Rev. Warner Avery Bumgardner

             WADESBORO - We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. On Thursday, May 12, 2022, this scripture became reality for Rev. Warner Avery Bumgardner, 89, at Anson Health and Rehab in Wadesboro.

            There will be a service of worship and music celebrating his life at 5:00pm Sunday, May 15, 2022 at Frist Baptist Church with Dr. Harry Workman and Rev. Lee Tarver officiating.

            The family will greet friends from 4:00pm until 5:00pm in the church parlor and following the service.

            Warner was born January 11, 1933, in Mecklenburg County, NC and was a son of the late Jonah Avery Bumgardner and the late Lola Deal Bumgardner. He was a 1951 graduate of Harding High School in Charlotte and Mars Hill College.

            Following graduation from Mars Hill he enrolled in Baylor University in Waco, TX and studied at Mexico City College. Feeling the call into the gospel ministry, Warner received a master’s degree in Theology from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.

            While attending Southern Seminary, he was employed at Kentucky Baptist Hospital as a Lab Technician and it was there, he met the love of his life, Roberta Gentry.  They were married August 23, 1957.

            Following his graduation from seminary, he served as pastor of Lafayette Baptist Church in Lafayette, KY. He served as associate pastor of First Baptist Church, Hopkinsville, KY and First Baptist Church, Providence, KY.

            He accepted a call with the European Baptist Convention to serve as a missionary, ministering to military families, serving as pastor of Hahn Baptist Church in Germany. This church was located near the Hahn Air Force Base.

            Rev. Bumgardner found it necessary to move back to the states to be near his mother and accepted a call to serve as pastor of Jackson Park Baptist Church in Kannapolis, after which, their family would return to service with the European Baptist Convention to service as pastor of Mannheim Baptist Church in Germany.

            His wife, Roberta’s school teaching career then moved them to Lakenheath England Air Force Base, as she was a teacher for the Department of Defense, during which time, Rev. Bumgardner would fill pulpits in the area churches to share God’s message of love.

            In 1999, Rev. Bumgardner retired from ministry and he and Roberta moved to Wadesboro and have now made their home there and became a vibrant part of the community.

            A devoted and faithful member of First Baptist Church, Wadesboro, he served as director of the Anticipators Senior Citizen Group, enjoyed sharing time with the youth group, filled the pulpit in the absence of the pastors, visited and ministered to church members and their families during hospital stays and nursing home residents and was the main cheerleader of the Music Ministry of First Baptist Church.

            Those left to cherish his memory are his wife of 65 years, Roberta Gentry Bumgardner; his children, Andi Raymond and husband, Mark of Wadesboro, Mark Bumgardner and wife, Christie of Concord, Phil Bumgardner and wife, Kim of Kannapolis and James Murks and wife, Karol of High Point; his grandchildren, Adam Bumgardner  and Juliann Kirby and husband, Chase of Kannapolis, Alexandrea Raymond of Wilmington and Weslyn Bumgardner of Concord; his great-grandchildren, Charlotte and Silas Kirby and his brother-in-law, Charles Allen Gentry and wife, Cheryl of Mt. Washington, KY.

            In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Artie Jane Bye.

            In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Music Ministry of First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 423, Wadesboro, NC 28170.

            Servant of God, well done! Thy glorious warfare's past; The battle's fought, the race is won, And thou art crowned at last.

            The arrangements are in care of Leavitt Funeral Home and online condolences may be made at www.leavittfh.com