Updated Friday, April 18, 2008

Baptist Heritage Award winners announced

From staff reports

Agencies and institutions affiliated with the Baptist State Convention honored these N.C. Baptists for outstanding service during the 8th annual Heritage Awards April 8 in Greensboro.

Ann M. Smith

Woman's Missionary Union

Whether serving as president of Woman's Missionary Union of North Carolina (WMU-NC), vice president of national WMU, vice president of the Baptist State Convention, member of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, member of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina Task Force, or on numerous committees with WMU-NC, Ann M. Smith's calling has always been to missions.

Smith has participated in mission trips to more than 12 countries and in several disaster relief trips within the United States. A member of First Baptist Church in Burlington, Smith serves on the church's missions development council and as a deacon. She works with international students at Elon University and is a member of the Christian Women's Job Corps Board and the advisory board for the Village of Hope in the Ukraine. She has two sons and two granddaughters.

James C. Furman,

Wingate University

A member of First Baptist Church in Boone, James C. Furman was one of the first trustees to commit to bringing a pharmacy school to Wingate University. Furman purchased Boone Drugs in Boone and expanded the business. Furman runs Tar Heel Capital and has opened Wendy's restaurants throughout the Carolinas. Wendy's has included Furman in its hall of fame and recognized him with a Founder's Award.

He and his wife, Dolores, have four sons, 11 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Maurice G. Cook

North Carolina Baptist Men

For more than two decades Maurice G. Cook has been a board member for the North Carolina Baptist Men. He also was president from 1993 to 1997. During his tenure he helped with construction projects in the Ukraine and Czech Republic through disaster relief.

Most recently he coordinated the statewide Summerfest global missions event at the Ag Demonstration Farm at Campbell University. He was Baptist Men Layman of the Year in 1987. A member of Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Raleigh, Cook stays active at church, where he has served as deacon, Sunday School teacher, and in other leadership positions.

He and his wife, Nancy Blalock Cook, have one son and one granddaughter.

Len B. Preslar Jr.

North Carolina Baptist Hospital

Len B. Preslar Jr. began his career with North Carolina Baptist Hospital in 1969 while a student at Wake Forest University, rising through the ranks to president and chief executive officer in 1988, which he held until his retirement in 2007.

Preslar is involved in a number of organizations: chairman of the Atkins Technology High School Advisory Council; Forsyth Futures Board; board member of Greater Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce and YWCA Advisory Council. He has been on the boards of North Carolina Hospital Association, the University HealthSystem Consortium, the Council of Teaching Hospitals, and United Way of Forsyth County. In 2007 the mayor of Winston-Salem designated an intersection near the hospital as "Len B. Preslar Jr. Way."

A member of Knollwood Baptist Church in Winston Salem, he and his wife, Jodi, have three children.

Nancy Lee Kistler

North Carolina Baptist Foundation

Exhibiting the heart of a servant, Nancy Lee Kistler is said to carry joy wherever she goes. Kistler was raised in a Christian home and went to Meredith College. She received a master's degree in religious education from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. She was on staff at First Baptist Church in Greensboro, Dawson Memorial Baptist Church in Burlington, Sharon Baptist Church in Charlotte, and the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. She is an active member of First Baptist Church in Charlotte and an associate with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Kistler and her mother deeded their residence to the North Carolina Baptist Foundation in 1981 to insure that kingdom work would be supported in the future.

Jo Ellen Williams Ammons

Meredith College

Baptist deacon, alumna and trustee of Meredith College, Jo Ellen Williams Ammons came from Monroe to get a bachelor's degree from Meredith in 1957. She and her husband, Jud, built a successful real estate company.

Ammons has maintained a strong involvement with Meredith. She is a member of the Heritage Society, Stringfield Society and the Thomas Meredith Society. She has supported the Class of 1957 Scholarship, the Kresge Challenge, the library expansion, the Park-Cate Center renovation, the Maddrey Parlor project, and the Meredith Fund.

She was also the Tri-Chair of the Campaign Steering Committee for The Campaign for Meredith. She has received the Meredith College Alumnae Philanthropist Award and is a class agent for the Class of 1957.

Members of Greystone Baptist Church in Raleigh, she and Jud have four children and 12 grandchildren.

Doris Phillips Bentley

Mars Hill College

Doris Phillips Bentley came to Mars Hill College (MHC) in 1954 as a music major. After graduation, she and Fred Bentley married and moved to Waco, Texas, where he pursued a doctorate. He worked at Indiana University and the University of Louisville but came to Mars Hill in 1966 as president. Doris was first lady at Mars Hill for 30 years. Her husband died in 2004, but Bentley stays active with her family, church, Mars Hill and the community.

A partial list of leadership positions and honors include: assistant in the college Development Office (1972-1995); MHC Alumni of the Year (1996); MHC Board of Advisors; president, League of Women Voters (Madison County); president, Pisgah Girl Scout Council; Board of Directors, Diabetes Advisory Committee; president of volunteers, Blue Ridge HealthCare in Morganton; chairwomen, boards of deacons at Mars Hill Baptist Church and First Baptist Church of Morganton.

Robert and Carolyn Tucker

Gardner-Webb University

Robert and Carolyn Tucker are involved at Gardner-Webb University. From financial support to getting involved with academics and athletics, the Tuckers want to prepare students for the real world by instilling Christian values and ethics early in life.

Robert worked at Baucom's shoe store during high school in Kannapolis. He owned one-third of another store he opened with Baucom.

Robert and Carolyn married in 1957. In 1960, he opened his first 2,500-square-foot store in Kannapolis. Today, Shoe Show, Tucker's retail chain, has 1,089 stores in 36 states.

Members of North Kannapolis Baptist Church in Kannapolis, the Tuckers also support other organizations: Cooperative Christian Ministries, Bible Teaching Associations, Hospice, the Salvation Army, Wycliffe Bible Translators, JAARS, and the Association of Retarded Citizens.

The couple has four children.

Bynum Rhodes Brown

Chowan University

Bynum Rhodes Brown served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II and was later re-called to active duty during the Korean conflict. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1953, he opened a general insurance agency in Murfreesboro. His business interests grew to include real estate, home appraisals, farming and co-owner and operator of a 139-bed nursing and retirement home.

He was a town councilman and county commissioner and chairman of the Murfreesboro Planning Board and the Hertford County Educational Foundation. He is past president of the Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Coral Bay Club. He is a Mason and Shriner.

At Murfreesboro Baptist Church, he has been on board of deacons and board of trustees and has served as church clerk and chairman of the building committee. He is currently serving a fourth term as chairman of the Chowan trustees.

Bynum and his wife, Shirley, have one daughter.

Verna Bryan Respass

Campbell University

A former student of Campbell University, Verna Bryan Respass is the retired president of Bryan Investments, Inc. She and her late husband, Lloyd, owned and operated Jacksonville Heating Contractors, Inc. and Jacksonville Builders Supply, where she served as secretary-treasurer for both.

A member of First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Respass is on her fourth term as a Campbell trustee. During her time with Campbell, she worked on executive and business affairs committees and was vice-chairwoman of the nominating committee.

She is a member of the Onslow County Chamber of Commerce and is a trustee at Onslow Community College.

She previously lost her son, Lloyd Bryan Respass, who was also a Campbell student. Respass has one daughter.

Eddie and Martha Williams

Biblical Recorder

Eddie and Martha Williams left jobs and family in Spruce Pine to manage "command central" in Gulfport, Miss., for two years following Hurricane Katrina. The couple, who have been married 39 years, directed the work of tens of thousands of volunteers. They are now Mission Camp Coordinators with the North Carolina Baptist Men.

Members of Liberty Hill Baptist Church in Spruce Pine, they have taken on various roles in their church over the years: Sunday School teachers, assistant Sunday School superintendent, church Brotherhood Director, Royal Ambassadors and Girls in Action leaders, choir members and associational Brotherhood and Woman's Missionary Union directors. Eddie has been Baptist Men Layman of the Year, Mitchell County Distinguished citizen, recipient of his Rotary Club "You Make a Difference" Award, and the local domestic violence refuge house is named in his honor. He and Martha have been nominated by Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr for the South Mississippi Heroes Award.

Eddie and Martha have two children and three grandchildren.

Carsie K. Denning Jr.

Baptist State Convention of North Carolina

Carsie Denning's philanthropic spirit and engineering skills have impacted the North Carolina Baptist Assembly at Caswell.

Denning attended Louisburg College, Campbell University and North Carolina State University. In 1983, he co-founded Applied Computer Technologies (ACT) and has been a board member for American Belarus Relief Organization since 1996. A deacon at Coats Baptist Church in Coats, Denning is president of CommLogix in Coats and a volunteer at the North Carolina Baptist Assembly at Caswell. He is also a board member of Talmidim, an outreach for Christian evangelism and social action.

He and his wife, Dawn, have two children.

Sterling Wall

Baptist Children's Homes of North Carolina

Sterling Wall comes from a long line of trustees to the Baptist Children's Homes of North Carolina (BCH). Wall's father, mother, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all BCH trustees.

A lifelong resident of Lexington and lifetime member of First Baptist Church in Lexington, Wall has been a trustee multiple times and served as chairman on the properties committee. He played a valuable role in acquiring Oak Ranch, a 750-acre residential program for children in Lee County.

Wall, his wife, Tina, and their children are a part of the Wall legacy of "helping hurting children ... healing broken families."