Marshall L. "Jack" Meadors

1933 - 2023

Bishop Marshall LeRoy

Meadors Jr.

Marshall L. "Jack" Meadors Jr., a Bishop of the United Methodist Church, died May 25, 2023.

Bishop Meadors was born in Kingstree, SC, January 1, 1933, son of Sarah Lucius and Marshall L. "Jack) Meadors. He was reared in Florence.

He was a graduate of Wofford College (Phi Beta Kappa), and Candler School of Theology, Emory University. He received honorary degrees from Wofford, Columbia, Rust, Millsaps, and Rocky Mountain Colleges.

He was ordained elder of The United Methodist Church, August 16, 1958. He served Union Church, Stockbridge, GA; the McBee Charge; Trinity, North Myrtle Beach; Berea Friendship, Greenville; First Church, Marion; St. John's, Anderson; the Columbia District; and Buncombe Street, Greenville. In 1992, he was elected bishop and assigned to the Mississippi area. He retired in 2000.

His civic involvement included membership on the Anderson County District 5 School Board, a position for which he was twice elected in general elections. Governor Richard Riley appointed him to the Joint Legislative Committee on Aging and then to the SC Commission on Aging, which he chaired for five years. Gov. Riley awarded him "The Order of the Palmetto."

He was president of the Mississippi Religious Leadership Conference, an organization of religious leaders who worked to promote tolerance and understanding in diversity. He was a director of the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women, a director of the General Board of Church and Society, a member of the University Senate, and a trustee of Emory University.

He chaired the Council of Bishop's Initiative on Children and Poverty, 1995-2000.

In 1999, he was a member of the delegation to Belgrade, led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, that secured the release of three American prisoners of war during the NATO bombing. He and his wife Hannah then led a delegation to Macedonia to visit refugee camps, and to visit Kosovo to assess the war damage in Pristina and the outlying villages.

He was twice arrested for non-violent acts of civil disobedience; once for protesting the Iraq war; again for demanding more humane immigration deportation policies, especially for children. In retirement, he served as Bishop-in-Residence at Candler School of Theology, Emory University; he chaired the Independent Panel for the Review of Child Abuse in Mission Settings of the General Board of Global Ministries; he was a trustee of Wofford College and trustee emeritus of Emory.

He was married to Hannah Campbell who preceded him in death.

He is survived by four children, Jane M. Cromley (George) of Pawleys Island, Marshall III (Jennifer) of Anderson, James (Anne) of Charleston, and John (Tricia) of Columbia; a sister, Sarah M. (Sissie) Stokes; a niece, Sarah L. (Sallie) Stokes of Murrells Inlet; ten grandchildren, Hannah Cromley, Mary C. Tibbetts (Robert), Parker Cromley, Weatherly, James Jr., and Jack Meadors, Blakely, Maggie, John Jr. (Salley), and Perry Meadors; and eight great-grandchildren, Marshall, Henry, Vivianne, Benjamin, James, III, Hayes, Wilder, and Gus.

A memorial service will be held at St. John's United Methodist, Anderson, SC, June 9, 2023. The family will greet friends in the Family Activity Center building at 12:30 p.m. The service will begin at 2 p.m., in the sanctuary. A graveside service will be held June 10, 2023, 3 p.m., at Mount Hope Cemetery, Florence, SC.

Memorials may be made to the Meadors Family Endowed Scholarship Fund at Wofford College, 429 N Church St., Spartanburg, SC 29303-3663 or the Meadors Endowment Fund for Children at The South Carolina United Methodist Foundation, P.O. Box 5087, Columbia, SC 29250.