Any Circuit or District Overseers That Made An Impression On You?

by minimus 84 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  edmond dantes

  It was such a long time ago I can't remember their names but the odds are that they are pushing up daisies by now, thus fulfilling their often repeated prophetic statement, "millions now living will never die."

  I do remember one saying to the congo " You know there are a few in this hall who will not make it through armageddon." He was complaining about the lack of total commitment to field service on the part of some of the bros. and sisters.At the time I thought if this is christianity you can shove it and of course it was another defining moment when I began to realise ,"hey this is some heavy lunacy."

  I know you remember and liked some of them but could you just mention after their names the words," seriously brainwashed ."

  Thanks Edmond.
• 

  minimus

  Edmond, I remember those talks. It makes the audience start looking at each other to see if the CO has Brother Weak in mind. It produces judgmental persons!
• 

  AK - Jeff

  I liked Mike and Janice Cook - last I knew they were over in the Raleigh/Durham area. They emailed me shortly after leaving our circuit with a story of a huge snowstorm that buried them in the apartment for a week - and up here in snow country we were pretty high and dry.

  I hope they got out. But I doubt it - Janice told us later that he was doing sub-DO work. He always was pretty good at kissing up I think. I liked him, but he was 'company man' all the way.

  Steve Lett [now GB] - I liked him very much and found him to be sincere. His Dad had been CO to our circuit a few years before that - Mark Lett - a nice southern gentlemen is the way I remember him. Mark died of cancer - Steve went on to the GB.

  Gerald Grissle - nice man. Very organized. We once were working d2d, when, as we approached the door he stopped me from knocking, pulled his 'rv book' out of his coat pocket - there typed mind you, was the address and the name of the woman he had placed literature with the last visit - he took that house and made the RV. He believed in what he was doing, no doubt that. At the tender age of 16/17 he had made a massive impression on me to become a lifer.

  I know he didn't get out - he is a Bethel Overseer of some sort now I guess.

  Jeff
• 

  minimus

  I liked John Casino. He was generally unliked by most. His wife was a trip. She wore hats all the time. These folks were living in the 1950s still.
• 

  AK - Jeff

  Anyone recall Howard Swartz? He served here in the early '70s.

  I heard he died giving a public talk - heart attack maybe 10 yrs back? Unconfirmed rumour to this point.

  Jeff
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  I used to enjoy DO Paul Illingsworth's talks.

  You really take me back, MIN.

  I was working the tiny parking lot reserved for convention heavies and a few severely handicapped drivers.
  I was the parking attendent that kicked people out of the lot if they didn't have the right credentials.

  So this brother walks up to me and speaks with me for awhile. It was DO Paul Illingsworth.
  We had a nice conversation. I remember how he let it be known that he was a Greek "scholar."

  So, nearly a year later, I was attending a pioneer meeting for the first time. I was a new pioneer.
  This guy comes in the room and shakes my hand and asks the usual informalities. I answer a couple of
  questions then finally get to wondering "Who is this guy, and how does he know me?"

  I just ask, "Brother, what was your name again?"

  He tells me "Paul Illingsworth." You could tell his joy at seeing me there just evaporated as I didn't
  remember him from Adam. As he entered the room, virtually all the brothers knew who he was. I was
  impressed that a DO remembered a 2-minute encounter with a brother he met. I still wonder if the CO's
  and DO's are taking memory courses. They seem to remember names well.
• 

  minimus

  He's a sharp guy. And I remember those boots too! Hey, maybe he'll come to JWD some time. Or if any Bethelites are reading this, tell him we send him our love.
• 

  undercover

  I recognized one name out of all those listed...Bob Salee. Wasn't all that crazy about him.

  I'm having a hard time remembering any one that stood out as special.

  There was one CO, and I can't remember his name, who was easy going and fun to hang around. I remember in service several times he would just up and say, "It's hot...let's go get a Coke" and we'd spend the next hour in a diner or a general store somewhere out in the country. He commented several times about putting family matters first and not letting our Kingdom Hall responsibilites get in the way of family. He eventually left the circuit work to tend to his aging parents. After learning the truth about the "truth" I often wondered if he was slowly checking out of the JWism in his own way, as he did not fit the pattern of a typical CO. I remember actually being saddened about his leaving our circuit. But yet, I still can't remember his name.
• 

  minimus

  Undercover, he sounds like a CO we had (I can't remember the name), who's wife died and eventually he quit the circuit work to tend to his ailing mom.
• 

  SnakesInTheTower

  choosing life you have a pm