Reverend Denton Headrick

Denton Edwin Headrick was ushered peacefully into the presence of Jesus, his Lord and Savior, on September 27, 2025, at the age of 86. He often expressed hope that "maybe the Lord will come today". On that Saturday at 7:20 am, surrounded by his loved ones, his prayer was answered and his dream fulfilled as he took the hand of Christ and stepped into eternal and blissful rest. He was born on August 4, 1939, to Kenneth and Lorene Headrick in Chatsworth, Georgia. His father was a businessman and owned a sawmill. His mother was primarily a homemaker who raised ten children and also worked at a textile mill. Denton graduated from Murray County High School in 1957. While in school, he excelled in math and athletics, particularly as a running back for the varsity football team. He met and married Jo Ann Hobbs in Tallahassee, Florida in 1962. Her father, a Baptist preacher named John Hobbs performed the ceremony. They raised three children and celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary on February 9, 2024. Denton was also a Baptist preacher, and pastored smaller churches in South Georgia and Alabama before returning to Tallahassee where he once again worked as a pastor, associate pastor, music minister, and Sunday School teacher for various churches. As a Preacher of the Gospel, he taught his family the Bible and what it was like to have a relationship with Jesus. He constantly displayed care and love for others, strangers or not, and shared the love of Christ with everyone, young or old, rich or poor. During the 1960's, Denton worked at Tallahassee Christian School teaching high school math, science, and Bible. He also worked in the office machine business having been factory-trained to repair IBM Selectric typewriters. In the 1970's, he pastored Lighthouse Baptist Church in Havana, Florida. In 1980, he established Headrick Office Machines in downtown Tallahassee providing sales and service for a variety of office equipment. He was well known and respected as an honest and fair businessman throughout North Florida and South Georgia. Well-liked by many government purchasing agents and directors, he was able to secure sales and service contracts with nearly every State of Florida agency, many in Leon County and many in the City of Tallahassee. Denton demonstrated true Christianity and a life of good character everywhere he went. He was a faithful husband and loving father. He worked long, hard hours in the office and at home to support and provide for his family. His final Pastorate was for Gateway Baptist Church in Thomasville, Georgia from the late 2000's until the late 2010's. Afterwards, he retired from professional ministry. However, he continued to share the Gospel wherever he went – doctor's offices, grocery stores, even on the phone with telemarketers, asking people questions like, "Are you saved?", "Do you know the Lord as your personal Savior?", and "If you died tonight, are you sure you would go to Heaven?" Denton is currently celebrating the joys of Heaven with family members who preceded him in death, including his wife of 62 years, Jo Ann Headrick, his parents, Kenneth and Lorene Headrick, his sisters Betty Jean Hayes and Charlotte Finlayson, and his brother, Hilton Headrick. He is lovingly remembered and dearly missed by his three children: Renee (Carl) Pritchett, Darren (Karen) Headrick, and Angela Andrews; three grandchildren: Randall Pritchett, Marie (Ben) Harvey, and Luke Andrews; and six siblings: brothers Itsel Headrick and Kensel (Laura) Headrick, and sisters Hattie Ruth Ball, Annetta (Gene) Cox, Jerri (Tom) Caylor, and Sherri (Dickie) Park.