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Reynolds leaves behind big shoes to fill

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GEORGE H. NEWMAN

gnewman@tampatrib.com

Published: October 28, 2009

PLANT CITY - The Rev. Roy L. Reynolds presided at so many services in almost a dozen Baptist churches in Florida that it almost seemed he was standing at the pulpit during his own funeral, participants at the memorial service said.

Reynolds, 86, a Plant City resident and member of First Baptist Church, was born June 13, 1923, in Lakeland. He died in peace, family members said, on Oct. 16 at a Lakeland hospice facility.

He was a graduate of Lakeland's Kathleen High School, Florida Southern College and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He received his doctorate of ministry degree from Luther Rice Seminary in Lithonia, Ga.

Married to Leatrice for 66 years, the couple had three daughters: Beverly Hoover and Linda Robert, both of Plant City; and Sandra Chesser of Cumming, Ga. Reynolds was predeceased by a son, Mark.

Bob Franklin, a minister who credits his early development in the church to Reynolds, spoke as a disciple of Reynolds.

"Dr. Reynolds was the Paul to my Timothy," Franklin said. "I first heard him preach in Plant City when I was 14 at the Eastside Baptist Church. He took me under his wing and helped me prepare for my first time in the pulpit when I was 15. Ten years later he was there with me when I was ordained. I have watched his life for 42 years."

First Baptist music minister Pete Battaglia sang the first of three songs requested by the family, "The Old Rugged Cross."

Tommy Warnock, an assistant pastor at Plant City's First Baptist Church, told the hundreds of people attending the funeral that while there was a sense of loss for those who knew Reynolds as a minister, friend or relative, "it was clear that an exchange has taken place for Dr, Reynolds between the old rugged cross and his crown now worn in heaven." Warnock, referring to John 15: 1-8, said Reynolds' life was clearly and closely connected to the clinging vine.

"Roy loved the Lord," Warnock said. "He recently told me, 'I know Jesus. I love Jesus, and I know how this works. When Jesus is ready for me I will go with him.'"

"There are big shoes for us to fill," Warnock said. "And as Roy Reynolds used to say, we need to keep on keeping on so we can find a way to fill them."

One of Reynolds' 10 grandchildren, Stephen Robert, a seminary student in Wake Forest, N.C., spoke of the life his grandfather shared with his God and family.

"Pa Pa was born to a farming family in Lakeland," said Robert. "He learned to work hard and told us how the family would cover strawberries with straw in the winter to keep them from being damaged by the frost. One winter his father decided to cover the strawberry plants with dirt during a freeze. When the weather improved they had to dig each plant out by hand. Pa Pa didn't say it, but that might have been why he didn't continue in farming."

Reynolds served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. Later he was ordained as a Southern Baptist minister at Griffin Baptist Church in Lakeland.

"Pa Pa went to seminary in Miami," Robert said. "He embraced education. He told me if you are going to do battle, go with a sharpened sword."

Reynolds served as pastor at Mount Tabor, Dixieland and Gapway Baptist, all in the Lakeland area. He pastored in Flagami Baptist Church in Miami; First Baptist Church in Mulberry; Lake Maggiore Baptist Church in St. Petersburg; Eastside Baptist Church in Plant City; and Bayshore Baptist Church in Bradenton.

Reynolds ran for Congress, winning the primary but losing the general election, his grandson said.

He also twice ran unsuccessfully for city commissioner in Plant City. He was an activist against the serving of alcoholic beverages in the city and opposed the opening of businesses on Sundays.

After retirement he served as chaplain of South Florida Baptist Hospital for five years. He was past president of the Plant City Kiwanis Club, where he was a member for more than 40 years, and received the George F. Hixson Fellowship award, the highest honor a Kiwanis Club can bestow on a member. Reynolds had 19 great-grandchildren.

Reynolds was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Lakeland.

Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 731-8161.

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