Theodore (Ted) Bye McEachern passed away at age 92 on May 17, 2020. He was the son of Furman E. McEachern and Sarah Kirk Bye and was born in Great Falls, S.C. on April 25, 1928. He married Lucille Woodley Shingler on Nov. 19, 1954.
Ted was the youngest of six children and was given the honorific of ‘Buddy’ by his father and was known as such by all until he and the family relocated to Nashville, TN where he and his wife Woodley raised four children of their own. He spent his early years in Chester and Fairfield counties, S.C. before moving to Columbia in 1945 where he matriculated at the University of South Carolina supporting himself using his artistic flair as the Director of Display at the Davison Department store on Main St. His interest in philosophy, psychology and curiosity about theology eventually led him to earn a Master of Divinity degree at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Ted was a loving husband and a wise and temperate father managing with great empathy and skill the raising of a daughter and three sons. His deep empathy with and understanding of others was the essence of his service to his family and to the broader church community. His lifelong passions were the pursuit of social justice and civil rights.
Ted was ordained as a minister of the Methodist Church in 1954 and served as Associate Minister at Bethel United Methodist Church, Charleston, S.C. and then as Pastor of Edgewood United Methodist Church, Columbia, S.C. He was the Director of Youth Work, South Carolina Methodist Board of Education, Columbia, S.C. from 1954 to 1958. He developed the Asbury Hills Methodist Camp near Cleveland, S.C. In 1959 he moved to Nashville, TN where he was on the staff of General Board of Education of the Methodist Church until 1967. From 1968 to retirement in 1995 he was the Executive Director of The Association for Christian Training and Service (ACTS), a ministry supported by fourteen denominations assisting churches supporting personal and community needs within the ten southeastern states through consultation, training, planning, research and evaluation. He was a member of Edgehill UMC and has served with the congregation in many capacities over the last five decades. He regularly met with members of his community in support and bible study over the past fifty years that included many of his ‘preacher friends.’
During his career he acted in various other capacities: Chairmanship of the Commission on Ecumenical Voluntary Service; International Executive Committee of the International Christian Youth Exchange; Advisor to the World Council of Churches, Uppsala, Sweden; Executive officer of the Action Training Coalition in the U.S.; member of Kappa Sigma Honorary Service Fraternity and Phi Kappa Sigma Social Fraternity. He authored the book Being There for Others and numerous monographs.
Ted was an accomplished baritone singer, a self-taught carpenter and furniture maker, a photographer, and a close reader of southern literature with a particular fascination in William Faulkner’s work.
He was preceded in death by siblings Elizabeth Harkey, Emily Fincher, Furman E. McEachern, Mary McEachern, and Clarence L. McEachern. Survivors are his spouse of 65 years Woodley Shingler McEachern, and children Kathryn McEachern (Edward Demmond) of Ojai, CA; Edward McEachern (Harmony Schroeder) of Boise, ID; Kirk McEachern (Phyllis Hockett) of Fernandina Beach, FL; and Bruce McEachern (Laura) of Nashville, TN. His grandchildren are Carson Demmond, Connell Demmond, Bevan Schroeder, Jackson McEachern, William McEachern and Sophie McEachern. He also is survived by many nieces and nephews.
A recorded video memorial service will go live on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 21, 2020; please find the link to the video at the Edgehill United Methodist Church web site: www.edgehill.org. Ted will be inurned in a columbarium at Elmwood Cemetery in Columbia, S.C.
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