Rev. Ernest Seckinger Jr.

The Rev. Dr. Ernest W. Seckinger Sr. died Aug. 22, 2011 in Blairsville. He was born in Clyo in his beloved Effingham County, May 20, 1917 the child of Frank Bernard and Gertrude Exley Seckinger. Throughout his life he honored his Salzburger ancestry, a life member of the Georgia Salzburger Society. He was a retired United Methodist minister of the South Georgia Conference who continued to serve until the end. His lifelong passions, often carried out quietly, were to further the advance of civil rights for all and pastoral care. During the 1939 school year he served as the Principal of the Rincon Consolidated School. He served as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy in the latter part of World War II and at the follow charges: helped in the founding of First UMC Warner Robbins; Hagan, Dudley, Bloomingdale, Chaplain Warren A Candler Hospital, Thunderbolt, Edison, Soperton, Metter, Forest Street in Valdosta, Cross Keys in Macon, Camilla, Rose Hill in Columbus, Folkston, Adel, Cokesbury in Savannah, Northview in Warner Robbins, and after retirement Park Memorial in Macon, and the Young Harris College Staff. During retirement he stayed active in beekeeping, daylily show judging with Jessie, the Christian Ashram movement and in historical societies of the United Methodist Church.
His life affirming experience at Young Harris College from 1935-1937 led him to purchase a small tract of land near there in about 1950 and to where he and his late wife Jessie Vannerson Seckinger retired in 1986. Sometime after Jessie's death he moved to Stonehenge Assisted Living in Blairsville. He departed this world in the care of the Union County Nursing Home.
He received degrees from Young Harris College, Emory University, and Candler School of Theology and attended Yale Divinity School.
He is survived by five children: Ernest W. Seckinger Jr of Hiawassee; Andrew Marion Seckinger of Wildwood, Mo.; David Timothy Seckinger of Columbus; Charlotte Seckinger Lord of Rincon, and Peter Rabun Seckinger of Reston, Va.; eight grandchildren: Eric William Seckinger, Christopher Boyd Seckinger, Carly Folsom Brown, Amy Nicole Folsom, Morgan Elizabeth Seckinger, Ethan William Seckinger, Alexandra Kathryn Seckinger, and Avery Joseph Seckinger; great grandson Trevor Aedan Brown; step-great grandson Zachary David Quintero; sister Pauline Seckinger Varnell of Springfield; brother Raymond Exley Seckinger of Ellabell. He is preceded in death by his parents, his wife Jessie Vannerson Seckinger late of Young Harris; brother Charles Bernard Seckinger late of Potomac, Md.; brother Frank Donald Seckinger late of Springfield; sister Winifred Seckinger Dorris late of Clarkston.
The funeral service was Thursday, Aug. 25 at 2 p.m. at the Springfield United Methodist Church with visitation an hour prior with the burial at Springfield Cemetery Annex. Memorials may be made to the Ernest W. and Jessie Vannerson Seckinger Memorial Scholarship at Young Harris College, Sharp Memorial United Methodist Church, and Epworth by the Sea.