MORVEN

The Rev. Dr. Bobby Gene Pratt, 76, died Feb. 19, 2009 at his home.

Funeral services were at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 22 at First Baptist Church in Mt. Gilead with the Rev. Mack Dennis officiating. Interment followed in Morven Cemetery.

The family greeted friends Saturday from 5-7 p.m. at Leavitt Funeral Home in Wadesboro.

He was born in Anson County on May 9, 1932 to the late Leo Jennings Pratt and Mary Kathleen Mowery Pratt. He held dear his rich upbringing in the Wade Mill neighborhood of Wadesboro.

He was a valedictorian graduate of Wadesboro High School. He attended Wingate Junior College and later graduated from Wake Forest University with honors.

He was also a graduate of Southeastern Theological Seminary.

Pratt served a number of churches including Charlotte County, Va., Rocky Mount Baptist Church of Polkton, Fairview Baptist Church of Hillsborough and First Baptist Church of Randleman for 20 years. The last seven years of his full-time ministry were spent serving First Baptist Church of Mt. Gilead, where he remained a member.

Retiring to Morven, he became an active part of the community. Pratt was instrumental in starting a food pantry in Morven and Mt. Gilead, and helped to start an adult day care center in Randolph County.

He served several local churches, filling vacant pulpits, and served as pastor and friend to his neighbors and the community at large. He was a 32nd degree mason and member of Blackmer Masonic Lodge #127 in Mt. Gilead, a Shriner and a member of the Scottish Rite.

Pratt and his wife, Janet, were active in mission work serving as Pioneer Missionaries with the Southern Baptist Convention in Piney Point, Md. Together, they played an important role in forming the first Southern Baptist Church in Vermont.

He also served as a summer missionary in New Mexico with the Home Missions Board and also in Vermont with the Vermont Church Council. Eventually their mission work took them to China where they taught English.

His hobbies included reading, playing the piano cooking and working outside. He frequently served as the pianist for Morven Presbyterian Church, where he was an affiliate member.

Surviving are his wife of 53 years, Janet Hall Pratt of the home; his daughters, Karen Bowman of Burlington and Kimberly Underwood of Morven; five grandchildren; his sister and brother-in-law, Cherrie and Everette Hanna of Ocean Isle; his sisters-in-law and brother-in-law, Sara Pratt and Laura Pratt both of Wadesboro and Charlotte Hall Fowler and N.L “Buck” (Eleanor) Hall, of Camden, S.C.; and a host of other relatives and friends.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to: Global Missions of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, c/o First Baptist Church, P.O. Box 207, Mt. Gilead, NC 27306; Morven Food Pantry, c/o Nancy Robinson, 11456 Hwy. 145, Morven, NC 28119; or to The Stegall Scholarship c/o Wingate University, P.O. Box 159, Wingate, NC 28174.

The arrangements are in the care of Leavitt Funeral Home. Online condolences may be made at www.leavittfuneralhomewadesboro.com.