Rev. Levi C. Glispie

Rev. Levi C. Glispie, 92 of Rock Island, died Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019 peacefully at his home.

A celebration of his life will be held on Monday, Dec. 23rd at 11 am at Second Baptist Church, Rock Island. Burial will be at the National Cemetery, Rock Island Arsenal. Visitation is 2 to 5 pm Sunday, Dec. 22nd at Second Baptist Church. Additional visitation will be 10 am until service time Monday at the church. Memorials may be made to Thy Loving Kindness Sock Ministry, and Peoples Baptist Church Food Pantry.

Rev. Glispie was born on March 3, 1927 in Preston, Miss., a son of Cornelius Neal Glispie and Mamie (Gathright) Glispie. After Mamie passed away when Levi was 6 months old, Neal married Carrie Crockett who loved and raised Levi as her own child. Levi accepted the Lord and was baptized at Oak Grove Church and attended Pine Grove School in Preston. He enlisted in the US Army Air Corps as a teenager and served our country for several years. He married Verna Langford in the late 1940s and had one son together. He married Willie B. Hudson on July 18, 1956 in Preston. They were married for nearly 60 years until she passed away on Dec. 29, 2015. Evangelist Sharon Hayslett befriended Rev. Glispie during the last years of his life and was at his side when he passed away.

Rev. Glispie “came up north” from Mississippi in the early 1950s. He worked at the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant until being transferred to the Rock Island Arsenal. He retired from the Arsenal in 1982 after 33 years of faithful service. He worked nights in the kitchen at Town & Country Bowling Lanes in Rock Island for many years.

Rev. Glispie graduated with a degree in Theology from the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, TN in 1977. He was ordained a minister in 1981 at New Hope Baptist Church in Davenport under Rev. Harold Toney. His first pastoral appointment occurred in 1986 at St. Paul AME in Moline under Presiding Elder Richard D. Smith. He pastored at St. Paul AME for 12 years while doing double duty at several other churches including: Bethel AME in Muscatine; Bethel AME in Kewanee; and St. James AME in Monmouth. In 1989, he became the pastor at Wayman AME in Rock Island and served there until his retirement from full-time ministry in 2012. After retirement he fellowshipped at Peoples Baptist Church in Rock Island, where the Rev. Willie Jones serves as pastor. Pastor Jones graciously allowed Rev. Glispie to minister monthly sermons until the last year of his life.

Rev. Glispie has officiated hundreds of weddings, funerals and baptisms. He comforted the sick and needy to the best of his abilities and was always a source of wisdom for family and friends. He enjoyed gardening, tinkering in his garage and following the stock market. However, his favorite activity was eating out with family and friends. He loved good food. He was a fixture at Bishop’s Buffett and other area restaurants.

Those left to cherish his memory include his son, Benford Glispie, Las Vegas; grandsons, Benford Glispie II, Aurora, Ill., and Benjamin Glispie, Plano, Texas; great-grandson, Romulus Glispie, Plano; daughter-in-law, Vernita Glispie, Plano; and a host of nieces, nephews and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents and stepmother; sisters and brothers, Sam Bell Glispie, Champ Glispie, Henry Glispie, Malikah “Mattie Glispie” Muhammad, and Katie “Musinah Hayden” Glispie.

Rev. Glispie will be gravely missed in the Quad-City Community.

Online condolences may be left at wheelanpressly.com.

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