Reverend Dr. James Earl Garmon Sr. passed away on Aug. 11, but on Feb. 13, just six months before he completed his earthly journey, that I realized that Rev. Dr. Garmon may have been in the process of completing his final lap on the track of life.
February 13 was the evening before Dr. Clenora Hudson-Weems and I were due to present our Black History Month program at Trinity Baptist Church, in Lawrenceville. Hudson-Weems was hanging out with me at the press table as I covered primetime boxing at the Consol Energy Center. My phone vibrated and on the other end was first lady Vera Jean Howard-Garmon, the wife of Rev. Garmon Sr.
“Aubrey, reverend is in the hospital and I don’t know if he will be able to make the event scheduled for tomorrow,” she said in a voice full of concern for her husband, but tinged slightly with disappointment regarding an event that we had planned since November of 2014.
“How is he?” I asked. She answered, “he’s improving but it doesn’t seem likely that he will be released by tomorrow and the weather forecast doesn’t look very promising.” I turned to Hudson-Weems and delivered the news.
“Aubrey, I would have really liked to have met Rev. Garmon” she said. “Because you have told me so much about him but we can’t control health issues or weather issues.” I had hoped that Hudson-Weems would have been able to experience the passion of a Rev. Dr. Garmon sermon, but that was not to be.
One of my fondest memories about Rev. Garmon and Trinity Missionary Baptist were his passionate and spirit filled sermons and the music that accompanied him. The synergy of Rev. Garmon and his first lady on Sunday mornings was always something to behold.
For many years Howard-Garmon, a University of Pittsburgh graduate, was also the music director and/or music supervisor of the church. The sermons and the music always had plenty of “fire and brimstone.” Reverend Dr. Garmon brought the fire and Howard-Garmon, accompanying him on keyboards or organ, certainly represented the brimstone.
When the first lady was asked if Rev. Dr. Garmon’s sermons inspired musical passion from within and whether her music inspired him she said, “I think it was both because I had to be listening and reacting carefully to every word that he said because I had to choose the right song for the right moment. That was important because it helped to enhance what was being said so I always tried to be in tune to what he was saying. I hoped that whatever song I was playing would inspire the congregation as well.”
The interim pastor of Trinity Missionary Baptist Church, Rev. Dr. James Earl Garmon Jr., talked about the possible pressure involved in following in his iconic father’s footsteps.
“As far as pressure goes there is some and in many cases there isn’t any,” he said. “People tend to look for you to be like your father or to do as he did but they also want to see what you can do as an individual. Due to him selecting me to preach as well as his illness causing me to step up and preach in his absence helped me to grow. I don’t find succeeding him as overwhelming as it could have been if I would have had less experience.”
When asked what advice he received from his father, Rev. Garmon Jr. said, “He would just tell me to preach the word and always have a sermon ready to go wherever you went.”
When it comes to a new hierarchy, first lady Howard-Garmon said, “I will support Trinity and the new first lady whenever that time comes.”
The King is dead, long live the King.
