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

by minimus 84 Replies latest jw friends

  • misanthropic
    misanthropic

    LiveLife

    Misanthropic,

    John Francis AleƩ stayed with my family for two weeks during pioneer school two years in a row. He and I became what I considered friends. His talks were always interesting and he had worked more jobs than anyone I ever met. Pharmaceutical salesman, monk in a monastery; his work history really ran the gamut.

    He was the most studious JW I knew; he inspired me to study more. He is probably responsible for me leaving the organization.


    Really? Is he still a CO, that you know of anyway?

  • Mulan
    Mulan
    Robert "Yukon Bob" Hartman (served as CO for 16 years in Alaska..see 84 YB)....then District work...IL/MO, OH,...then had health problems...heard he was in CA in Circuit again....still single....ought to be 80 by now...another real nice guy.

    He was on our tour bus in England, after the conventions in Poland in 1989. He was a real pain. Maybe a nice guy, but he ragged on our guide for taking us to churches, which everyone else enjoyed..............it's history and architecture, for Pete's sake!

    He also gave us a bad time because although I was a pioneer and my husband a longtime elder, he didn't think we should have kept our positions with a disfellowshipped son. He wouldn't shut up about it. We detested him.

    Looking back on it, I think he was gay. He had a roommate that was definitely a closet gay man. Even our guide thought they were a gay couple, until we told her JW's didn't do that sort of thing.

    My favorite CO of all time was Al Michaelson. He was a real person and his wife Louise, was a dream friend. When I had my last baby, an emergency premature C section, she came to the hospital and sat with me all afternoon one day. They weren't serving our congregation, but she had the service group drop her off. Al picked her up later that day. I LOVED them. Louise always asked to be put in my car group for field service, even when I had children with me. She said I made her feel comfortable and she didn't have to perform.

    Jerry Griffiths was also very good, a very fun and real man. His wife was Lana. I heard they split up and he got df'd.

  • bluesbreaker59
    bluesbreaker59

    I despised a few...

    1. Brother Garza - big, fat, bag of hot wind, AND LAZY!!!!! This man never, ever did service, and was generally worthless

    2. Brother Thatcher - a health risk, he showed up for 2 visits, during his whole time, he was finally replaced

    3. Brother Andrews - a real Bible thumper, old school type with a handshake like a vice grip, I swear he tried to break bones

    4. Brother Burge - still active, just left my old circuit, he tries to be a comedian all the time. This man was spineless

    5. Brother Hall - a fat toad of a man, that was obsessed with technology, he loved to eat and talk about the south

    6. Brother Martin - a fire and brimstone style southern preacher, who wore very expensive suits, and loved expensive hobbies and food too

    There was one that I liked, Brother Spencer, a truly, genuine, nice man. He seemed to care more about families and conveying love than anything else. I cried when he left (I was 12) and I meant it. He told me I'd grow up to be a great man.

    I enjoyed Brother L.C. Cotton's talks, because he had a great voice, and was a very moving speaker, that I greatly enjoyed listening to. He was always at our District Conventions.

  • edmond dantes
    edmond dantes

    Hi Minimus,

    In my day they were called circuit servants and I have been racking my brain for ages trying to remember their names.I remember one particular guy of German origin who could give very good talks which made you feel better but in reality were pep talks to get more people out in service.He made a whole load of well meaning sisters feel guilty one time when he asked "Has anyone been to see the new film The Greatest Story Ever Told ?"(I think it was that one , where Jeffery Hunter played Jesus) I looked round when I heard some sisters murmering rapturously "yes I have."I knew what was coming next and he said sternly, "well if you haven't, do not go, because it's full of gross errors."He went on to say it could lead you away from the truth.After those comments you could have heard a pin drop as all those who had risked disfellowship and an enquiry in the back room plus loss of life in the new system of things shrunk back in their chairs and hid behind their watchtowers.

    I still can't think of his name this was in the UK in the early sixties. He was a bit of a linquist and had recently come over from Portugal with his wife.There was another guy a Scottish CO or DO, maybe even BO.He was only small so he must have been a short circuit overseer.I'm not sure if he wasn't called Carmichael, something like that, somebody who goes way back might jog my memory.

    Edmond

  • Nathan Natas
    Nathan Natas

    I've got a couple of nominations from the NYC metro area:

    The good: Paul Haviland: seemed genuinely concerned about the congregation and the people in it, a true shepherd.

    The bad and ugly: Arthur Wiegel, now one of the officers in one of the WTB&TS many shadow corporations. Looked like Floyd the Barber from Mayberry, but lacked any redeeming qualities. A real schmuck.

  • Black Man
    Black Man

    The Leora Brown I knew was a black brother around 5'10 or 5'11, wore glasses average size. He was a DO in Michigan in the 1980s and then went to California where I heard that he got disfellowshipped. There were so many rumors about him after that (like he died of AIDS, that him and his wife got divorced, etc.), but he surfaced in Atlanta, Georgia in the 1990s, selling real estate. It was rumored that he was reinstated and then DF'ed again, although both the reinstatement and second DFing was never confirmed. He should probably be in his early 60s by now.

    He was a good speaker, who enjoyed playing basketball with some of the younger brothers. He could get a little competitive on the b-ball court...............

  • DaCheech
    DaCheech

    How about gary (toupe) lagana?

    He seemed OK, think he was single.

    anybody see him lately?

  • coffee_black
    coffee_black

    Doc Bob....

    Whoa..Alan Hood... now there's a name I remember... but not as a CO. He was in our cong (Hyde Park, MA) when I was growing up. I remember him as a nice guy, and everyone loved his accent. Maybe becoming a CO went to his head?

    Coffee

  • coffee_black
    coffee_black

    Nathan Natas,

    Paul Havlin was a good friend of my parents. I sent a copy of my da letter to him when I left... never heard back. That was in '93, He was working at World Carpet at the time (owned by a jw)

    Coffee

  • moogle
    moogle

    Michael Dawson and his wife Roslyn - what a couple! They are everything you wouldn't want to be. Words like, arrogant, self-centred, ungrateful, rude....come to mind. I miss them like a hole in the head. I think I'd rather be the pope than this guy. As far as personality goes, his wife Roslyn reminds me of Imelda Marcos. Sad really. I think Jehovah is building them a mezzanine floor in the new system so they don't get contaminated by an of the mere mortals that might survive.

    Moogle.

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