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- Asheville Citizen-Times, March 9, 2013
Reverend Russell Boston Hilliard Sr. (Picture included)
Black Mountain - When Russell was in hospice last summer on the verge of dying, he said he wished to live longer to praise the Lord and be with Patsy, his beloved wife of 61 years. Russell was granted the gift to live another few months. The truth is that throughout his life he faced life-threatening medical conditions. The miracle of it all is that he lived to be 82.
Looking back to his first years, we see a boy growing up on a farm in South Georgia during the Depression. His parents, Milton and Esther, worked hard to provide for their four children. In the midst of hardship, there were many happy times: rocking on the screen porch, tasting his mother's delicious biscuits, playing with Billy, Mary Alice, and Vida, visiting neighbors down the dirt road, and last but not least, spending much of the Lord's day at Massee Baptist Church.
During Russell's early college years, he sensed a call to serve God as a minister. He was ordained in 1951 at Massee Baptist Church near Adel, GA. Later that year he was married to Patsy Bassett of Fort Valley, GA. The two of them completed their last year of college as married students at Valdosta State University.
After college Russell enrolled at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Upon completing seminary, Russell served as pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in Bunnlevel, NC. During this time he also did graduate studies in theology at Duke University. In 1956 they were blessed with the birth of their first child, Rose.
Russell and Patsy had considered overseas missionary service for several years and were delighted to be appointed in 1957 by the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention to serve in Spain. For the next twenty-one years they worked there with great joy. Russell was closely affiliated with the Spanish Baptist Seminary, at times teaching and at times directing the seminary. During the first years, the seminary was located in Barcelona and then in Madrid. Barcelona was also the birthplace of their three other children: Russell Jr., Elizabeth, and Rebecca. In addition to the seminary, Russell was involved in the publication work of Spanish Baptists. He often preached in Baptist churches throughout Spain and spent one whole year ministering in Zaragoza. He deeply identified with the Spanish people and their culture.
In 1977, after several periods of severe illness, Russell and Patsy, with heavy hearts, made the decision to leave Spain. At this point, he entered early retirement for medical reasons, and he and Patsy returned to the US, settling in Western North Carolina. The following years were quiet ones -- a season of very poor health that meant many hours alone day after day, yet providing much time for prayer and contemplation.
Russell underwent major surgery in 1988 with the result that he was able to return to a more active life. A new period began, focused on outreach to Latinos in Western North Carolina. With great love, he translated for visits to physicians, drove those who needed transportation, facilitated contact between the newly arrived and health and social services, and volunteered as a pastor in a Spanish mission. He saw injustice and longed for justice. He heard discord and prayed for peace. He noticed the unnoticed and became an advocate for those without a voice.
Russell became a prolific writer, addressing a wide audience through editorials and articles in a variety of publications, including a weekly editorial in the Spanish-language newspaper, La Noticia. He published a selection of his writings in two short collections of poetry and meditations: Joy in the Wildflowers and Waiting in the Sourwoods.
Russell was profoundly shaped by suffering; illness ravaged his body as a young man and left its imprint until he died. Still, he did not harbor bitterness but instead was ever more deeply embraced by God's love. His joy in the Lord was visible to all.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held March 17, 2013 at 3:00 pm at Bent Creek Baptist Church in Asheville, NC with Dr. Jim McCoy officiating.
The family will receive friends March 16, 2013 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm at Harwood Home for Funerals in Black Mountain, NC, all are welcome.
In lieu of flowers, Russell's wish was that donations be made to the International Mission Board, P.O. Box 6767, Richmond, VA 23230-0767 or www.imb.org/main/give/default.asp <http://www.imb.org/main/give/default.asp>.
Arrangements are in the care of Harwood Home for Funerals. www.harwoodhomeforfunerals.com <http://www.harwoodhomeforfunerals.com/>
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ABOUT THE BASSETT REUNION IN 2000
How many people do you know a couple who will open their house to complete strangers for a huge family reunion? That’s exactly what Paul and Delise Knight of Taylor’s Mill Road in Fort Valley did Memorial Day weekend when they invited all the descendants of Stephen Elisha Bassett (oldtimers will remember the late brothers Ralph and Noble Bassett and sister Lucy) to meet at the old Bassett homeplace, Pineola Farm.
The Knights estimate that more than 100 Bassetts and community friends attended the event that Paul Knight called “a big success”
It’s the most memorable thing we’ve ever done. It was great!” agreed Delise Knight, who together with a number of friends provided a variety of mouth-watering dishes in abundance for Saturday’s noon meal. Folks brought pot-luck items; if they brought no food, they were given an opportunity to make a financial contribution. to help pay for the food.
Mrs. Marie Anderson, whose mother was French (as was Ralph Bassett’s wife Henriette), made 150 rolls for the occasion, Mrs. Evelyn Webb, who attended her first garden club meeting with Henriette, contributed two pecan pies. Edgar and Lena Belle Duke churned a massive amount of peach ice cream Friday afternoon for the Saturday crowd. Deli se’s friends, Terri and Marty Greathouse, assumed command of the kitchen so that everything would run smoothly.
“We could not have done it without all of them.’’ insisted Delise. “I have never seen such a kind, caring community.’
Simone Bassett Robbins of .Bloomington . Indiana, was in charge of contacting all the relatives, She and some others came down Wed., May 24, and stayed through Tues., May 30.
Thursday the Bassetts who were in Peach County had lunch in Fort Valley, viewed the Bassett bricks in the Fincher Park gazebo and toured Lane Packing Co. Friday they visited the Shiloh and Oaklawn cemeteries in Centerville and Fort Valley, respectively. That night all gathered at the New Perry Hotel for supper.
And, of course, “the Big Day” was Saturday. Visiting Pineola Farm was a trip into the past as everyone hugged and kissed, caught up on all the family news, shared precious memories of family members no longer present, renewed old friendships and met newer family members. Photos, letters and other family documents were on display for all to see and help in preserving the history of the house. That magnificent house furnished with handsome antiques in every room was the perfect spot for a family reunion-- and the house and porches are so commodious that there was room for all to enjoy a seated meal. (Maybe a few did have to eat in shifts.)
Sunday those who were still in middle Georgia attended the Fort Valley Presbyterian Church to end a memorable weekend.
In honor of the “once-In-alifetime” event Patsy Bassett Hilliard’s husband read this poem before Saturday dinner was served.
I Love You, Pineola!
by Russell B. Hilliard, Sr.
Pineola, I love you for the Bassetts who first gave life
to you and renewed
it from generation to generation: for Stephen Elisha
who framed you in his
heart and formed you in the field from tall Georgia pines.
Pineola, I love you for your hall so wide and long,
with your inner depths
for memories and your outer doors for welcomes.
Pineola. I love you for
your ceilings, built high for coolness in your
antebellum summers, but
well lighted with crystal chandeliers to call all eyes upwards in recent years.
Pineola, I love you for your porches that, breathing honeysuckle’s sweetness,
not only opened out to your birds, your flowers, your peaches, and your pines,
but also to the lovely neighbors of Fort Valley and to the larger
community of the world.
Pineola, I love you for
your children, among
America’s sturdy stock.
You protected them to play in the softness of your cotton
and to grow with your
fields of grain.
I love you for one of your girls who has meant more than life to me.
Pineola, I love you for Paul and Delise Knight, not
only for having brought you back to life again, but also, with Simone,
for having brought us back to you, simply to tell you:
“Pineola. we love you!”
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Bassett Family Association Database
- 2013