Tuscumbia Church of Christ

Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.
1 Timothy 3:8-10

In the first century A.D., the Apostles selected men to help serve the congregations in Jerusalem. They appointed six men. The primary duty of these men was to serve the widows of the congregations. One of them even, Stephen, was later known to have done signs and wonders among those he ministered to. This eventually led to him being stoned. Today, deacons serve more than just the widows. They are actively serving in many areas of the Church. At Tuscumbia, the deacons of our "Forever Family" assist with seeing to various needs of the congregation. Among these needs are: Benevolence, Bible Study, Personal Evangelism, and Worship. They help the elders work with the various Ministry Committees. To see a full list and description of all our Ministry Committees, click here. Tuscumbia is proud of the men we have serving as deacons. Their willingness to serve helps both the eldership and the congregation as a whole. Please take some time to get to know them a little better.

John & Elba Lue Blackwell	My name is John Blackwell. I was born and raised in Sheffield, Alabama. After I graduated from Sheffield High School, I went to work for the Illinois Central Railroad in Fulton, Kentucky for a year. It is interesting to note that when most kids that age leave home and go on their own, they turn away from the church. During this time, I was baptized by Oliver Cunningham. My wife, Elba Lue, was born in Russellville and raised near Littleville. She comes from a rich heritage of Christians, and was baptized at the Colbert Heights congregation. She graduated from Deshler High School. We both are graduates of the University of North Alabama. We met during the first class we attended. I have degrees in Math and Physics and Elba Lue in Math and Chemistry. She is also a certified teacher. We were married on June 8, 1964 just a few days after graduation. After two years on active duty with the US Army Corp of Engineers, we settled into our present home in Colbert Heights. I went to work with TVA and Elba Lue set about being a home maker. Even though Elba Lue was a home maker, she graduated again from UNA with a Masters. We have four children who are married and have ten grandchildren. I retired from TVA after 30 years. We enjoy being with family and friends, gardening, and fishing. I also work as a volunteer to raise money from TVA employees in the Shoals for charities. I am also active in the TVA Retirees Association. I have been responsible for compiling the congregation’s non pictorial directory, several statistical reviews of congregation attendance and the “History of the Tuscumbia Church of Christ”. I also researched and designed the kitchen in the annex. We have been called upon numerous times to be Bible teachers since arriving at Tuscumbia in 1979. I have taught numerous classes on the book of Acts, and Elba Lue has taught several Ladies classes and planned Ladies activities. We serve on several of the congregation’s committee.
Karen, Tommy, & Ben Bradford
Barbara & David Branscome	My name is David Branscome. I am 72 years of age and a retired educator. I am married to my beautiful wife Barbara who is a retired nurse. We live in Florence, Alabama. We have four children and five grandchildren. We enjoy spending as much time as we can with our family. We also enjoy traveling and collecting a variety of different things.
Gary & Nancy Brewer	Nancy and I have been married since 1968 and are blessed with a wonderful daughter, Christy Kennamore, and her husband, Tim. They have honored us with a beautiful, loving granddaughter, Kayla. I was raised in the Church and attended Eastwood Church of Christ before marrying and moving to Tuscumbia. It is a honor and blessing to be a deacon in the church.
Meredith, Philip, Julia, John, & Kay Burton
James, Teresa, & Trent Cahoon
Ray & Pat Cahoon	I was born in Sheffield, AL at Colbert County Hospital (Helen Keller Hospital) on February 10, 1938. I was raised in Tuscumbia and my residence was there until I was grown. I attended high school at Deshler High and college at the University of Alabama and Florence State College (UNA) and received a Certified Financial Planner designation from The College for Financial Planning. I currently work as the commercial manager for Brandon Company, a wholesale flooring distributor, which covers Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama. I served two terms as Mayor of Tuscumbia, AL from 1988 to 1996. I have been a member of Civitan since 1971. My military service was served with the 20th Special Forces, 1st Special Forces Group and I was Sgt Major of the unit. On July 13, 1963 I married Pat Ingram. Pat is also from Tuscumbia. She attended Deshler High and Florence State College. (UNA) She is currently employed at Flexco in Tuscumbia. Her position is Administrative Assistant to the Director of Manufacturing. We moved to Memphis, TN in 1964 and returned to this area from 1968 until 1970. In 1970 we moved back to Memphis, TN and returned to Tuscumbia in 1981 where we currently still reside. We have two children, John Cahoon (Deceased) and Kathy Cahoon Meert. Kathy is married to Scott Meert and lives in Nashville, TN. She and her family attend the Harpeth Hills Church of Christ. We have two grandchildren, Joshua Cahoon Sherrod (12), John’s son and Emma Kate Meert (4), Kathy’s daughter. When we lived in Memphis, we were members of the Whitehaven congregation. (Now Goodman Oaks) We both taught Bible School classes. I led singing from time to time and served as a Deacon. I was raised in the Tuscumbia Church and was baptized at age 15. Pat and I both have worked with the young people and taught Bible classes. I currently serve on the worship committee and the involvement committee. I am the Song Leader and serve as a Deacon.
Bill & Sheila Hawk	Hi! My name is Bill Hawk. I am a member and deacon of the Tuscumbia Church of Christ. I also serve as the custodian. I have been a member of this congregation for twelve years. I retired from TVA after 31 years of service. After retirement I worked four years at Walker Hardware, a local store in Tuscumbia. Prior to going to work for TVA I spent two years in the U.S. Army. I served from 1966 - 1968. I spent fourteen months of that time in Germany. I am married to the former Sheila Wells. We were in the same graduating class at Deshler High School. After graduation night I did not see Sheila for thirty years until we had a class reunion. I called her two weeks later and asked her for a date. We married two years later. We have four girls between us and five grandchildren (all boys). Sheila is a retired school teacher. She taught 25 years in the Colbert Conty School System. She has been a lifelong member of the "Forever Family" at Tuscumbia. My hobbies are fishing and spending time with the family. We enjoy going on vacations together and with our friends. Sheila's hobby is that of shopping. She also loves spending time with the family to. If there is ever anything I can do to be of service to you, please let me know. May God bless you abundantly.
H.D. & Meavoline Kimbrough
Steve & Jeanette Kimbrough	Hello, my name is Steve Kimbrough. I graduated from Mars Hill Bible School in 1963. I attended International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) apprentice school for 4 years. I am retired from Browns Ferry after working with them for 27 years. I have lived in the Shoals area my entire life. I was baptized in 1958 at the Chapel Hill Church of Christ. Later I began worshipping with the Tuscumbia congregation and have been a part of the "Forever Family" for 50 years now. On June 19, 1965 I married the former Jeanette Kelly from Cherokee, Alabama. She worked at Mars Hill Colbert Campus as a secretary for nineteen years as our children attended and graduated from Mars Hill Bible School. We have two children. Chris who is married to Emily Bagget and Julie who married Larry Daniel. We also have four grandchildren, Kelli and Lily Daniel, and Alex and Addison Kimbrough. I am the chairman over the Senior Young at Heart ministry committee. I enjoy spending time with family, playing with grandchildren, traveling to see God's creation and spending time with friends.
Jodi & Sonny Morris	Hello, my name is Jim (Sonny) Morris. I am 76 years old and have been a member of the Lord's Church since 1944. I have lived in Tuscumbia most my life, 60 years to be exact. I have two sisters, Kay Stephenson and Lisabeth Foster, who are both wives of Tuscumbia Church of Christ elders. In 1954 I graduated with a BS Degree from David Lipscomb University. I also married the former Jodi Woodroof in October of the same year. We have three children. Jamie lives in Florence, Kim lives in Indianapolis and Claudia lives in Nashville. We also have five grandchildren and they are grand. I was in the car business from 1954 to 1997. I still dabble a little bit with cars, but playing golf tends to keep me pre-ocuppied.
Mary Jo & Bill Orman
Carl & Karen Richards
Debbie & William Richards	My name is William Richards and my wife's name is Debbie. We have two sons: Jamie and his wife Kristy, and Jeff and his wife Suzanne. We also have five lovely grandchildren, Emma, Jacob, Hannah, Will, and Laura Beth. We enjoy spending time with our grandchildren and watching Alabama football. I am happy to serve the Lord as a Deacon here at the Tuscumbia Church of Christ.
Doris & Marshall Snider	My name is Marshall Snider. I was born in Vance, Alabama, which Is located in Tuscaloosa County. I moved to Tuscumbia in 1959. I am married to the former Doris Fuller. She grew up in Lauderdale County and was a graduate of Mars Hill Bible School. We are the proud parents of three beautiful daughters, Mona Maddox, Ginger Merritt, and Misty Reid. We are also blessed with two wonderful grandsons, Chase and Daniel Milner. We started attending the Tuscumbia Church of Christ in 1974. It has been a joy to serve and worship with my church family for many years and I am looking forward to many more. I have always enjoyed singing, playing golf, and growing fruit whenever I get a chance, but ever since I retired from owning the barber shop I can now engulf myself in them.
Dewey & Mary Jane Willingham	My name is Dewey Willingham. I was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama and grew up at the the Valdosta Church of Christ. I was baptized by Ralph Stout in 1957. I married the former Mary Jane Craft in 1963. We have two children, Mark and Lisa. We also have four grandchildren, Thomas, Olivia, Emily Jane, and Jack. I am retired from TVA and Mary Jane is retired from the Colbert County School System. We lived in Tuscumbia until 1969 and then moved to Cherokee where we then began attending Cherokee Church of Christ. While there I taught teenage and adult Bible classes and served as a deacon.In 1993, my wife and I moved back to our long lost home of Tuscumbia and have been worshipping with the "Forever Family" ever since. Currently I am teaching an adult class, serving as a deacon over the Sunday night Children's Bible Class, and I also serve on the Benevolent Committee. Since retirement, we have Mary Jane and I have been involved in our grandchildren's activities. I also enjoy following the University of Alabama, Deshler High School, and Mars Hill Bible School athletic events.
Keith, Lisa, & Abbie Willingham	I am Keith Willingham and I am a lifelong resident of Colbert County. I was raised at Colbert Heights and finished High School there in 1978. That makes me two-score and nine years old, but I still try to think of myself as a teenager. My main sport in high school and briefly at UNA was baseball, but I have turned that into playing for our softball team at Tuscumbia Church of Christ. I have been a route salesman since 1979, and have spent the last 19 years with the Kelloggs/Keebler Co. as a territory manager. My hobbies include Military history and the outdoors. My wife Lisa is from Russellville and we met at UNA. She grew up listening to Bro. Charlie Britnell at Isbell Church of Christ, while I was on the mountain at Colbert Heights Church of Christ. We have lived in Muscle Shoals for almost 29 years. Our son Brad, and his wife Katie live in Tuscumbia and attend worship here at Tuscumbia Church of Christ. Our daughter Abbie is still at home with us and attends Muscle Shoals High School. I serve as chairman of the Youth Committee, and the Child Care Committee. I have been richly blessed being able to be a part of the youth group, and to be able to make a difference in the lives of children who have struggles. I am very fortunate to be a member of the "Forever Family"at Tuscumbia Church of Christ.
Ricky & Karen Willingham
Ben, Max, Mckenna, Becky, Alex, & Grant Wright