A Service of the Life and Legacy of
1929-2016
Saturday, October 8, 2016 - 11:00 A.ML Gilbert Lambuth Memorial Chapel Paine College Augusta, Georgia
Reverend Dr. Benjamin D. Snoddy, Officiating

Reverend Dr. 9{atfianie( Irvin, Sr.
Life CareerSicftievements: M a (jCance
March 20, 1929 the life of Nathaniel Irvin began in North A ugusta, S C
September 12, 1943: Baptized at the Old Storm Branch Baptist Church 1949: Graduated from Haines Institute in Augusta, Georgia 1949'1950: Attended South Carolina State College 1950-1952: Served in the U.S. Army
1955: BA in Social Studies from South Carolina State College 1956: MS in Education from South Carolina State College February 12, 1956: Licensed to Preach January 1959: Ordained to the Ministry
1959-1980: Pastor of the Greater Mt. Canaan Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia 1999: Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Morris College
September 7, 1980-March 31, 2013: Pastor of the Old Storm Branch Baptist Church
Community Achievements and Positions Held Assistant to Dean of Men, S.C. State College Aiken County School System: 1956-1979
Chairman of Social Studies Department and Teacher Counselor, Assistant High School Principal (Jefferson High School)
Elementary School Principal (Jefferson) Student Council Advisor - Jefferson & Langley-Bath-Clearwater High Schools
Director of Adult Education, Aiken County Area #3 Past Moderator Mt. Calvary Union
Past Moderator 1st Shiloh Missionary Baptist Association Past Moderator Storm Branch Missionary Baptist Association
Past President Augusta Baptist Ministers' Conference Sunday School Teacher - Augusta Baptist Ministers' Conference
Past Vice President- "We want our Share" Radio Talk Show Host: "Voices of Reason - Voices of Hope" and "Voices of the 21st Century"
Past Vice President - Martin Luther King Survival Coalition Past Vice President of Clergy Staff at University Hospital
Past Executive Board Chairman - Storm Branch Baptist Missionary Association Past Chairman of Board - S.C. Baptist Congress of Christian Education Past Member - Aiken Technical College Diversity Board Past Member - North Augusta Medical Board Past Board Member - Crime Prevention in North Augusta, SC Past Board Member - Department of Social Services for Aiken County Past Member of Board of Trustees - Morris College Past Member of School and Community Board Present - Midland Valley Advisory Board- Security Federal Bank

Order o fService

Processional

"War March of the Priests" (F. Mendelssohn)

Mr. Alvin Blount, Organist

Presiding

Reverend Dr. Albert James, Pastor Second Providence Baptist Church

Hymn

`Blessed Assurance" (F. Crosby)

Congregation

Scriptures: Old Testament

Rev. A. W. Goforth, 111, Pastor Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Bowman, S.C.

New Testament

Rev. Martris Mims, Pastor Old Storm Branch Baptist Church

Congregational Prayer (Prayed responsively)

Rev. A. Elaine Pate, Leader Hunter's Chapel AME

LEADER: Almighty God, Our Father, we lift our hearts to you in gratitude for this day and for all the days of our lives. PEOPLE: Lord, we lift our hearts to you in thanksgiving. LEADER: We give you thanks and praise your name for the life of your servant, the Reverend Dr. Nathaniel Irvin. PEOPLE: Lord, we give you thanks and praise your Holy Name. LEADER: We thank you for the unselfish life he gave to the world as a minister of the gospel, an educator, a counselor, and as a servant to anyone in need. PEOPLE: Lord, we thank you for his life. LEADER: Gracious God, we ask your blessings upon his family, his friends, and upon all who grieve the loss of your servant. Comfort us, Lord, with the presence of the Holy Spirit. PEOPLE: Merciful Father, look upon us in our sorrow and abide with us in our loneliness. Grant us comfort and strength. LEADER: Bless now this service O Lord as we call to remembrance the life of your servant, Reverend Nathaniel Irvin. Lighten our burdens and inspire our hearts that as we depart from this place, we depart with a determination to emulate a life well lived. PEOPLE: Bless us, Almighty God. LEADER: We ask these blessings in the Name of Our Savior, Jesus Christ. PEOPLE: In Jesus'name we pray. Amen.

Solo

"Step By Step"

Minister Deloris Key

Accompanied by Dr. Thomas L. Irvin, Col-Retired

Tributes:

Deacon Wesley Hightower, Deacons Ministry Chairman Old Storm Branch Baptist Church

Dr. Mac A. Bowman, Cardiologist University Hospital

Mrs. Rubena Kemp, Retired Educator

Acknowledgements

Mrs. Patricia Abney McDaniel

Family Moment Dr. Nathaniel Irvin II, son, Nathaniel Irvin III, Jovian Zayne Irvin, Roman GianArthur Irvin, grandchildren

Music Selection

Nathaniel Irvin, III Roman GianArthur Irvin

The Eulogy

Rev. Dr. Benjamin D. Snoddy, Senior Pastor Mount Moriah Baptist Church, Spartanburg, S.C.

Processional

`Pomp & Circumstances" (E. Elgar)

Organist

Interment

Old Storm Branch Baptist Church Cemetery 163 Storm Branch Rd., Beech Island, S.C.

Repast

Rev. Nathaniel Irvin Family Life Center Old Storm Branch Baptist Church

Obituary
Reverend Irvin is survived by his wife Eugenia (jean) Johnson Irvin, daughter, Cheryl Elizabeth Irvin, Esq, Houston, TX, two sons, Dr. Thomas L. Irvin, Col-Retired, USA Army, North Augusta, S.C., and Dr. Nathaniel (Chandra Goforth) Irvin II, Louisville, KY, sister Marie L. Key, N, Augusta, S.C., three grandchildren, Nathaniel Irvin III, Atlanta, Jovian Zayne Irvin, New York, and Roman GianArthur Irvin, Atlanta, GA, brothers and sistersin-law, Julia Irvin (NJ), Floyd Johnson, N. Augusta, Annie Ruth Latson, Augusta, Luther and Eleanor Johnson, N. Augusta, Robert and Elizabeth Hand, N. Augusta, many nieces, nephews, godchildren, a devoted goddaughter Janette Simmons, cousins, friends, and be loved friends, Theresa and Roosevelt Mealing, and Rev. Jacob Trowell.
Memorial contributions may be made to Paine College, Office of the President, 1235 Fifteenth St., Augusta, GA 30901.
(jod dlas Spoken; So L et the Church Say, "Sbnen!"

E scape from Boggy Branch
T he true S tory of H ow R everend N athaniel Irvin, S r . found
his way to H eaven
1929-2016
When asked if a republican can go to heaven, he said "Yes, but they can 't go in ."
- Rev. Nathaniel Irvin, Sr.
He could not have picked a worse time to be bom. It was March 20, 1929, during the hard times that within months would plummet into the Great Depression. He was born to a single mother, Bertha, an orphan who had to learn how to fend for herself. She had no people - no sisters. No brothers. No cousins. No aunts. No uncles. Nobody but herself. And she could not spell b- r- e- a - d. Every time Bertha gave birth, folks in the Summerhill neighborhood in North Augusta, South Carolina, were heard to murmur: "Here comes another one.. .or as dad would say.. .a nudden one."
There were Brasella, Leroy, Nathaniel, Marie, Thelma, Tom and two older sisters whom he barely knew. In those rough times, one more child meant one more mouth to feed. How was this family going to make it? But Bertha had a philosophy: "Root Hog or Die." Ev erybody worked, everybody went to school, and everybody went to church at the Old Storm Branch Baptist. From that small womb emerged a miracle: Bertha's offspring would create a generational legacy of college graduates.
"It was God who did it. It was God that covered us. To God be the Glory," Nathaniel declared years later. Nathaniel would go on to live a glorious life that would find him as a devoted husband ( Eugenia (Jean) Johnson), parent ( Nathaniel II, Thomas Lee, Cheryl Elizabeth), grandparent ( Nathaniel III, Jovian Zayne, Roman Gian Arthur) uncle to several nieces and nephews, and cousins. He became the pastor of Greater Mt. Canaan Baptist Church and The Old Storm Branch Baptist Church, a teacher and principal at Jefferson Elementary and High School and Langley-Bath-Clearwater High School), a civil rights leader, a denominational Moderator, a defense attorney (without a law degree), a people's community loan officer, (without a license) and finally, a friend and counselor to every stranger on God's earth. He loved everyone.
A Place Called Boggy Branch
His family lived in Summerhill, an area of town folks called "Boggy Branch." It was the end of the road. When cars found them selves down in Boggy Branch, they were bound to be stuck in the mud, which meant that he and his older brother Leroy would have a chance to make a little money helping to push some poor stranger out of the mud.
Bertha named him Nathaniel Isaiah, but when the boy later discovered that Isaiah was the name of an old Testament prophet, he took matters into his own hands and renamed himself. He wanted nothing to do with being a preacher. As far as he was concerned, he didn't need no middle name. He was determined early on, to live his own life. He would decide what words he would say, where he would be seen, what he would put into his own body, and what he would do and not do on Sunday. He had Bertha's determination.
But he almost didn't make it. When he was still a very young child, he was badly burned after somehow he rolled over into the hot coals of the fireplace in their raggedy old shotgun house. The injury left him with a huge, permanent, visible scar on the back of his head. And then there was an early bout with rheumatic fever that left him temporarily unable to walk, forcing him to spends months alone at home, missing school. The fever also permanently damaged his heart. Those times alone were the first times in his life when he began to feel the presence of God.
From Central School To Central Prison
All the black children in Summerhill attended Central Elementary School. But he didn't like the place. He and his siblings were labeled as the "keepback kids," each just another one of "them poor children from Bertha Irvin." They were never pro moted - no matter what they did. He called it "Central Prison" because one of his teachers refused to promote him - even after he had been in the same grade for three years. He finally promoted himself.
The good thing about going to school was that he was away from the freezing cold at home, and maybe there was a meal. But because they were the poorest of the poor, it was also a time to be reminded by those who were better off that the Irvins didn't have anything.
One day, his teacher, Ms. Lilly, asked all the children what they had for breakfast, to which one of the boys proudly respond ed "bread and grease," rubbing his tummy. Sensing that that was not enough, the boy's brother chimed in, "No, brother it was brown bread and grease."
Not to be outdone, Leroy, the leader of Bertha's clan, began describing the breakfast Bertha's clan had that morning, which

included, he claimed, "fried chicken, biscuits, sop and scrambled eggs." Nathaniel and his sisters listened in amazement, know ing all too well they had had no such breakfast, as evidenced by the fact that their brother Leroy's stomach promptly growled loud enough for the whole class to hear.
But never mind the food fantasy; Leroy had saved Bertha's clan from shame. Leroy was their hero. He was the older brother who dared to do everything. He was the one who had muscles, who could fight two guys at once. He was the one who could talk to the girls and make them believe that his family had money, fortune and fame, when in fact, they had nothing. Leroy would he the first to go to college, and he would become a major in the United States Army. He was the one whose derring-do atti tude provided a tiny crack, a lens - a peephole through which his younger brother Nathaniel could imagine, indeed see a world beyond that of Boggy Branch.
A Path Emerges - Leroy Breaks Out!
It was Nathaniel's brother Leroy who first figured out the escape path from Boggy Branch...he was the one who discovered that there was a world far beyond the one they were living in. There was a world where people had lights in the house. Indoor plumb ing. Where people were going to school and getting a hot meal. Leroy left Boggy Branch and became a live-in house worker for a family that lived in Augusta, Georgia, which meant that he now was going to school on the Hill where the more established "aristocracy" lived, His classmates elected him as class president. The secret, Leroy told his younger siblings, was to get away from Boggy Branch to a place where nobody knew who you were.
Leroy's success offered Nathaniel a visible sign of hope that he would one day leave Boggy Branch. But it was the visit to their school by a white man - Paul Knox - that that made him determined to escape. Knox was an area school official who would walk into the school unannounced and call his teacher not by her title- whether it was Vis. or Mrs. - but referred to her by her first name only. Knox was a mean man who tried to strike fear not only in the minds of the staff and the boy's teacher, but also particularly in the children. But for Nathaniel, his visits had the opposite effect. Instead of being afraid of the white man wearing the heavy coat, the man who seemed all too powerful, Nathaniel vowed that one day he would get even with that man that he, Nathaniel would be just as qualified as the man Paul Knox appeared to be.
And sure enough, the two would meet again on a spring afternoon in April 1965, when Nathaniel's 13-year-old son, Na thaniel Irvin Jr., heeded the call from Martin Luther King, Jr., that it was time to begin the process of integrating the schools throughout the South - a region of the country that had chosen to ignore the LLS. Supreme Court's 1954 ruling in the case of Brown Vs. Board of Education of Topeka. They were there to file the papers indicating his son's desire to attend Paul Knox Jr. High School. This rime, however, things were different. The man who sat on the other side of the desk was graying, and he had trouble trying to keep his conversation focused. "Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Knox. The boy from Boggy Branch, Nathaniel Irvin Sr., was in charge: "My son has made his decision, and I support him 100 percent."
What's In A Name?
The boy from Boggy Branch didn't actually learn to love his name Nathaniel until he was age 14, when for the first time in his life he heard something he had never really heard before: It was his own name. He had heard it many rimes before, but people had always pronounced his name with a certain tone of derision and dismissiveness. Now Central School welcomed a teacher whose name was Mrs. Alexine Franks, from Augusta, Georgia. She didn't know the boy was from Boggy Branch or anything about him. When he told her that his name was NATHANIEL, she pronounced it with such dignity and clarity that he suddenly felt good about his name and himself. Suddenly the boy who had been nothing was somebody, because he had a name that was respected by his teacher. Now he had a name that he loved.
And thus would begin his journey from Boggy Branch to Haines Institute, in Augusta, Georgia, and then to South Caro lina State College, where he earned a Masters Degree. This was a journey that would one day lead him all the way to the White House, where he would shake the hand of the first black president of the United States - an opportunity made possible by his grandson, whose name was also NATHANIEL.
No Heart for the Future?
It was no easy path out of Boggy Branch. He was 17 when it occurred to him that he needed to buy life insurance. It was not the kind of thing a teenager would normally do - think about death and burial and expenses. That was something adults did, but Nathaniel felt that he should be responsible for himself. There was, however, a problem. Everyone in the small town knew that he had contracted rheumatic fever as a small child. So when the boy approached an agent representing the North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company, the agent told the boy that he would have to get a doctor's examination. The agent, knowing the impact rheumatic fever can have on a heart, sent the boy to a Dr. White, who concluded that he was a bad risk. A few years later as a freshman at South Carolina State College in Orangeburg, he signed up for ROTC. But again the doctors found the heart murmur, and he had to give up his uniform.
He had hoped that the Army would be his way out - his way to pay for future college. The doctors suggested that he might live to age 27. He was drafted in 1950 just in time for the Korean War, but there would be the problem, of the physical. Surely his heart would give him away. It did. They gave him another chance, and the night before the second physical he prayed and prayed. This time, he passed the physical, and for some strange reason, once the young man got off the bus to report for basic training, somebody had noticed that he had a background in cooking, so he was sent to cooking school. He never EVER com pleted basic training. He served two years and was honorably discharged, and because of this experience he received the benefit of the GI bill. Nor only did he outlive the insurance agent and the doctors, but he also outlived the insurance company itself.

A Path To Heaven - The Power of Love and Forgiveness
The Old Man was 85 when, one afternoon, he found himself looking at his garden full of tomato plants and some okra, just enjoying the hot summer sun of the South. Next to his garden were his peach trees, which continued to bring joy to his heart. They were the Georgia Bells that had escaped the ice storm that earlier that year had hit the small town of North Augusta, S.C., crashing trees all around the home where he and his wife had lived since 1960. He was marveling that somehow the storm had spared his beloved trees, a miracle that he could explain only as God watching over them.
In the spring of 1961, not long after he and his family had moved into their home on Aiken Avenue, somebody threw bricks, smashing the front windows out. The family had just returned from a basketball game at Jefferson High School and apparently pulled up just as the perpetrators were pulling away. He recognized the car and called the police. While the policeman was investigating the scene, the perpetrators rode by again, and this time he shouted to the police: "There they are." The cop jumped into his car, and the chase was on. But it ended rather abruptly, with the policeman explaining that his car had. stalled on Highway 25, and that he just couldn't catch the little Volkswagen as it sped away.
After the report was filed, the men were quickly rounded up by a member of the FBI, who dragged the men before the judge - young white ruffians who could now face federal charges. The agent wanted Nathaniel to prosecute the men to the fullest extent of the law, but instead he was willing to forgive them. When asked how he could forgive someone who had done something so hateful to him and his family, Nathaniel's answer was always the same: We are called to love one another and to forgive one another.
Teaching, Preaching and Living the Gospel: We are the Church!
As a pastor for some 54 years, Nathaniel w'as beloved. He baptized too many people to count. He knew them all by name, fie buried so many as to not be able to count. One of his most treasured moments was when a man named "Mr. Poppa," a noted beg gar and homeless man, had died. He offered to do the funeral at no cost to the man's nonexistent family.
When 1 asked why that meant so much to him, he teared up, recalling the experience with his own mother, Bertha, who, when she died at Christmas in 1947, suffered the indignity of the hearse refusing to drive into Boggy Branch to get her body. To add insult to injury, the preacher never even showed up to preach her funeral. Bertha would not be properly funeralized until 2012, when his daughter-in-law, Chandra Goforth Irvin (now of Louisville), prepared, conducted and preached her final service at the same Old Storm Branch where he had been pastor for some 30 years. He then vowed that if ever he were asked to preach anyone's funeral, he would; for in 1955, not many years after his mother died, the boy who had shunned the name of Isaiah for fear of being a preacher had indeed been called to preach the Gospel.
Early on in his ministry, he preached sermons with the fire and determination of a young pastor, convinced of his views but always with a heart for service. Over his 54 years of pastoring, he would come to see the life of Christ not as one of convicting others for their shortcomings; instead, he preached about the grace of Christ and the importance of serving others.
Although he would lead the remodeling and expansion of Greater Mt. Canaan Baptist, in Augusta, Ga., a project that involved a complete remake of its sanctuary and the additon of an educational building, not tea mention the construction of a full-fledged campus at one of our nation's oldest and most historic churches -- The Old Storm Branch Baptist Church (Cleawater) - Nathaniel would spend more of his time talking about the church not being a building, but about how it is we ourselves who are the church.
What had we done for the least of our fellow man? He loved worship and spent a great deal of his life inside church build ings, but it was the worship outside of the church walls that he was most concerned about. He wanted to know if the sick were being cared for. Who was feeding and clothing the homeless?
He loved to tell stories about how much joy he received from just buying groceries for pure strangers or giving money away to children who looked like they needed a hand. He didn't care if the people were black or white.
As a teacher, he will be remembered as being tough but thoroughly engaging. His students at Jefferson High School num bered in the hundreds and he knew them by name even years and years later. He never forgot them. And they never forgot him. He had an amazing knack for spotting talent and ability, and he was always quick to encourage.
The best decision he ever made was the one he made when he found his life mate, Eugenia (Jean) Johnson, and the two of them determined that they would make a life together. Out of their union would come three children, but more than that would be a lifetime of service to a community that loved and embraced them. His mother, Bertha, was the single biggest influence on his life. He admired her for her ability to be tough when everything was against her. She was a fighter, a proud woman who, despite her life's circumstances, never flinched. She was the one who took him to the Old Storm Branch Baptist church were he w'as baptized.
And, no doubt, she was smiling this past Saturday at about 2:30 when, just as the Old Storm Branch Baptist Church un veiled a banner revealing the naming of the family life center in his honor, he took flight to continue his life of service, this time on the other side of time. And, in time, we too shall see him again... no doubt with wit, wisdom, a beautiful smile, the warmest heart and a fierce determination to do what is right in the sight of God.
- N at Irvin II

Let me live in my house by the side of the road Where the race of men go byThey are good, they are had, they are weak, they are strong,
Wise, foolish' so am I. Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat
Or hurl the cynic's ban?' Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And he a friend to man. by Sam Walter Foss (1858'1911)
Trustees of Old Storm Branch Baptist Church
Deacons of Old Storm Branch Baptist Church Sons of the House
Deaconess of Old Storm Branch Baptist Church Daughters of the House
The family of Reverend Irvin wishes to thank each of you for your sincere love, devotion, fervent prayers, and unfailing compassion during our time of transition. A special thank you to his amazing
caregivers. As Daddy always said of any blessing, "We don't take it lightly!" Your presence, and many stories of Dad's profound impact will continue to fan our flame of love and gratitude for his extraordinary life of service. May God bless and keep you for your thoughtfulness and ongoing support. God has spoken, let the church, say Amen! It is the desire of the family that memorial contributions
be made to Paine College, Office of the President 1235 Fifteenth St., Augusta, GA 30901.
G L Brighthairp & Sons Mortuary 614 West Avenue, North Augusta, SC 29841
803-279-0026