Memorial Service for Rev. Calvin White, Louisville Kentucky

Miss Harriet and I, along with Favor (our six-year-old) traveled 110 miles to Louisville on Friday, June 24, to attend a memorial service in honor of Rev. Calvin D. White, my late mentor. The service was hosted at First Virginia Avenue Baptist Church, where the pastor is Rev. Charles Duncan, under whose pastorate then Deacon Calvin White answered the call to the preaching ministry. Rev. Duncan was then pastor of Beargrass Baptist Church, the pastor Rev. White later pastored for some 18 years.

During the service, the Louisville Fire Department and the US Navy paid proper respects to Rev. White, who retired from the Fire Department with the rank of Captain.

The guests of honor were Rev. White's widow, Mrs. Patricia White, and Rev. White's 95-year-old mother.

The excellent singing and fine preaching aside, the memorial service turned out to be such a reunion for those of us who had known each other through Beargrass Baptist when Rev. White was the pastor there. We shared tears, laughter, handshakes and hugs.

In our one-on-one with Patricia White in the front row of the church, I presented her with a framed lifetime tribute that I composed to her beloved husband. In the tribute I highlighted how her husband's ministry had touched the lives of Liberians, Ghanaians, and even Americans, when he led Beargrass Baptist to financially help us to build the place of worship for Christian Inter-Denominational Assembly (CHRIDA) at the Liberian refugee camp in Ghana, West Africa. Today, CHRIDA has branches in some Ghanaian towns, in Monrovia (capital city of Liberia), and in Minnesota (USA).

Finally, I made it clear to the White family that it was my secret plan to surprise Rev. White with a copy of my upcoming book, Refugee Was My Name. I let Pat White know she will receive a copy once the book is published.

After visiting with Dennis & Juanita White at Rev. White's mom's house, then Patricia White at her Country Inn suite, we, the Matallys swung by Moluba Kamara's African food store on Taylor Boulevard in Louisville before trekking back to our home in Owensboro.

By the way, Dennis & Juanita White promised to organize a book party when Refugee Was My Name comes out. I think they'll make it a Beargrass thing, and that will make it even more special.