Obituaries

James L. Sullivan dies at 94 in Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–James Lenox Sullivan, Southern Baptist statesman and retired president of the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board (now LifeWay Christian Resources), died Dec. 27 at Alive Hospice in Nashville, Tenn., following a brief illness. He was 94.

Sullivan served as president of the Sunday School Board, the denomination's ministry enrichment, education and publication entity, from 1953 until his retirement in 1975. He was widely known as an authority on Southern Baptist polity and had been actively involved in denominational service since his first pastorate in 1932.

He served as pastor of churches in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas; as president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention; and as trustee of numerous Southern Baptist universities, seminaries and hospitals. He also served as vice president of the Baptist World Alliance.

Sullivan served one year as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, being elected in 1976.

Grady C. Cothen, who succeeded Sullivan as president of the Sunday School Board from 1975 to 1984, said Sullivan's death marks "the end of a long and significant era in Baptist life."

Following his retirement, Sullivan taught as a guest professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Boyce Bible School (now Boyce College) in Louisville, Ky., and at Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss. A football player and captain for Mississippi College from 1928-32, he was inducted into the institution's Sports Hall of Fame.

Bobby Welch, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, said Sullivan's impact was enormous.

"Dr. James L. Sullivan will go down in history as one of Southern Baptist's most profound leaders, intellects and visionaries," Welch said. "He was the ordinary man's statesman with all it took to be a leader among so many but he used the language that all persons loved and understood.

"He was the pioneer for Southern Baptist Convention organizations as he brought about modern business reorganization for the Baptist Sunday School Board that not only catapulted them into the future but led the entire Southern Baptist Convention in the same direction.

"His understanding of not only how the convention worked but how it should work and could work made him one of the few most influential leaders of our history."

A graduate of Tylertown (Miss.) High School, Sullivan's higher education included a bachelor of arts degree from Mississippi College in Clinton; a master of theology degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; and a doctor of divinity degrees from Mississippi College and Campbell College in Buies Creek, N.C.

Survivors include a daughter, Mary Beth Taylor of Nashville; a son, JamesDavid Sullivan of Columbus, Miss.; seven grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.

Roy Honeycutt dies at 78

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)-Roy Honeycutt, who served as president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1982-93, died Dec. 21 from head injuries sustained the previous day in an accident at his home in Louisville, Ky. He was 78. Honeycutt, Southern Seminary’s eighth president, guided the seminary through the initial years of the conservative resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention and gained recognition as a significant voice in denominational conflict.

Born Oct. 30, 1926, in Grenada, Miss., Honeycutt was a two-time graduate of Southern Seminary, receiving his master of divinity in 1952 and his Ph.D. in 1958. He served as academic dean at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1971-75 and chairman of Midwestern’s Old Testament department from 1963-75 prior to joining the Southern Seminary faculty as a professor of Old Testament. Honeycutt served as dean of the School of Theology at Southern from 1975-80 and provost at the Louisville, Ky., campus from 1976-82. After retiring as president, he was Southern’s chancellor from 1994-97.

Honeycutt published numerous books and articles, including a volume of the “Broadman Bible Commentary” in 1970.

In addition to his wife, Honeycutt is survived by two children, Roy Lee and Mary Anne.

Bettye Cothen, dies in Miami

MIAMI (BP)--Martha E. (Bettye) Cothen died of Parkinson's disease Jan. 10 at Vitas Hospice at the Miami Heart Institute. She was 83.

A native of Chattanooga, Tenn., she was the wife of Grady C. Cothen, former president of the Baptist Sunday School Board (now LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.) They were married 63 years. She was a former trustee at Golden Gate Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif.

In addition to her husband, Cothen is survived by two daughters, Carole Shields Westbrook of Miami and Mary Thompson of San Antonio, Texas; a son, Grady Jr. of Cheverly, Md; nine grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.