Cecil CONE

A funeral service celebrating the life of Dr. Cecil Wayne Cone will be held 11 am, SATURDAY, April 9, 2016 at Historic St. Philip A.M.E. Church, with Senior Pastor Rev. William D. Watley, Ph.D. officiating. Dr. Cone's life journey as a Theologian, Pastor, Educator, Lecturer, and writer started in Fordyce, Arkansas where he was born. He grew up in the small town of Bearden, Arkansas fourteen miles away from his place of birth. Throughout his childhood, his parents instilled in him core values: faith in God, academic excellence, social justice and civil rights. Dr. Cone answered the call to the ministry at the tender age of thirteen. By the age of 16, he had been appointed to his first church. His rich pastoral ministry includes the privilege of serving as Senior Pastor at several AME Churches throughout Arkansas, Detroit Michigan, and Jacksonville, Florida. After moving to Atlanta, Ga he joined the ministerial staff at St. Phillips AME Church in Atlanta, Ga. After graduating from Bearden High School in 1953, Dr. Cone went to Shorter College in North Little Rock and received his Associate of Arts degree with honors. In 1957 he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Philander Smith College. After teaching school for one year, he entered Garrett Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois where he earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1961. He was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology and Philosophy from Emory University in Atlanta in 1974. During his tenure at Emory, he was the recipient of a Rockefeller Doctoral Fellowship. In 1993 he went back to school and earned a Masters of Arts with honors in Counseling Psychology from The University of North Florida in Jacksonville. Dr. Cone served as Dean of Jackson Theological Seminary in North Little Rock, Arkansas, President of Turner Theological Seminary at the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta, Professor of Systematic Theology at B.F. Lee Seminary in Jacksonville, Florida, Professor of Black Theology at Emory and Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, and Professor of Black Theology at Spelman College. A special highlight of Dr. Cone's illustrious career was serving as President of Edward Waters College (EWC) in Jacksonville, Florida. Under his administration, 2 years after arriving at EWC, the college earned accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1979. The historical attainment of accreditation in 1979 was the first time in the College's 113-year history that EWC had been accredited as a four-year College. Moreover, as a result of full accreditation, Edward Waters College was admitted to full membership in the prestigious United Negro College Fund. The initial accreditation was for five years. Other milestones accomplished during Dr. Cone's tenure at EWC included renovation of the Centennial Building, reaffirmation of accreditation in 1984 for 10 additional years, new majors in accounting, communications, engineering, and air traffic control, construction of 192-bed Morris-Cone Student Residential Complex, successful 2-million-dollar fund drive headed by the Corporate Community, acquisition of "the Obi Collection" of African art, valued at over $500,000 and donated by a Jacksonville physician. Dr. Cone was always on the forefront of the Black Liberation struggle as a writer and activist. During the 1960's he marched with Dr. Martin Luther King in Detroit, Michigan and in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama. He was a key organizer and spokesperson in Civil Rights marches in Little Rock. In 1957 while Senior Pastor of Allen Temple; he served as pastoral counselor to Elizabeth Eckford, a member of his church. Ms. Eckford is one of the "Little Rock Nine" who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Dr. Cone was a gifted orator and prolific writer. He lectured on a various themes from his scholarship throughout the United States and around the worldespecially all over the continent of Africa, the Republic of China, Egypt, Japan, Bermuda, and Jamaica. He has also lectured in Dimona, Israel and Petra, Jordan. Dr. Cone is preceded in death by his parents Charlie Cone (father) and mother Lucille Frost Cone. Survivors include his devoted wife Juanita F. Cone, MD MPH, Atlanta GA; three children, Cecil Wayne Cone, II, MD (Sheree'), St. Maarten, Caribbean Island, Leslie Anita Cone-Sullivan, MD (Eric), Atlanta, GA, Charleston Alan Cone, MD Oakland, California; and four grandchildren: Jaden, Jordan, and Cecil Wayne Cone III, and Paris Cone-Sullivan; two devoted brothers: Charles Cone (Abbie), Pine Bluff, Arkansas, James Cone Ph.D. New York, aunts, uncles, and a host of nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews, relatives and friends. Dr. Cone will rest in the Gregory B. Levett and Sons Funeral Home for visitation Friday April 8, 2016 from 2 to 8 pm. Family will receive friends from 6 pm to 8 pm. Interment will take place in Evergreen Cemetery in Jacksonville Florida. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that those desiring may contribute to the Cecil Wayne Cone PhD Memorial Scholarship Fund. Checks should be written to the Cecil Wayne Cone PhD Memorial Scholarship Fund. Mail checks to St Philip AME Church, 240 Candler Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30317.