Rev. R. Marsden Kitley

The Reverend R. Marsden Kitley, OSL age 74, a resident of E. Sunrise Avenue, Thomasville, died Tuesday, March 11, 2008 in the Hospice Home at High Point. A celebration of Life Service will be conducted Saturday, March 15, 2008 at 11:00 AM, from the First United Methodist Church in Thomasville, with Rev. Cris Uren, Dr. Harold Warlick, and Rev. Douglas Butler officiating. Interment with Military Rites will be at 2:00 PM Saturday at Mt. Tabor United Methodist Church Cemetery in Winston-Salem. Rev. Kitley was born May 12, 1933 in Troy, NY, son of the late Ralph Kitley and Bertha May Wheeler Kitley. On June 11, 1933, he was baptized by Rev. Ernest Ryder, and was confirmed April 2, 1944 (Palm Sunday) by Rev. Milton Lavery. Rev. Kitley was a 1951 graduate of Lansingburgh High School. He served in the US Army during the Korean Conflict. He received his BA from High Point University in 1964 and his Master of Divinity in June of 1967, from Candler School of Theology at Emory University. He was ordained as a Deacon on June 10, 1965 at the Western NC Annual Conference. On June 8, 1967, he was received as Full Connection of the Western NC Annual Conference, and on June 10, he was ordained as an Elder. The churches he served were the Mt. Vernon Charge (Mt. Vernon, Mt. Pleasant, and Mt. Gilead) in 1967; Mt. Carmel and Ebenezer in 1968; Mt. Carmel and Greer’s Chapel in 1969 (in Lexington); Mineral Springs in 1970; Mt. Tabor as an associate in 1974 (in Winston-Salem); The Pinnacle Charge (Pinnacle, Mt. Zion, and Chestnut Grove) in 1976. Other churches he served were: Double Shoals in Lawndale in 1980; Central Spencer in 1983; Shiloh in Granite Quarry in 1986; and First United Methodist Church in Thomasville in 1989, where he retired in 1995. After retirement, he served as interim Pastor for the Cid Charge, (Cid and Fairview) in 1999, and he was appointed Pastor Emeritus of the First United Methodist Church in Thomasville. In 2007, he was appointed interim pastor for First United Methodist Church in Thomasville. He was a member of the Thomasville Civitans Club, Lions Club, and a Volunteer Hospital Chaplain. He had been instrumental in starting the Volunteer Chaplaincy Program in Rowan County and Thomasville. He formerly had served as a PTA President. In addition to his parents, preceding him in death was a sister, Carol Johnson. He was married to Julia Garner on June 12, 1964. She survives of the home. Also surviving are two sons, Ralph M. Kitley II, and his wife, Loretta Rowland Kitley, of Summerfield, and Barry S. Kitley, and his wife, Wendy Jane Kitley, of High Point, a sister, Nancy Jane Wisbauer of Thomasville; six grandchildren: Zachary Rowland, Nicholas Rowland, Raven Kitley, Elizabeth Kitley, Victoria Kitley and Virginia Kitley. The family will receive friends Friday from 6 until 8 PM at First United Methodist Church in Thomasville and other times at the residence. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the First United Methodist Church, 100 E. Sunrise Avenue, Thomasville, NC 27360