Presiding Elder Kenneth Mcmillian Obituary (2019)

A TRIBUTE FROM KENNETH DELOIS MCMILLIAN TO YOU IN MEMORY OF DELOIS AND BEATRICE MCMILLIAN (PARENTS) DORIS CORNELIUS MCMILLIAN MULLINS AND DORETHA MCMILLIAN POWELL (SISTERS) ROBERT MULLINS AND YZ POWELL (BROTHERS-IN-LAW) VIVIAN ELAINE MULLINS (NIECE) I know, you were expecting to read the traditional obituary about my birth, my life, my times, but who has ever known me to do it the "way we always do it." Lol (very loudly)!! It occurred to me that this space would be better served if I shared with you my thoughts and my gratitude-my tribute to each of you who made my life special, who made my life worth anything. First and foremost, I praise God for Who He is: God, all by Himself. He is worthy of all praise, glory, honor, majesty, and might. In fact, no words I could coin would be a pin's head in comparison to Who He really is. Second, I thank God for Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world. I would be in a mess today, if not for His shed blood on my behalf and on behalf of the whole world. I have lived a good life on this earth as a result of His grace. I deserved nothing--only death. I earned nothing. I am worthy of nothing, and yes, I use the present tense because I still live. I have only passed from your view, but because of the Way, the Truth, and the Life, I now live in another world (not the one on TV, but the one around the throne of God). Third, I am so thankful for each of you for letting me be a part of your life and having you as such a vital part of mine. My life was rich and full because you were a part of it. You gave so much, and I received so much and gave so little. I am thankful for my parents I understand that I was the son that my father desperately wanted, and even though he transitioned when I was only nine, I always felt he was with me-God's angel watching, guarding, guiding. My sisters were in college when I was born, so I was privileged to also be spoiled by them. Shortly, after mother transitioned, I found a letter from my sister, Doretha, that she wrote after she returned to school in Nashville in January 1956 following the Christmas holidays. In it, she said: "I enjoyed playing with the baby while home for Christmas, and I wish I could be there to watch him grow up." That baby was me, and that pretty much sums up the gift that my sisters were in my life. My sister, Doris, always called me her "big brother" even though she was 20 years older than me. My sisters gave me something else really special: my precious nieces and nephews: Demetris, Anthony Ira, Janet Vanessa, Steven Alonzo, Shelia Beatrice, Clifford Leon, Vivian Elaine, Stephanie Rena, Thomas, Jeffrey Lois, Marcus, Cornelius, and their sons and daughters. Most of them grew up as my younger sisters and brothers. We played, laughed, pretended to drive and ride Greyhound buses, and we fought, and in many ways, we grew apart for a time, but we came back together and learned to appreciate each other all over again. My father also gave me his niece, Alma and Osie Woodard who became my sister and brother. As you know, I was married to my mother who raised me as a single mother. She ironed clothes, picked up pecans, cleaned homes, and one McConnell's Department store to insure I always had. I say we were married because she expected me to come home every weekend after I went away to college and moved to Macon, Statesboro, and Waycross. Both my sisters and mother transitioned within 3 months of each other, but they were all good deaths, and true to form, they had insured that I was ready. The three of them were sick at the same time so my nieces and nephews had to care for their mothers while I cared for my mother. I am not sure mother thought I would know how to do that having assumed it would be my sisters who would care for her, but she was happy with the care God gave her through me. I overheard a conversation, the last conversations mother and Doretha would have. My sister asked her how I was treating her, and she responded several times: very sweet, very sweet, very sweet. I felt it was too little, but I did my best. I thank God for my family for I was also surrounded by aunts and uncles and cousins on my mother's side and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins on my father's side. You see, I was raised to be close to both paternal and maternal family, and they added so much to my life. Yes, spoiled again; when it seemed I was alone, I was not. I am running too long, but my life has been so rich with people. I have always had the best of people at every stage of my life. In childhood, college, adult life, etc., God always placed good people in my life. I was assigned to the shepherd the best of people at Brown's Chapel (Sylvester), Austin Chapel (Waycross), Hines Memorial (Albany), the Moultrie-McRae Brunswick District, the Albany-Thomasville-District, and the Macon-Barnesville District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church but the truth of the matter is that I was on the receiving end. Brown's Chapel raised me. Austin Chapel saw the best of me and the worst of me, and Hines Memorial and the districts discipled me more than I discipled them. Finally, this is a tribute to "my boys". By God's design, He ordered my steps so that I would serve as the Academic Enhancement Counselor for Athletics at Georgia Southern University, but He had more in mind. I would become Mr. Mac and Big Daddy to a large number of those football players. They often speak of how I took care of them, how I was the father some of them never had, I taught them so much, but again, they are wrong. They gave me more than I gave them. They added so much to my life and remain a vital part of my life today. Those of you who know me closest know that if anyone of them called, I was gone. On the first day that I was introduced to each incoming class (92, 93, 94, 95), I promised you that I would always be there for you, and I have lived to ensure that was a promise kept. Some of you I talked with weekly, some monthly, and some not so often, but when we talked it was as though we had been together every day. I have prayed to insure they would join me in heaven when their transition time comes. My boys, remember the things we discussed, remember to be gentle and honorable, remember the many lessons we both learned, and yes, take that hat off your head in the building (lol) and stand up when you shake a person's hand. If you do not, you will remember: 'put your head over here, boy," and you will get that gentle slap on the head as you did in the days when we were at Georgia Southern. Remember that Big Daddy loves you! Go Eagles!!!! I cannot close without thanking those of you who made sacrifices in those latter days (my best friend and his family, my high school friend and her husband, my childhood friends, my adopted families, and my friends God gave me along the way. Each of you have given me so much, so this is my tribute to you--an inadequate method to say I thank you, and I love you. You gave so much, and now as I go to see my Lord as I have never seen Him before. Please rest assured that I am still praying for you. I now have the privilege of talking to Him about you face to face, so I close with those two phrases that you have heard often from me: thanks for all you do, and may the peace of the Lord be with you!!!