June Williams Honeycutt died Saturday, June 8, in Louisville, Ky.
She was the widow of Roy Honeycutt, former president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. He was the last “moderate” president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s mother seminary before the “conservative resurgence” placed Al Mohler as his successor.
June Honeycutt
Family and friends cited June Honeycutt’s wisdom, hospitality and perseverance as key attributes of the woman who was prominent on the Southern Baptist scene for decades. She and her husband, who died in 2004, were members of Crescent Hill Baptist Church, and then she later joined Broadway Baptist Church in Louisville.
Born in 1927, she was the daughter of Vernon and Gola Williams of Grenada, Miss. She met Roy Honeycutt in their shared hometown and they married in 1948, upon his return from service in the United States Army. They were married 57 years, until his death.
The Honeycutts served Baptist churches in Mississippi, Indiana and Kentucky from 1948 to 1956, then later he became academic dean at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo. He was named dean at Southern Seminary in 1975 and became president in 1982.
Through all these ministry points, June said her call was “just as real and just as strong as Roy’s.”
She was preceded in death by her son, Roy Honeycutt III, son-in-law Tommy Elliott, and sister Bettye Williams. She is survived by her daughter, Maryanne Elliott, two granddaughters, Katherine Dotson and Emily Dotson, and niece, Melodye Ruby.
A memorial service is planned for Wednesday, June 12, at Broadway Baptist. Burial will take place earlier at Louisville’s historic Cave Hill Cemetery.