Dr. William Thomas Herndon was the son of Thomas J. Herndon and Velina O'Kelly and the last surviving great-grandson of James O'Kelly.
He studied medicine in early life and became a successful physician. In the prime of life he sacrificed all this and entered the ministry in the old North Carolina and Virginia Conference.
As a pastor he was characterized by strong faith and untiring zeal, having a passion for souls and emphasizing the evangelistic phase of the ministry. In 1891 he became the financial agent of Elon [University] and rendered some of the best service of his life in bringing the college though the financial crisis of that period. After this he did mission work in the Virginia Valley Conference where he organized and built five churches. He continued in the ministry until prevented by age and feebleness.
After years of declining health spent in the home of his children, he died in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, November 1, 1919, in his 79thyear. The funeral was conducted by Dr. J. O. Atkinson in Elon [University] Chapel and the body laid to rest in the Elon cemetery. He was survived by his widow, the former Miss Clara A. Edwards, and two children, Mrs. Myrtle Moffitt of Asheboro, NC, and Mrs. Gertrude Scott of Winston-Salem, NC.
We would record our highest appreciation of his labors and commend his consecration and zealous faith as worthy of our emulation. |
