qualities to St. Paul’s, particularly in the last five years to the faith and justice group. This committee has brought a series of programs to the church and the wider community, highlighting issues of faith and justice both locally and internationally. The monthly luncheon series “Not in My Back Yard” has focused on important issues of food insecurity, health care education, the environment, and equality. Recently, and most notably, Tog was central to the planning and organizing of Trinity Institute’s local conference: “Listen for A Change: Sacred Conversations About Race.” The opening lecture was given by Most Reverend Bishop Michael Curry. The week-end event brought more than 100 participants to St. Paul’s for the telecast and table conversations.

Tog attended Hollins University and is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, with a B.A. in political science. She is married to Michael Newman, architect and sculptor, also a valued member of St. Paul’s. The couple has two married children and three grandchildren.

MARY JANE DeROSSET CURTIS

August 10, 1813 – July 21, 1903

by Ellen Chesley Weig, St. Matthew’s Church, Hillsborough, NC, 2015

Mary Jane DeRosset Curtis

Mary Curtis was a clergyman’s wife. Some of her letters, written at the end of the Civil War, were the focus of St. Matthew’s participation in Hillsborough’s sesquicentennial celebration of the end of the war. Hillsborough was the site of negotiations in April 1865, prior to Confederate surrender at nearby Bennett Place. Mary’s story was one of “unfaltering faith,” despite the difficulties and losses in her life, including the death in March, 1865, of her young son at Bentonville, the last battle of the Civil War in North Carolina.

Mary was born in Wilmington, the daughter of a wealthy family. She met Moses Ashley Curtis of Massachusetts when he arrived in Wilmington as a tutor for Gov. Dudley’s children. Just eighteen years old, Mary became one of Curtis’s music and organ students until Curtis returned North to continue his studies. After many letters back and forth, Curtis wrote to Mary’s father, Dr. Armand J. DeRosset, to ask his permission to be “admitted into relationship with his family” (June 19, 1834) and to tell him that, while he had no possible inheritance and that he would be entering holy orders soon, all he wanted from Dr. DeRosset was “your Mary.” They were married at St. James in Wilmington that December.

Mary’s role as the wife of a nineteenth-century clergyman seemed to provide support and affirmation of Curtis’s faith: “I first made choice of you to be the partner of my life … you have higher incentives to holiness than a mere reward for my happiness.” (May 19, 1834) Her life varied from travel to the mountains as a young bride to settling into new rectories as Mr. Curtis changed churches. She returned to Wilmington during times of family illnesses and had extended periods alone with children in the rectory during Curtis’s travels to the mountains in pursuit of his beloved botanical specimens or trips north on Episcopal Church business. Four of Mary’s ten children died as infants or young children. Both she and Mr. Curtis delighted in their sons, affectionately referring to them as “the Bishop, Priest, and Deacon” (Sept 19, 1842) and grieved two deaths deeply. One of her boys, Charlie, did become an Episcopal priest and served St. Matthew’s after his father’s death.

Their greatest loss, however, was John Henry’s death at Bentonville. He was buried at St. Matthew’s with five other young men who died with him. Mary’s loving memorial for “Non” and his comrades at arms was the gift of the “Confederate Bell” in March, 1878. It replaced the original bell which had been given to the Confederacy with others from Hillsborough to be made into guns. Mary’s bell has been rung every week since Easter Sunday, 1878.

After the sudden death of the Rev. Dr. Curtis, the Vestry of St. Matthew’s voted to allow Mary to remain living in the rectory for as long as she needed. She is buried in the churchyard with her children and her husband. 

Letters cited: M.A. Curtis Papers, #199, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

BARBARA KAY KELLY MORGAN

b. May 12, 1947

by Lucy Couch Payne Paynter, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Winston-Salem, NC, 2016

Barbara Kay Kelly Morgan

After retiring from 31 years as an educator (teacher and administrator), Kay transferred that same passion for service and ministry to the many outreach opportunities at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem, NC. There she was drawn in by the beautiful sacred space and warm hospitable parishioners.

With Kay’s gifts of hospitality, administration and service she immediately found ways to help our community through her church and to build up the strengths of services inside St. Paul’s. She used her ever-smiling face and willingness to work to make events and dinners at our church fun and festive. Kay is a real ambassador for St. Paul’s Church and for the Lord as she has served on the Funeral Reception Committee, Agape Hosts for Funerals and Hospitality Committee.

She is also an ambassador to those in need outside our parish. She took on the role of coordinator for St. Paul’s Place to Stay – an apartment made available for families who had loved ones in our local hospitals. This included gathering the resources to furnish this welcoming place for people in great emotional pain and reaching out to many distressed families who were temporarily in our city. Kay was able to once again encourage others to come along in service for this mission.

Kay is passionate about outreach. When Kay worked as a principal, she encouraged her staff to assist her to meet many needs of their families and children. At St. Paul’s she gravitated to helping others through local and world outreach. Kay has been ECW president, member of St. Anne’s Circle, a vestry member, and on the ECW Council in a leadership position for 10 years.

In her leadership role on the ECW Board of the Diocese of North Carolina, she learned about the dynamic missionary, The Reverend Lauren Stanley. Kay introduced Lauren to our parishioners and began an outreach program to support Lauren’s work in Sudan, Haiti and later with the Rosebud Indian Reservation. Kay and her husband have also traveled with a mission group to help begin St. Paul’s by the Sea, a new church in Tamarindo, Costa Rica that St. Paul’s is sponsoring.

Kay is currently a leader in our church’s effort to feed children in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System. She helps to coordinate the BackPack Program at St. Paul’s by delivering food from the Second Harvest Food Bank weekly. Under her leadership with others, we are able to provide weekend food for 125 children every week during the school year at a local partner school. Once again she has helped to encourage many volunteers to be a part of this on-going project.

Kay is a life-long resident of Winston-Salem, a graduate of Wake Forest University and completed graduate work at both Wake Forest and Appalachian State University. She and her husband Chip have four children and six grandchildren. Her God-given talents have been poured out at St. Paul’s and in our community. We are proud to be able to shine a light on her ministry.

SARA RUTH LYNCH PURSER

b. February 14, 1933

by Sara Elizabeth Harding Palmer, Assistant to the Rector, Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church, High Point, 2015

Sara Ruth Lynch Purser

Ruth Purser has been a great blessing to me since I arrived at Saint Mary’s. She unhesitatingly and immediately offered me her warm and wonderful hospitality, including overnight stays when I needed to work late. Because I live an hour away from Saint Mary’s, this was a real gift. Ruth has cooked numerous delicious meals and made me several birthday cakes. She is a superb cook and even had her own cooking show when she lived in Perry, Georgia.

Ruth was born in Henrietta, NC, in 1933, one of three daughters of Aaron Watson Lynch, a Methodist Minister, and Mary Martin. She graduated from Greensboro College, and married a University of Alabama graduate, William Purser. Ruth became a teacher and taught in Winston-Salem, Fort Valley and Perry, Georgia. She was an interim and substitute teacher for children with learning disabilities at the Piedmont School in High Point, which was originally housed at Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church. Ruth has three sons and four grandchildren. She has faithfully served her church in several capacities, including leading the youth group for six years with her husband Bill.

Ruth is gifted with strong organizational capabilities. She helped found the Matthew 25:40 Outreach committee at Saint Mary’s, which continues to raise awareness of community needs and helps meet them. In 1990 she chaired the 100th Anniversary celebration of Saint Mary’s and invited the Presiding Bishop of the USA to be the main speaker – a real coup! A history of Saint Mary’s was written for this occasion. The youth buried a time capsule at that time after the cornerstone was opened. Ruth was specially invited in 2014 when the time capsule was unearthed and moved, as work began on the new Christian Education Building.

Ruth has been committed to serving the communities in which she has lived. She was President of the Junior Women’s Club of Fort Valley, Georgia, and district winner of the Irene Watts’ award. Her Junior Women’s Club won the Outstanding Club in the state. In High Point Ruth served on the Urban Ministry Board and the family selection committee of Habitat for Humanity. For the Piedmont School she was on the Board of Trustees, Chairperson of the Scholarship Committee, and Secretary of the Executive Board from 2002 until 2005. Ruth’s beautiful, creative scrapbooks for every year that the Piedmont School has been in existence are a treasure for the children and staff.

Ruth loves life in all its variety. In Perry, Georgia, she was President of the Perry Art Club, a member of the Gourmet Club, and President of the Oak Hollow Square Dance Club. Ruth’s wonderful sense of humor has carried her through several major health problems in the past two years. We were so proud of Ruth for winning the Governor of North Carolina’s Volunteer of the Year award in 2012. How I thank God for the opportunity to tell the wonderful story of this lady who has made such a difference, and brought joy to so many, including myself.