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Jerry Kirksey and Kenny Gates among 2011 SGMA Hall of Fame inductees

Jerry Kirksey
 

Southern Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame member Lou Wills-Hildreth inducts Jerry Kirksey into the SGMA Hall of Fame recently in Dollywood. (Photo: Randall Franks)

Jerry Kirksey of Boone, NC attended his induction into the Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame at Dollywood recently in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
“Jerry began working in radio  during his junior year of high school,” said Charlie Waller, executive director. “After graduation he moved back to Panama City  and worked at radio station  WTHR. He returned to Pensacola  and began working for the Florida Boys in March 1960, a nationally recognized Southern gospel quartet .
“His job at that time was radio  promotions and office manager for the quartet,” he said. “J.G. Whitfield , owner of the Florida Boys quartet, and Jerry founded the Singing News magazine in May 1969. Businessman Maurice Templeton of Boone, NC advertised his Southern Gospel  music cruises in the Singing News  for several years and then purchased the magazine  from J.G. Whitfield and moved it to Boone  in July 1987.
“Jerry was the editor  of Singing News magazine  from its inception in 1969 til his retirement in 2010,” he said. “He has been involved in the Southern Gospel  industry for over 45 years.”
Legacy Five played tribute to him by performing their hit “Just Stand.”
“Well, I got a sad story to tell:  I don’t sing. I don’t write music. I don’t play an instrument. I can’t read music.
I talked to the Lord about that and He said, ‘OK, I will give you something to do in Southern Gospel music that does not require any of those things,’” Kirksey said. “I have been in Southern gospel since 1960 and I have never been to work a day in my life. God has blessed beyond words.
“There are so many people involved with what has happened in my lifetime,” he said. “You don’t accomplish these things by yourself. You accomplish these things by the energy and work of literally hundreds of people over the years.”
Kirksey highlighted his appreciation to J.G. and Hazel Whitfield. Read more »