Happy New Year from the Southern Gospel Music Forum!  As 2003 comes to a close and 2004 begins our hearts are heavy.  We recently lost two legends in Southern Gospel Music when Vestal Goodman and Jake Hess passed away about a week apart.  Both of them will be missed in our industry as they were leaders of the industry and pioneers of this style of music.  On other pages of this website we document what those two meant to our industry through various tributes.

I read the accounts of the funerals of Vestal and Jake and how hundreds and even a thousand people showed up.  I want to write about another funeral that took place in December of 2003.  Only about 100 people showed up for this one but this one meant more to me than any of the rest.  It was for Betty Evans, my mom.

My mom was not a well known Southern Gospel singer or involved in the industry in any way.  However, my mom was a great Christian lady who loved the Lord and trusted Him completely with her life.  She was born on September 27, 1927 in Hornell, NY.  She came from a large family of five brothers and five sisters.  She came to know the Lord in a personal way at a young age.

My mom married my dad in November of 1947 and they had five children.  I am the youngest of those five.  I grew up in a Christian Home and I thank the Lord for that.  My parents were in no way perfect but they did the best they could do to provide for us and to remind us that we served a powerful God.  As I got older I came to appreciate even more the values they instilled in us.  My mom led me to the Lord at the ripe old age of 6!