Harvey Ray Cummings

Harvey was born February 26, 1932, in Memphis, to the late Louis Dewitt and Ada Mae Smith Cummings. He is preceded in death by two brothers Louis Francis and Edgar Lee Cummings and two sisters Mae Louise Powell and Laura Virginia Wyatt.

He is survived by his wife, Helen King Cummings, the love of his life; sister, Anita Grace Blakley; nephews Louis Dotson (Sue) and Jeff Wyatt (Anita); nieces Kathy Cummings Alford, Judy Cummings Lee, June Haile (Kenneth), Laura Taylor (Mike); King family--brother-in-law, Kenneth King (Anne) and sister-in-law, Lois King as well as many nieces and nephews-in-law; Godchild, Campbell Garber.

Harvey was a graduate of Humes High School in Memphis with B. S. and M.S. degrees in Accounting from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He was a veteran of the US Army, serving at the end of the Korean War in Seoul, Korea. He began his accounting career with General Electric in Schenectady, NY then to Cincinnati. Homesick for the south, he began his 26-yr career with South Central Bell (now AT&T) as Operations Manager-Cost Accounting. After retirement, he became a Discussion Leader in the men’s Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) for 13 years. He enjoyed his fitness program at Vanderbilt’s Dayani Center and worked with the exceptional staff and friends who encouraged each other to exercise and to achieve the best quality of life even through illness and disabilities. He was our hero, friend, mentor, and a true Southern Gentleman.

Harvey was a member of Christ Presbyterian Church and will be remembered for his gentle smile, gracious ways, and loving-kindness with a passion for the Bible and as prayer leader for Kingdom Seekers Sunday School class for 16 years.

Visitation with the family will be from four until seven in the evening, Thursday, January 9, 2020, Woodlawn-Roesch Patton Funeral Home. Interment will be at ten o'clock in the morning, Friday, Woodlawn Cemetery. A memorial service will be conducted at eleven-thirty in the morning, Friday, January 10, 2020, Christ Presbyterian Church with Dr. Charles McGowan officiating. Pallbearers will be family and friends.

His family requests memorial contributions be made to Christ Presbyterian Church, The Benevolence Fund, 2323 Old Hickory Blvd., Nashville, TN 37215, and wants to express their gratitude for the many expressions of kindness, caring, compassion, and helpfulness during Harvey’s extended illness with special thanks to Dr. Hyatt D. Sutton, staff of Woodcrest at Blakeford, caregivers of Brookdale Green Hills, and Insa Dabo. Harvey was “like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.”