Rev. Delmus R. Anthony, 85, of Jasper, passed peacefully into the presence of God on February 22, 2021 at Ridgeview Nursing Facility.
Funeral services for Bro. Anthony will be held at Glory Fellowship Baptist Church on Saturday, February 27, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. with visitation from 10:00-11:00 a.m. Burial will be at Walker Memory Gardens. Masks are required for those who attend the service and please practice social distancing. The funeral service will also be livestreamed for those unable to attend on Kilgore-Green Funeral Home’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/KilgoreGreenJasperAL/) and also Glory Fellowship Baptist Church. Dr. Adam Brewer will officiate.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 61 years, Tommie Lambrecht Anthony; his parents, Moman Leroy Anthony and Myrtle Russell Anthony; his brother, Moman Leroy Anthony, Jr.; his sister, June Anthony Hadaway and his brother, Russell Long Anthony.
He is survived by his son, Philip D. Anthony (Jeri) and daughter, Susan E. King (Tim); grandchildren, Kayla Gail Anthony (Justin) and David Blake Anthony (Bethany); great-grandsons, Kylan Gray Anthony and Luka Blaine Anthony; and three sisters, Frances Elizabeth Anthony, Geraldine Anthony Hicks and Charlotte Anthony Patrick.
Delmus was born in Marvel, Alabama on March 15, 1935 and graduated from Montevallo High School in 1953. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Howard College (now Samford University) in 1958 and his Bachelor of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 1961. He received an additional certification in pastoral care from Birmingham Baptist Hospitals in 1969 and also taught classes for the Howard Extension Program of Samford University while pastoring.
He was deeply devoted to his ministry and the churches & people he served. He was ordained in 1954. His first pastorate was at Aldrich Baptist Church from 1955-1958. In 1961, he was called to New Prospect Baptist Church in Jasper, Alabama, where he would serve for a total of 31 years (1961-1970 & 1975-1997). He also served at Broadmoore Baptist Church and ALCAP in Birmingham from 1970-1975, before being called back home to New Prospect. After retiring in 1997 from full-time preaching, he continued to serve the community as an assistant pastor at Farmstead Baptist and also would help foster the group that “met at the barn,” which would later evolve into Glory Fellowship Baptist Church. Ever the faithful servant, even as his health was failing, he was still buying and passing out bibles and sharing God’s word to people around the community who would lend him an ear.
His moral and spiritual impact has been felt deeply throughout the area. Besides baptizing a host of new believers, performing hundreds of marriages and funerals, making countless visitations, attending more 5:00 a.m. surgeries than most medical doctors, and preaching thousands of sermons from the pulpit, neighboring churches and radio…he led Walker County in race relations, created an AIDS support team, has been a mentor and counselor to countless others and promoted successfully an interdenominational and multiethnic breakfast prayer group that was active for more than twenty years.
The family would like to give heartfelt appreciation to the staff at Ridgeview Healthcare, Southeast Hospice, Harbor Chase Assisted Living, Walker Baptist Medical Center, Dr. Emily Williams, Glory Fellowship Baptist Church and New Prospect Baptist Church.
You may honor his memory by donating to the church or charity of your choice. “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things.”
Honorary Pallbearers: Jim Cunningham, Jeff Donaldson, Don Graham, Billy Ray Hudson, Julius Lightsey, Pat Morrison and Howard Thompson.
Pallbearers: Blake Anthony, Philip Anthony, Scott Anthony, Larry Hicks, Tim King and Justin Kurtz.
