Rev. Dr. John M. Wilbur Had a Pastoral Presence

The Rev. Dr. John M. Wilbur Jr. died Sept. 25. He was the former pastor of the First Baptist Churches in Beverly and East Greenwich, R.I. Other professional endeavors included a professorship at Harvard Divinity School, pumping gas and delivering mail for Packer Fuel.

John was born in Atlantic City, N.J., and lived to be 85. He spent many years in New England and cruising the Intracoastal Waterway with his wife, Jane. Most recently they had lived in Vineyard Haven.

Dr. Wilbur commented many times that he had lived a magical life. He spent his early years in the mid-Atlantic states including New Jersey, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. On one of those early trips to Charleston, S.C., he met Jane Miller Anderson and they later married. They migrated north to New England where John entered Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre. While in school he served as the assistant pastor for the First Baptist Church of Newton Centre and they had their first two children.

After completing seminary, John was called to the First Baptist Church in East Greenwich, R.I., where they lived for five years and made many lifelong friendships. The next step in John and Jane’s journey was to Beverly, where John took the helm of the First Baptist Church in Beverly, the church with the harborlight.

John’s creative accomplishments throughout New England centered around service to youth, providing housing for the elderly, mentoring young ministers and personal counseling. Through these endeavors and his unusual gifts of preaching, John Milnor Wilbur touched many, many lives.

John loved his large and exuberant family. His five children have lived all over the world and his six grandchildren have brought great joy to him, even in the last few months of his life. They include Cynthia Wilbur Thomas and her husband John Mitchell Thomas of Grand Junction, Colo., John Milnor Wilbur 3rd and his wife Beth Saint-Amour of Vineyard Haven, Heyward Brent Wilbur, Dean Gordon Wilbur and his wife Cricket Corwin Wilbur of Ipswich, and Ann Wilbur King and her husband Stephen Darst King of Saratoga, Calif. Heyward Brent pre-deceased John.

His six grandchildren are Kelly Jane Wilbur of Boston, Nicholas Brent Wilbur of West Tisbury, Samuel Gordon Wilbur of Boulder, Colo., Stephen Darst King Jr., Caroline Bissell King, and Emily Marion King of Saratoga, Calif.

In their retirement years, John and Jane’s charmed life continued as John pursued a dream and found a way to purchase a beautiful Grand Banks trawler, Dixie W VI and off they went. They cruised the East Coast and the Intracoastal Waterway for over 10 years, making and sharing many beautiful memories and friendships. Most recently they lived in their scenic home, Downaway, on the shores of Lagoon Pond in Vineyard Haven which John spearheaded the purchase of many years ago. John was able to return to Downaway in the last few weeks of his life.

John is survived by his wife, Jane Anderson Wilbur, four grown children, and six grandchildren.

A celebratory memorial service will be held on the Vineyard in June 2012.

Memorial contributions can be made to one of the following organizations: Christian Youth Conference of Ocean Park, Maine, care of Bob Jope, CYC Dean, 16 Lindsey street, New Bedford, MA 02740; Grace Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 1197, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568; or First Baptist Church, 221 Cabot street, Beverly, MA 01915.

Hugh W. Snyder, West Chester, PA [outside Phildelphia]

In the late 1950s, John Wilbur then Pastor of First Baptist Church of Beverly,and Dick Keach then Pastor of Central Baptist Church of Wayne, PA arranged visits of each church's youth group with the others. I believe they knew each other both as students at Andover Newton Theological Seminary and their involvement Baptist activities in Ocean Park,Maine. One members of the Beverly group I got to know when we went up there was young black man my age; he stayed in our home in Wayne. Relatives of my Dad's from West Virginia took a picture of the two of us; when the pictures came back from the photo lab, the entire face of my black guest was scratched out. It was a vivid example of the kind of racial prejudice then prevalent and no doubt still all too much in existence today. At 72, I still remember Rev. Wilbur as a very dynamic man with great affection for young people and the intellectual ability to appeal to our minds as did our pastor Dick Keach.

July 22, 2015 - 9:49am

Robert Evans, Haverhill, MA

When our daughter told us she wanted to get married in April, we thought "OK, that gives over a year to plan the wedding. She said, "Sorry, I meant this April, not next April. Because it was the end of February, we started to panic, since she wanted a traditional church wedding. Neither my wife nor I, nor our daughter were church goers, so this presented a problem. Somebody suggested we talk to Reverend Wilbur in Beverly. After we talked awhile, we somehow arrived at the question of cost. I had just changed jobs, and our son-in-law to be was in the Navy, so we didn't have a large amount of funds. Reverend Wilbur mentioned that church members had a discount fee for wedding services. Great - except none of us were members. He then told us if my daughter was even thinking about joining his church, he could put her down as a "potential member, and the discount would apply! A wonderful thought, and most appreciated. He was a truly religious man, and not just in the church way - helpful to all!

December 28, 2023 - 1:04am

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Rev. Dr. John M. Wilbur Had a Pastoral Presence

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