Twenty-five years
ago I was the new kid on the block.
Moving to Lexington from a smaller town, I wasn’t exactly sure how I
should go about becoming a part of the community. Every community has its own culture, its own
personality and I needed a mentor, an established citizen who would be a good
example to follow. That’s when I met Lee
Jessup.
I first met Lee
at the Kiwanis Club. I was already a
Kiwanis member, so I joined the Lexington Club and quickly discovered that Lee
personified the spirit of the club. He
was engaging and affirming, full of life and energy. It was evident that he was respected by the
entire club, young and old. The first
thing I admired about Lee was that he was his own person. We were both ministers, but Lee wasn’t your
stereotypical, stodgy, and secluded First church preacher. He didn’t follow the unwritten minister’s
manual like I often did, Lee was writing his own manual and I liked his a lot
better. He was authentic, he was real
and he was a vital force in our community.
Lee wrote a
weekly religion column for The Dispatch.
He was the spiritual voice of the community. Witty and entertaining, inspiring and
grace-filled, his columns were about real life.
I couldn’t wait for the Saturday paper to come to read what Lee had to
say.
I had only been
in Lexington a couple of years when I heard that Lee was leaving. My first thought was that Lexington would
never be the same. There would be a huge
gap that no one else could fill. Chad
Killebrew, at The Dispatch, spoke to me one Sunday about becoming a religion
writer for The Dispatch. I would be
joining three other writers to write a column once a month, rather than every
week. In my first column I paid a
tribute to Lee and told the readers that there was no way I could take his
place.
Then the big news
came in 2001 that Lee was moving back to Lexington to become the president of
the United Way. It was a brilliant move
by the United Way Directors. They could
not have selected a better person to inspire and motivate this community to
compassionate giving and service. Over
the past 14 years Lee has become a good friend.
We attend a men’s Bible Study every Thursday morning. We serve together in Kiwanis. We cross paths at many community events.
A few years ago,
Lee went with us to Belize as we were preparing for a medical mission
trip. He solicited hundreds of reading
glasses that we later distributed across the country. I had written the mayor of one Belizean city
to inquire about using the community center for our medical clinic. There is normally a rental fee that we were
prepared to pay. I mentioned in the
letter that I would be visiting his town in advance of the medical team and
that Dr. Jessup would be joining me. I
didn’t bother to explain what type of doctor he was.
When we arrived we
went to city hall to see the mayor. It
looked like we were getting the run around when I casually mentioned to the
receptionist that Dr. Jessup was waiting with us and had glasses with him. The next thing I knew people were rushing
around, doors were opened and we were treated like VIPs. The mayor, his brother, his wife, and all his
cousins soon had new glasses and the community center was being offered free of
charge. The great Dr. Jessup had come to
town and hearts were opened.
For the past 14
years the great Dr. Jessup has helped us to see our community through glasses
of compassion, kindness and hope. Davidson County has been blessed through his
inspiring leadership. The good news is
that Lee will not be leaving town. He
will continue to be a vital force for good in our community. And I know he will always be engaging and
affirming, full of life and energy.
Lexington is a
better city because of Lee’s presence and leadership. We owe him a tremendous debt of
gratitude. Thank you, Lee. I am grateful to call you my friend.
