Bobby L Haley

Rev. Bobby Haley passed away peacefully on March 20, 2017 at his home in Irmo, SC from complications from Alzheimer’s. Bobby, son of the late Melvin Haley and the late Neva Travis McElhinney, was born on August 24, 1938 in Wesson, Mississippi.

Bobby was a graduate of Mississippi College and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Upon graduating from Southwestern in 1966, he was called by First Baptist Spartanburg as Youth Minister where he served until 1977. Bobby was Minister of Youth and Education at First Baptist Rock Hill from 1977 until 1980 and Minister of Education and Outreach at First Baptist Church, Pickens, from 1980 until his retirement in 2000.

During his ministry, Bobby impacted many lives. Through numerous missions efforts, including Kentucky Missions, choir tours, outreach efforts in the local area and other endeavors, Bobby passed on his love of missions and Christian service to countless others. He led over 40 mission trips to lead Bible Schools in the hills of Bell County, KY and also participated in mission trips to Jamaica, Brazil and the lower part of SC. He was involved in denominational work and led many VBS and Sunday School conferences throughout SC. Bobby mentored and encouraged people of all ages, and many of the students in his ministry went into full time Christian vocations.

Bobby was an encourager and friend to all, never met a stranger and loved to make others laugh. An avid sports fan, his day wasn’t complete until he read the sports section of the newspaper. He especially loved cheering for the St. Louis Cardinals, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Carolina Gamecocks. He met his wife, Sylvia, while at seminary and the two celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in July 2016. Following his retirement, Bobby was an active member of both Berea First Baptist and Easley First Baptist and sang in the choir, served as deacon, Sunday School teacher and VBS teacher.

He was a proud, loving and selfless father to his three children. He helped raise and mentor a young man, Travis Lollis, whom he loved and treated as a son. He adored and doted on his six grandchildren and they lovingly referred to him by his first name. Bobby cherished his son in law and daughter in law and shared a close relationship with both.

Throughout Bobby’s illness, Sylvia was his primary caregiver and an example of love in action as she cared for him at home.

Bobby leaves a legacy of kindness, gentleness and humility and the impact he left on his family and friends is immeasurable. His smile, laughter and personality will be missed by many. It only takes a spark……

Survivors include: Wife, Sylvia Hall Haley of the home; three children: Angela Marie (Spartanburg); Jeff (Terri) of Chongqing, China; Cheryl Cooley (Johnny) of Irmo, Grandchildren are: Kate, Jack and Luke Haley of Chongqing, China; Nate, Seth and Zach Cooley of Irmo. His sister, Lynda Hurteau (Randy) of Spartanburg and nephew, Doug (Erica) of McClellanville.

Jeff's Eulogy

Passion for People

Adored his family

South Carolina fan (pulled for the underdog)

Servant

Irrational for the Gospel

Teacher

One of a Kind

Never stopped loving

PASS IT ON

We Love You, Bobby Haley – Dee Vaughan

I was honored to be one of the voices praising God for the life and ministry of Rev. Bobby Haley.

We’re here today, Bobby Haley, because we love you and praise God for your life.

We love you, Bobby,

For being such a fan. You loved your Alma mater, Mississippi College. You kept up with the St. Louis Cardinals, often sporting a Cardinals baseball cap to let the world know where you stood. Amid the roar of many Clemson Tigers, you crowed proudly for your Gamecocks. You were never a fair-weather fan. Your loyalty ran deeper than last season’s record or next season’s prospects. You were just a fan.

In that same spirit, you cheered for us. When you chose us in friendship, you put on our colors and never took them off. When we won, you celebrated with us. When we lost, you helped us up, dusted us off, and gently coached us for our next challenge. And you always believed we could win. You loved us the way God loves us, Bobby, and that’s why we will always love you.

We love you, Bobby,

For that childlike spirit you never allowed to grow old. Life was always a gift, an adventure, a celebration for you. That’s why your heart could so quickly connect with a VBS class of first graders or a room full of adults. You had the freedom to read and teach the scriptures one minute, then gather a group around you to lead the congregation in “baby shark” or, my all time favorite, “Doo Be Dah.” Even if I tried, I could never forget you in front of a church, saying, “Be doo be dah…” You helped us find the child within us and live as joyful beloved children of God.

We love you, Bobby,

For being an overcomer. Your life had a rough start. You didn’t dwell on that and never talked about it, but you were dealt a pretty rotten hand. But you played that hand masterfully enough to win. You worked hard. You welcomed Godly mentors into your life. You got an education at Mississippi College and Southwestern Seminary. You discovered your gifts and developed them for God’s kingdom. You married a wonderful lady and began a beautiful partnership in marriage and ministry. You welcomed children in the world and gave them a strong faith and sweet love. We love you, Bobby, because your life teaches us that faith is the victory that overcomes.

We love you, Bobby,

For making us into missionaries. I’ll never forget you coming to my study in Greenville to ask permission to recruit a few people from your new church to complete that year’s roster for your Kentucky Mission Trip. I answered, “Bobby, let me be sure I understand you. You want to know if you can invite our people to do missions. I think I can support that.” You recruited five or six people that year who returned, with joy in their hearts, tears in their eyes, and a firm promise to return to Kentucky the next year. Word spread. Hallway conversations of “I want you to go with me to Kentucky this summer” grew the team. Within a few years, you took fifty-five adults and youth, easily a tenth of the church family to Kentucky. And once those people tasted the joy and felt the fulfillment of giving their lives to God’s work, they didn’t stop with Kentucky. People came back home with a missionary calling to serve Christ in their community in new ways. Others went to Africa and South America and Jamaica to help people in need and share God’s love. Bobby, everywhere you went, in your low-key unassuming way, you made missionaries. And I will always thank God for the way you shaped the lives of my sons. Josh and Andrew made many trips to Kentucky because of you. Those trips taught them the importance of service, the power of the gospel to cross cultures, and the great joy that comes from joining in Christ’s Great Commission. They are better men because of you, Bobby Haley, and I love you for that.

We love you, Bobby,

For seeing and celebrating the beauty and dignity of all people. Some of God’s people do very good things in an absolutely awful way, with a spirit of Messianic condescension that resembles some kind of holy float in a Mardi Gras parade, riding through God’s world throwing out trinkets of help and attention to the needy crowds, then moving on. But, Bobby, you were the polar opposite of that. When you talked about the people you served, you spoke, not of how needy they were, but how rich they were in faith, in perseverance, in hospitality. You didn’t talk about how much you could teach those you served, but how much you learned from them. You never implied their worship was backward, but that is was passionate, artistic and reviving. Bobby, you came to every man as his servant, not his savior. And that’s why so many people in so many places are proud and grateful to call you friend.

We love you, Bobby,

For showing us how to hurt faithfully. You came into my life and my church at a time when your heart was deeply wounded. But as I got to know you, I saw that you weren’t giving in to the temptation to be bitter. You didn’t sit on the sidelines of God’s kingdom licking wounds, assigning blame or excusing yourself from God’s work. You were honest about your pain, but you didn’t let pain compromise your calling. You’ll never know how much your example has meant to me. I’m sure many others could say the same.

And especially today, we love you, Bobby,

For leaving us with no doubts about how your story ends. You belonged to Jesus. You were your Heavenly Father’s precious child. You walked with God. And now the grace that saved you, the grace that calmed your fears and saw you through every challenge of this life has seen you home. I believe the angels sang “Pass it On” as you entered the city.

We’ll always love you, Bobby Haley. And with a few "Kentucky flies" in our eyes, we’ll strive to shoulder the mantle of ministry you leave behind.