RALEIGH, N.C. (ABP) – Ed Vick, a prominent Baptist layman and supporter of moderate causes including Associated Baptist Press, died May 13, seven weeks after being diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.
Vick, 76, of Raleigh, N.C., served as a director of Associated Baptist Press since 1994 and was a past chairman. He also formerly chaired and was a current member of the the CBF Foundation board of directors, was a founding member of the CBF of North Carolina Endowment Management board of directors and was a former member of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Coordinating Council.
ABP directors accepted Vick’s resignation from the board due to illness May 3 “with regret” and voted to honor Ed and Laura Anne Vick with the organization’s Founders Award for individuals who have contributed to ABP through significant volunteer service, financial contributions or professional services. Directors voted to suspend a rule that says current board members are ineligible to receive the award until a year after their service concludes and to present it “at a date to be determined.”
“I think one of the best things I ever did for Associated Baptist Press was to recommend Ed to be a director,” retired Baptist state paper editor R.G. Puckett said May 1, noting the absence of his longtime friend while accepting a lifetime achievement award from Associated Baptist Press. “He has given of his time, his energy, his enthusiasm and his financial resources to make this organization what it has become.”
Vick, a longtime member of First Baptist Church of Raleigh, joined his former graduate school professor, transportation engineer Bill Horn, and Bob Kimley from the Carolina State Highway Commission to incorporate the design-consulting firm Kimley-Horn and Associates in 1967. The company now describes itself as the leading engineering firm for multi-family residential and retail properties. It currently ranks 40th out of the top 500 design firms recognized by the Engineering News-Record. Vick retired in 2001.
The Vicks have made signification financial contributions to moderate Baptist life over the years including a lead gift of $125,000 to ABP for the Puckett Endowed Internship and $100,000 to begin an endowment to promote the spiritual, emotional and physical health of CBF missionaries and their families. They were personally involved in mission trips to New York City following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, to the Ukraine and in support of the International Baptist Theological Seminary in the Czech Republic.
Vick is survived by his wife of 47 years, three adult daughters, a brother and nine grandchildren. Visitation is scheduled 6-8 p.m. Monday at First Baptist Church of Raleigh. The funeral is Tuesday, May 17 at 11 a.m., also at FBC Raleigh. In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial gifts to the mission fund at First Baptist Church, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship or Associated Baptist Press.
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.