Douglas Reed Oldham

Douglas Reed "Doug" Oldham, 79, of Lynchburg passed away peacefully on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 in Charlottesville. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Laura Lee Oldham. Born in Akron, Indiana, November 30, 1930, he was the son of the late William Dale Oldham and Pauline Edith Brown Oldham. Doug was an internationally known Christian and Gospel recording artist. For nearly 50 years, inspirational artist Doug Oldham has blessed the hearts of hundreds of thousands of people, both in his concerts and through television. He first began singing in the early 1960s at tent revival meetings where his father was the evangelist. He soon met a high school teacher who was also a novice songwriter and pianist named Bill Gaither. They began traveling together on the weekends with Oldham singing the new songs written by Gaither. Among the thousands of songs that Oldham has sung, he was the very first person to sing and record Gaither’s “He Touched Me,” a song which was later recorded famously by Elvis Presley. He was on the road quite a bit, having first traveled with evangelist Benny Hinn and with the Billy Graham Crusades. He even traveled by bus with the Rev. Jerry Falwell to church and school auditoriums as they raised money for the new Lynchburg Baptist College in the summer of 1971. The Dove Award-winning artist has recorded more than 65 albums and performed for national and international dignitaries including former presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, as well as Prince Phillip and the Queen of England. In November 2006 he was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. One year later, Thomas Road Baptist Church bestowed its own honors, presenting Oldham with the first-ever Lifetime Champion Award for his years of Christian service, and Liberty University also named a remodeled room in the Fine Arts building “Oldham Recital Hall,” honoring him at a faculty festival and ceremony there when the work was complete. In addition to his wife, he is survived by three daughters, Paula Johnson and her husband John of Lynchburg, Karen Offenbacker and her husband Garry of Williamston, NJ and Rebekah Cox and her husband Lee of Madison Heights; five grand children, Jamaica conner and her husband Terry, John Johnson, II, Jessica Johnson and her husband Nate, Nathan Offenbacker and Emily Cox and three great grandchildren. A funeral service will be conducted at 3:00 p.m. Monday, July 26, 2010 at Thomas Road Baptist Church with Pastor Jonathan Falwell officiating. Interment will be private. The family will receive friends from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, July 25, 2010 in the Pate chapel of Thomas Road Baptist Church. The family request memorial contributions be made to the Oldham Concert Hall Scholarship fund, C/O Liberty University, 1971 University Blvd., Lynchburg, VA 24502. To send condolences, please visit www.whittenfuneralhome.com. Whitten Timberlake Chapel is serving the Oldham family.