John Simms to be Nominated at BGAV

by T. C. Pinckney                                                                                   Vol. VII, No. 7, September 1994

The Banner has learned that John M. Simms of Salem will be nominated in November for president of the Baptist General Association of Virginia. By long standing custom we alternate between pastors and laymen as BGAV president, and this November it will be time to elect a layman.

John and his wife Lorraine live in Salem and are members of First Baptist, Roanoke. John was born in Raleigh, NC, and graduated from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, with a BS in 1948 and a JD in 1950. At UNC he was president of Phi Beta Kappa 1947-48. John was in the general practice of law in Raleigh until 1966 when became General Counsel for Norfolk Southern Railway Company. In 1974 he and Lorraine moved to Northern Virginia where he served as a general attorney with the

Southern Railway System until transferred to Roanoke/Salem in 1983 with Norfolk Southern Corporation. John retired in 1989.

During World War II John saw three and a half years of active Army duty rising from private to captain serving in the United States and the Pacific Theater in the occupation Army in Japan.

John is a life-long Southern Baptist; Lorraine has been a Southern Baptist for over 50 years. While living in Northern Virginia John and Lorraine were members of First Baptist, Alexandria. In Roanoke they serve at First Baptist, Roanoke, where John is a deacon and Adult Sunday School Department director.

John's Christian service to others began early. In 1963-67 he was on the Board of Directors at the Hilltop Home for Men tally Retarded Children. He was a trustee of Meredith College, Raleigh, 1958-61, was on the executive board of the trustees 195861, and a member of the Board of Associates of Meredith 1967-81.

John has a special place in his heart for

missions, as reflected in his service on the Foreign Mission Board 1985-1993. On the FMB he chaired the Administrative Committee for four years and was a member of the Presidential Search Committee 199293. John is a member of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia.

Those who know John recognize him as a committed Christian layman, intelligent, capable, experienced, and willing to stand for what is right while simultaneously maintaining a gentle and generous spirit.

John and Lorraine have two children, Sarah currently of Wake Forest, NC, and John, Jr., of Greensboro, NC. They have three grandchildren.