Rev. Ted Alvin Mears

          Ted Alvin Mears was born into an Atlanta railroad family on November 30, 1932 and died on October 5, 2024 in Florence, SC. An only child and, by all accounts, a good son, he was reared along the Seaboard Coastline trails between Alabama and South Carolina. He was graduated as salutatorian from Clinton High School and retains friends from his class even today.

          Ted and the love of his life, Betty Lee Turner, met in Baptist Student Union circles in their university years, she at Winthrop College and he at the University of South Carolina. Legend has it that their first date was to the 1954 Carolina-Clemson game, (on October 21; it appears that Carolina won the game 13-8 and Ted won the day altogether.) He was graduated from Carolina with a degree in the Classics, heavy on Greek and Latin, and after a single conversation with 92-year-old Ted, one could experience the effects of that education in his sentence structure and vocabulary. They were married in August of 1955.

          They moved to Louisville, Kentucky where he completed the Master of Divinity degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. During his seminary student days, he was pastor of the Brush Grove Baptist Church in Kentucky’s rural reaches. Son David Carey Mears was born in April of 1958, just before Ted’s final exams, and they moved that summer to accept the pastorate of the Double Pond Baptist Church in Blackville, SC. They there began a ministry partnership at which they excelled individually and as a couple during their 67 married years together. Joel Harris Mears was born in 1960 and Amy Lee Mears was born in 1962 during their tenure at Double Pond.

          They went on to serve churches in Lugoff, Great Falls, Florence, Kingstree, Hartsville, and moved back to Florence to retire. After a brief sojourn in Augusta and Nashville with Amy’s family, they returned to Florence where Ted pastored the Florence Baptist Fellowship for several years and served as interim pastor for a number of churches who were grateful for his wisdom, sound preaching, and pastoral care.

          Ted was a faithful, dutiful, joyful servant in dozens of Baptist and civic roles. He participated on the boards of directors of the South Carolina Ministries to the Aging, the Baptist Courier, Broadman Press (now Lifeway Christian Resources), and Furman University. He was a mentor, a leader, a voice of wisdom and challenge, a peacemaker, a relentless proclaimer of Good News, and a model of a life lived following Jesus on the Way of Love.

          He loved travel, weird food (he and Betty did not see eye-to-eye on this), the beach and the mountains, fishing, storytelling, all sorts of music but especially classical and bluegrass, and reading. In his late 70’s, he was caught with a doorstop of a copy of War and Peace. When questioned, he said, “Everybody is supposed to read it before they die and I thought I’d better get started.” He was a stalwart camper and especially enjoyed weeks in a tent in Cades Cove Campground with Jack and Karen Ray and their family. Jack is the brother that Ted never had.

          Ted and Betty made deep, lifelong friendships among the saints and those friends were always a vital part of their shared life. Their love of family gatherings, pound cakes, and vacations: extensive late-night games of Shanghai (she would cheat but he didn’t, usually) ran deep. They were proud of their children, adored their grandchildren, and their great-grands were the apples of their eyes. We all are smarter, kinder, better people because he shared his life with all of us without stinting, ever.

          He was predeceased by his parents, Julia Lucile Turner Mears and Briscoe Thomas Mears and his youngest grandchild, Emmie Mears Webb. Survivors include sons David C. Mears of Nashville, TN and Joel H. and Beth L. Mears of Fair Play, SC; and daughter Amy Lee Mears of Nashville, TN. Grandchildren are Carey E. Mears of Seattle, WA; Delia A. Mears of Columbia, SC; Justin T. and Candice Luby Mears of Lacey, WA, and their son, Jackson; Jacob L. and Kaity Papadopoulos Mears of Georgetown, SC, and their children Hampton, Ana Jane, and Jude; Jessica M. and Brandon McGlohon of Greenville, SC, and their daughter Libby; Lara Valentino and husband Bryan of Gaffney SC; Danny Mears Webb of Fort Collins, CO; and Mia Mears Webb of Los Angeles, CA; 3 nephews: Ed Turner, James Timothy Turner, and Wallace Turner; a niece, Susan Turner Lowe; three grand-nephews and two grand-nieces.

          Funeral services will be 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, October 8, 2024, in the chapel at Ebenezer Baptist Church with burial following in the church cemetery.  The family will receive friends at the church one hour prior to the funeral service. 

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