Father Wayne Eugene ‘Gene’ Britton Sr.

Published 6:23 pm Wednesday, May 2, 2012

 Father Wayne Eugene ‘Gene’ Britton Sr., 81, of Athens, Ga., died Sunday, April 22, 2012.

The service will be at noon, on Saturday, May 5, at St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church in Athens, Ga., followed by a reception in the Parish Hall. Private interment will follow at Oconee Hill.

He was born on August 13, 1930, in LaGrange, Ga., to the late Willie Ruth Smith Britton and Wayne Prather Britton. He was the president of Moultrie High School Class of ’49 and received his Bachelor of Arts in journalism from the University of Georgia, in 1954. He was one of four white student editors of The Red and Black, who spoke up for racial equality and called for the end of racial segregation in state schools in 1953.

In 1954, he married Laurie Linebaugh of Tampa, Fla., and served for two years in the United States Army Signal Corp. He was a newspaper reporter and political writer for the Atlanta Journal and was Atlanta bureau chief for the Macon Telegraph and News. From 1963-65, he worked as director of information and research services for the Georgia Education Association.

He received his Masters in Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Va., in 1968, and worked as deacon-in-training at St. Philip’s Cathedral in Atlanta. He served as priest assistant on the staff of the Cathedral until 1970, at which time, he became rector at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Carrollton, Ga.

In 1977, he was appointed by the Bishop as priest-in-charge of St. Clement’s Episcopal Church in Canton, Ga. From 1979-1986, he served as rector of the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in East Point, Ga.

In the early 1980s, he was co-chairperson of the diocesan Commission on Racism and served two years on that commission. He served as chairperson of the board of governors of Mikell Camps and Conference Center, was a member of the executive committee of the Diocese, the Commission on Ministry and the COM Task Force on Discernment and the Formation of Vocations.

In 1986, he became rector of St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church in Athens, Ga. After retiring from full-time parish ministry in 1995, he served as part-time rector of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Elberton, Ga.; interim rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Hartwell, Ga.; part-time priest associate at Emmanuel Church in Athens, Ga.; and as a chaplain for the Georgia Department of Corrections at the I.W. Davis Probation Detention Center in Jefferson, Ga.

“He was a teacher of the Enneagram Model of Human Personality and a lifelong fan of the Georgia Bulldogs. For many years he enjoying spending time at his vacation home on Jekyll Island and took many beautiful pictures of the area,” his family remembered of him.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Laurie Linebaugh Britton.

He is survived by his wife of 16 years, Nicola Wolstenholme Britton; his son Wayne E. Britton Jr. and Wayne’s daughter Laurie Evelyn; his son, Edward B. Britton and his wife Catherine Parker; stepson, Andrew Spencer; and stepdaughter Emily Spencer.

Donations in memory of Father Gene may be made to St. Gregory the Great.

Online condolences may be offered at www.bernsteinfuneralhome.com and www.moultrieobserver.com.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Bernstein Funeral Home and Cremation Service.