Rev. Lester Freeman Gayton, age 87, of 2503 Airview Drive, Danville, died on Wednesday, January 18, 2011 in the Danville Regional Medical Center.
Born May 22, 1923 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, he was the son of the late Lester Freeman Gayton and Gertrude Margaret Tucker Gayton.
He entered the US Navy in 1939 and served until 1946 during WWII in the South Pacific. He later farmed in Wellborn, Florida and was a Justice of the Peace in Suwanee County, Florida in 1946. He entered the ministry in 1954 and was a graduate of Southeastern Theological Seminary in 1961. Rev. Gayton pastored in Florida, Virginia, Oregon, and Georgia and did evangelistic work and revivals in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia. He was a former pastor of State Line Baptist Church and Calvary Baptist Church in Danville as well as the Quaker Baptist Church in Bedford and the First Baptist Church ofPhilomath, Oregon. He also worked in prior years as a telegraph operator for the Seaboard Line Railroad in the 1940's and as a property manager in Sacramento, California and Reno, Nevada.
Survivors include his wife Hazel Gayton of the residence; two sons: Wayne Gayton and Gary Turpin; one brother: Roger Gayton; five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by a son, Ronald Turpin, a brother, Fred Gayton, and a sister, Etta Gayton.
Funeral services officiated by Rev. Rick Markham will be held on Friday, January 21, 2011 at eleven a.m. at the Swicegood Funeral Home Chapel. Interment will follow in Danville Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends at the funeral home one hour prior to the service, and at other times, they will be at the residence on Airview Drive.