The Reverend Dr. Gwenn E. McCormick

The Reverend Dr. Gwenn E. McCormick         Family and friends mourn the death and celebrate the life of The Reverend Dr. Gwenn E. McCormick, a Cooperative Baptist minister and resident of Penney Farms, Florida, who died on January 13, 2019 at the age of 89 after an extended illness. He was born in Lake City, Florida, son of the late Bonnie and Charlie R. McCormick.  In 1948 he married Lona Douglas of Morriston, Florida who died in 2014. They have three daughters, Annette Alber (Hal) of Ocala, Florida, Carolyn Neal (Mike) of Morriston, Florida, and Diane Hagstrom (Bruce) of Penney Farms, Florida.  Gwenn took much joy in his three grandchildren, Michael (Skip) Neal of Georgetown, Texas, Kelly Kimberlin of Austin, Texas, and Anna Alber of New Haven, Connecticut. His five siblings include the late John McCormick of Clermont, Florida, Pauline Proffitt of Jackson, Tennessee, Catherine Cain of West Palm Beach, Florida, Charlie McCormick of Penney Farms, Florida, and Marie Jameson of Washington state.         He was ordained into Christian ministry in 1949 and was devoted to parish ministry for more than fifty years, fulfilling Baptist pastorates in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mercer University in 1956, a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1961 from Southeastern Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry degree in 1976, also from Southeastern Theological Seminary.       During his last pastorate, First Baptist Church in Whiteville, North Carolina, he served on the General Board of the North Carolina Baptist Convention and chaired the sub-committee on Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem, North Carolina. Thereafter he worked in denominational administration, serving six years (1977-1983) with the North Carolina Baptist Convention in Raleigh as Director of the Department of Church Building. In 1983 he was elected to the Baptist Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tennessee and appointed Director of the Church Architecture Department that through the services of church architects and building planning consultants, provided guidance on a national level to 3,400 local church congregations annually.       In 1994 he and Lona returned to Morriston, Florida where they built a retirement home on the family farm. In 2012 they moved to Penney Retirement Community in Penney Farms, Florida where Gwenn became active in volunteer work as a Chaplain, and as a Shop Coordinator of the PET Mobility Project (now Worldwide Mobility), an all volunteer, non-profit agency producing vehicles to provide mobility for handicapped persons overseas. During his last several years he chaired the Penney Memorial Church Building Committee which inspired, directed and lead all phases of the building of an addition to the historic Penney Memorial Church structure. The addition was named McCormick Hall in his honor, and provides church administration, education, fellowship, and music preparation space and was dedicated in May 2017. A memorial service will be held in Penney Memorial Church in Penney Farms, Florida on Saturday, February 23, 2019 at 2:00 p.m.         The family requests in lieu of flowers, that memorials be made to Worldwide Mobility at PO Box 919 Penney Farms, Florida 32079 (904-284-5495), Email:petpfmw@gmail.com.