DOTHAN – Reverend John E. Christy went to be with our Lord on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011, while at home in Dothan, Alabama. He was 85.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 P. M. Sunday, October 23, 2011, in the Kinsey Baptist Church with Dr. Cecil M. Sanders, Jr., the Reverend Don Snell and Mark Oliver officiating. Graveside services, with military honors, will follow in Gardens of Memory. Holman-Headland Mortuary is in charge of funeral arrangements. The family will receive friends from 2:00 until 5:00 P. M. Saturday at the mortuary in Headland. At other times the family will be at the home of a daughter, Patricia Granger, 1706 Westover Drive, Dothan.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Covenant Hospice, 104 Rock Bridge Road, Dothan Alabama 36303 or to the Columbia Baptist Ministry Center, 1306 Ross Clark Circle, Dothan, Alabama 36301.

“Bro. John” was born October 16, 1926 in Brownfield, Texas in Terry County. He served his country in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. Rev. Christy attended Southwestern Theological Baptist Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas while supporting his family as a carpenter for a construction company building homes. He served the Lord as Minister of Music in many different Southern Baptist Churches in Texas, Louisiana and Alabama. Rev. Christy moved to the Wiregrass area in 1973 where he served many churches and was ordained into the Gospel Ministry in 1976 at Calvary Baptist Church in Dothan. Being a member of the Columbia Baptist Ministers’ Group and the Dothan Ministerial Association since 1973 brought much encouragement and fellowship to him. In 1986, the John Christy Christian Ministries was formed in order to serve the Lord more effectively in the Wiregrass area.

In addition to serving the Lord through a variety of Ministries, Bro. John enjoyed officiating basketball, football, softball and baseball at all levels through college. He was a founding member of the Wiregrass Hall of Fame Selection Committee and a 1998 Wiregrass Hall of Fame inductee. Bro John taught Bible School at the Dothan Boys and Girls Clubs. For many years, he carried a wooden cross down Main Street in Dothan during Easter week. Bro. John was a founding member of the Alabama Singing Men, a group consisting of Singing Baptist Ministers from all over Alabama. As an ALCAP speaker, he visited wiregrass area schools to speak to students about “Just Say NO!” to drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

Bro. John will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him. He will be remembered for his deep love for the Lord, his sincere integrity, his fervent patriotism, his servant’s heart, his faithful ministry to the homebound and the sick, his strong work ethic and his big ready smile.

The Christy family members are very grateful for the ministry and care given to Bro. John in his home by Home Instead, American Home Care and Covenant Hospice.

Surviving relatives include his wife of sixty-seven years, Frances Smith Christy, Dothan; two daughters, Patricia Ann Christy Granger and husband, Bobby, Dothan; Joyce Elaine Christy Sullivan and husband, Ron, San Antonio, Texas; a son, Johnny Russell Christy and wife, Carol, Greenville, S.C.; a sister, Georgia N. Christy, Lewisville, Texas; eight grandchildren, Russell Christy, Christy Sullivan Cole (David), Jaclyn Granger Oliver (Mark), Marie Christy (Steven Carpenter), Robyn Granger (Wesley Rowell), Ann Christy Godfrey (Will), Angela Sullivan (Michael McElrath), Veronica Sullivan (Jason Beers); eight great-grandchildren, Andrew Oliver, Brantley Oliver, James Cole, Preston Oliver, Liam Godfrey, Destiny Cole, Courtney Oliver and Elizabeth Cole and a whole host of friends and fellow Christian servants.

Serving as active pallbearers were the Rev. Jeff Ross, Morgan Harrell, Russell Christy, Jason Beers, Steven Carpenter, Johnny Oppert, Woody Farrington, Arthur Joe Lee and posthumously, Johnsie Thomas. Serving as honorary pallbearers were John Christy Christian Ministries Board Members and Covenant Hospice Chaplain Ray Wan.