United Methodists in California and Texas are mourning the deaths of two longtime leaders in specialized ministries.
Newell Knudson
The Rev. Newell Knudson, 92, of Fresno, Calif., died Jan. 27 of a sudden illness. In addition to appointments in local congregations, Rev. Knudson served as the petitions secretary of both the Methodist and then United Methodist General Conferences from 1960 through 1984. He also served as secretary of the California-Nevada Annual Conference.
One of his three children, communicator Kristin Knudson, said her father used to joke that prior to the General Conference he had the most popular address in Methodism. Through his conversation with a layman, Mel Brawn of Hewlett-Packard, Rev. Knudson began the process of computerizing the General Conference petition system. Now Mel Brawn's son, John, is the main programmer for the PETS system that catalogs General Conference petitions, said Ms. Knudson.
Rev. Knudson was married for 50 years to Kay Reeves Knudson, who died in 1999. In addition to Kristin, the couple had a son, David, and another daughter, Poppy. After Kay's death, he married Eleanor Patton, his surviving spouse. Rev. Knudson 's memorial service will take place Feb. 11 at Memorial United Methodist Church in Clovis, CA.
Denise Johnson Stovall
Denise Johnson Stovall
Denise Renee Johnson Stovall, 61, of Dallas, Tex., died Jan. 19 after a long illness. Mrs. Stovall was a longtime church communicator who came to national prominence as the first African-American associate editor of the late United Methodist Reporter newspaper. There she specialized in coverage of United Methodist Women and global missions, particularly involving outreach to women, children and the projects of the second-mile giving program known as The Advance. Her reporting took her from the favelas of Brazil and the slums of Mexico to the townships of South Africa. She also wrote articles on location from The Philippines, Puerto Rico, eight African countries, and throughout the United States.
Among her other accomplishments, she was a co-author of the book analogy of staff columns called Faithfully Yours, to which she gave its name. After some 10 years as an associate editor, Mrs. Stovall became the first Director of Corporate Communications for the Reporter's parent company, UMR Communications, Inc. Upon leaving UMR, she continued as a freelance writer for Response, the magazine of United Methodist Women, along with local publications for the Black community, according to her resume' on the North Texas Annual Conference website.
Her memorial service was scheduled Jan. 29 at St. Luke "Community" United Methodist Church in Dallas, where her husband, the Rev. L. Charles Stovall, served as associate pastor. She also is survived by their two children, Leonard II and Deanna Renee.