Obituary of Joe Frank Peek

Rev. Dr. Joe Frank Peek, beloved and devoted husband for 52 years to the late Betty Jean Cooper Peek, died Sunday, October 15, 2023 at Piedmont Medical Center in Rock Hill, SC. The son of the late Alvin and Lady Ruth Jordan Peek was born in Nashville, Tennessee on February 1, 1934. The family relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee around 1940 and became dedicated members of Lincoln Park Baptist Church. At the age of 14, he followed God’s call to the ministry and was ordained by the same church in 1955. After graduating from Knoxville Central High School in 1952, he enrolled and graduated from Carson Newman College in 1956. He then earned his master’s degree in 1961 at Southeastern Theological Seminary in Wake Forest and in 1990 he earned a Doctor of Ministry Degree at Drew University located in Madison, New Jersey. He held several interim pastorate positions in Virginia and Tennessee before accepting his first full-time call as pastor of North Hills Baptist Church in Knoxville. He then served from 1960-63 at Belhaven Baptist in North Carolina, and then become the second pastor of Hillcrest Baptist in Suffolk, Virginia from 1963-66. In 1966, he was called to Bonsack Baptist Church in Roanoke, Virginia where he led the initial phases of a building program that has now resulted in the church today being one of the largest in the state of Virginia. In 1969 he relocated to East Brainerd Baptist Church in Chattanooga where he served from 1969-75, where he then took the position as pastor of Cooper River Baptist Church. In 1982, he had to deal with a major hardship as the church was destroyed by an arson fire and then led the church through a rebuilding program climaxed with the dedication of the new structure in 1984. In 1985 he was called to New Hope Baptist Church in Lancaster and then relocated to Bethune Baptist Church in 1992, where he entered retirement in 1997. During his years as a full-time minister, he held numerous leadership positions in the Virginia and South Carolina Baptist State Associations. He served two state universities as a member of the Board of Trustees at North Greenville University and served on the Pastors Advisory Board to the President at Charleston Southern University. During his post retirement, he held multiple interim pastorate positions in the Sumter area, served as a chaplain for Market Place Ministry and was a football official for the South Carolina Football Officials Association in the Sumter District. He is predeceased by his brothers, Rev. Robert Peek, William Peek, and his sister, Betty Ruth Graham; brother- in law, Rev. Doyne Graham, and sister-in-law, Jean Peek. Dr. Peek is survived by his children, John Frank Peek and his wife Gale, of Summerville, David Alvin Peek and his wife Jill, of Seminole, Fla, Rev. Paula Peek Griffin and her husband, Ashton “T”, of Spartanburg, and Michael Cooper Peek and his wife Jill, of Rock Hill, six grandchildren, three step grandchildren, five great grandchildren, and three step great grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his sister-in law, Willodene Peek. Funeral Services will be held at 2 P.M. Saturday, October 21, 2023, in the Chapel of the Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home with Rev. Dr. James R. Chandler, Jr. officiating. Burial will follow in the Sumter Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 12 Noon to 2 P.M. Saturday at the Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home prior to the service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Alvin S. Peek Scholarship Fund at Carson Newman University in care of the Alumni Relations, 1646 Russell Avenue, Jefferson City, TN 37760. On-line condolences may be sent to www.sumterfunerals.com Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home & Crematory, 221 Broad Street, Sumter, is in charge of the arrangements (803) 775-9386.