Church Celebrates Two 'Exceptional People'

For more than half-a-century Marion and Bertha Gonce have been faithful parishioners at Christ Church, South Pittsburg.

The couple were confirmed as adults in 1946 and immediately became involved in the life of their new church home. And the involvement has been continued by their children and grandchildren.

The Gonces were recently honored by the church on the 55th anniversary of their confirmation and also for their birthdays. Mr. Gonce is 88, his wife 86.

The Rev. John H. Bonner III, Christ Church rector, called the couple to the front of the church during a service on Sunday March 4, and read a congratulatory letter from the Rt. Rev. Charles G. vonRosenberg, third Bishop of the Diocese of East Tennessee.

"Our parish is very fortunate to have some members as faithful as Marion and Bertha," Bonner said. "They are exceptional people."

The couple are not only exceptional as church members. They are exceptional, too, in the longevity of their marriage -- 66 years.

"When people come to me for marriage counseling, I tell them they should be talking to Marion and Bertha, not me," Bonner said.

The Gonces moved to South Pittsburg in 1934 to farm and work their timberland. They attended different churches before the late Leslie Lodge got them interested in Christ Church. "We just started going and decided this church was where we wanted to continue to worship," Bertha Gonce said.

Christ Church didn’t have a full-time rector when the Gonces were confirmed but was served by a priest from Sewanee, the Rev. Bayard Jones. Marion Gonce and the couple’s three children, Barbara Clepper, Carolyn Leroy and Donald Gonce, were baptized in the same service where the couple was confirmed. The children were also confirmed at Christ Church when they reached the appropriate age.

The Gonces took part in many aspects of parish life. Marion Gonce served several terms on the vestry and one term as senior warden. "For a long time the (Episcopal) church didn’t think women should be on the vestry and we didn’t have enough men to go around," he said. So male members often served more than one term.

When women were permitted to serve on vestries, Bertha Gonce did her time on the Christ Church vestry, too. She was also active in the Altar Guild and the Women of the Church, held offices in both organizations and taught Sunday School.

The Gonces’ daughters were married at Christ Church as were their son’s two daughters, Donna Lawson and Deena Brown.

Lawson and her husband Tom and Brown and her husband Jere are Christ Church members.

"It means a lot to have such a wonderful family," said Bonner.

"We have had a lot of friends in this church," Marion Gonce said. "We are closely connected."