Obituary for Rev. Posey Belcher, Jr.
Rev. Posey Belcher, Jr., of Rock Hill, SC, died on Friday, January 22, 2016, at the age of 83 after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease. A native of Inman, SC, Rev. Belcher was predeceased by his parents, Eleanor Brown Belcher and Posey Belcher, Sr., sister Shirley Poteat, and brothers Allen and Donald Belcher. Reared on a peach farm, Posey was a 1950 graduate of Inman High School. He entered the institution then known as North Greenville Junior College, graduating in 1952, after which he entered Furman University, from which he graduated in 1954 with a degree in history. On June 18, 1954, Posey married the former Jean Orr of Inman, and that fall entered Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC, where he earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1957. Furman University honored him with an Honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in 1982. During Posey's seminary years, the couple lived a few miles away in Durham where Jean taught school. During his last two years in seminary, Posey was pastor of Riverview Baptist Church in Washington, NC. He and Jean drove to Washington every other weekend and became lifelong friends with the people there. Following seminary, the Belchers moved to Mobile, AL, where Posey spent two years as an intern at Dauphin Way Baptist Church, then under the leadership of Dr. Harold Seever. After Posey's time in Mobile, the Belchers moved to Barnwell, SC, where Posey was pastor of Barnwell's First Baptist Church for nineteen years. Among his many accomplishments while in Barnwell was leading the congregation in the construction of a new church which was dedicated in 1962. He and his family moved in 1978 to Walterboro, SC, where Posey was pastor of Walterboro First Baptist Church for sixteen years. Throughout Posey's ministry, there was mutual love and respect between his congregations and him. He was known in his church communities especially for his pastoral care for his people. A lifelong Baptist, Posey held leadership positions in the South Carolina Baptist Convention, the Southern Baptist Convention, and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. At Posey's retirement dinner, he was presented with the Order of the Palmetto, South Carolina's highest civilian honor. The Belchers retired to Barnwell in 1994 where they restored an old Barnwell home and furnished it with the antiques they had collected through the years, and where Posey created yet another of his signature landscaped garden settings for which he was well-known. After Posey developed Parkinson's Disease, Posey and Jean moved in 2006 to Rock Hill, SC, where their daughter Elizabeth and her family live. After several years, Posey's disease progressed to the point that he and Jean decided to move to Westminster Towers, a nearby continuing care retirement community with rehabilitation and health facilities which could provide appropriate care. Beginning early in 2015, Posey was also under the care of Hospice and Community Care of Rock Hill. The family is grateful to the staff and community of Westminster Towers and Hospice and Community Care for becoming Posey's good friends and giving him the care he needed. They are also thankful for the Oakland Baptist Church family and for their support and care during Posey's lengthy illness, as well as for their many friends who have stayed in touch, many of these from their former churches. Surviving Posey are Jean, his wife of 61 years, of Rock Hill, his son David Orr Belcher and wife Susan of Cullowhee, NC, his son Philip Burgess Belcher and wife Kelly of Asheville, NC, his daughter Elizabeth Belcher Mixon and husband Ben of Rock Hill, SC, and his daughter Miriam Belcher Ponder and husband Dean of Huntersville, NC. Their grandchildren are Owen Belcher of Rochester, NY, Kera Belcher of Raleigh, NC, Sarah Mixon and Eleanor Mixon of Rock Hill, SC, and Noah Ponder, of Huntersville, NC. Since their move to Rock Hill in 2006, Posey and Jean have been members of Oakland Baptist Church, where Posey's memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 30, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. The service will be conducted by Dr. Fred Andrea, pastor of First Baptist Church of Aiken, SC, and Dr. Robert Shrum, recently retired pastor of Oakland. Posey and Jean's Sunday school class, which is taught by Mr. Mack Jones, a deacon at Walterboro First Baptist during Posey's tenure there, is asked to sit immediately behind the family. They have loved and supported Jean and Posey since they joined Oakland Baptist. The family will receive friends in the Oakland vestibule immediately following the service. The burial, to be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 31, 2016, will be held in the Old Baptist Cemetery in Barnwell, SC, and will be conducted by Rev. David Turner, Posey's long-time friend, recently retired after a long tenure at Barnwell Presbyterian Church. The family will receive friends in the Barnwell First Baptist Church fellowship hall immediately following the burial. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be directed to the Posey and Jean O. Belcher Organ Fund at Furman University, an endowment created by Rev. and Mrs. Belcher's children in honor of Posey and Jean's 50th wedding anniversary; The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship; or Hospice and Community Care of Rock Hill.
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