Robert Pardue

Rev. Robert Pardue

Knoxville, TN

The Reverend Robert Amos Pardue, 94, a retired minister who served several United Methodist churches, in Knoxville, completed the final step of his "long way home" on Friday, April 10, 2015, at Beverly Park Place Rehab Center. In his 2007 autobiography, titled The Long Way Home, he compared his own spiritual journey to God's love and forgiveness to the long way home around the Cape of Good Hope taken by the battleship U.S. California, on which he served in World War II. The ship eventually reached the U.S. coast, and ten years later, at age 36, Bob "finally entered the safe harbor of God's love and forgiveness," making his decision to enter the Christian ministry.

He earned a bachelor's degree from Tennessee Wesleyan College, and in 1964 he graduated from Candler School of Theology, magna cum laude with a masters of divinity degree. His first assignment to a large church was as associate pastor of Second Methodist Church, in Knoxville. He later served pastorates in six Holston Conference districts, including one in Virginia. His last pastorate was in Knoxville at Inskip United Methodist Church, during his retirement (2001-2003), having previously been assigned to Inskip from 1981 to 1985.

Throughout his years in the pulpit, Bob became well-known for his style of preaching without notes. He revealed that he always memorized his sermons and was able to repeat them later, after only a quick read-through. Throughout his career, he was undergirded by the belief that his mission was to communicate the message of Jesus as embodied in his favorite scripture, Phillipians 2:5: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

After serving as a pastor for 41 years, Bob reflected on what his legacy would be. He wanted to leave something to help others realize, as he eventually had, that it was never too late to "find their way home." He decided that could best be done by writing a "painfully honest" account of his own turbulent life before he, himself, found the way. He said that if only one person reads the book and turns to Jesus Christ, he would be amply recompensed. His resulting book is available from Inskip UMC for all to read.

Bob is survived by his wife and devoted caregiver, Betty W. Atchley-Pardue, of Knoxville; his brother, Donald Wayne Pardue and wife, Barbara Shipe Pardue, of Lenoir City; his daughter-in-law, Sherri Stansberry Pardue, of Morristown; his stepdaughter, the Reverend Janice Atchley Cate and her husband, the Reverend Dr. Herman Cate; his stepson, James R. Atchley and his wife, Valerie Atchley; and his granddaughter; three grandsons; and several great-grandchildren; as well as a number of nieces and nephews.

Bob is preceded in death by his parents, William L. Pardue and Sadie Nina Thacker Pardue; by his wife of 50 years, Margie Wilcox Pardue; by three brothers, William Albert Pardue, Raymond Lloyd Pardue, and Clyde Bryant Pardue; and by his sons, Rodney Carol Pardue and Douglas Dwayne Pardue; and Douglas' wife, Sarah Gardner Pardue.

A service of celebration for Bob's life will be held at 5:00 p.m., on Sunday, April 19, at Inskip UMC, with the Reverend Dr. Mark Dowell officiating and the Reverend Robert Bean participating. The family will receive friends at the church from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. An interment service will be held at the Lakeview Cemetery, in Lenoir City, on Monday, April 20, at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the Bob Pardue Memorial Fund at Inskip United Methodist Church, 714 Cedar Lane, Knoxville, TN 37912 (688-3531). Arrangements for the services are being provided by Berry Lynnhurst Funeral Home.