The Reverend Eddie Jackson Ard died on September 4, 2019 at Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Georgia. Eddie was a retired priest resident in the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta.
Eddie was born October 23, 1956 in Manchester, Georgia, the younger son of the Reverend Sylvester Hobson Ard and Lovie Christine Hunter. He graduated from Manchester High School and entered Presbyterian College at the age of 16, ultimately majoring in religion. He was a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, active in college choir and student volunteer services and edited the student newspaper for two years before receiving his Bachelor of Arts Degree.
After college, Eddie worked in Manchester and in Atlanta, a member of Zion Episcopal Church, Talbotton and The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany in Decatur. From Epiphany he became a Postulant for Holy Orders and received his Master of Divinity Degree from Virginia Theological Seminary.
Ordained in the Episcopal Church, Eddie served as an Associate Rector of Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church in Atlanta. He served as Rector of Grace Church, Anniston, Alabama; Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia; and St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, Atlanta Georgia. When he retired from St. Anne’s, he moved to the Rome, Georgia area.
During his years of active ministry in two dioceses, Eddie served variously as a Deputy to General Convention, a member of the Commission on Ministry and Dean of the North Atlanta Convocation.
He is survived by his son, Jackson Patrick Ard, daughter-in-law Stephanie, grandson Andrew and ex-wife JoAnn Patrick Ard. Additional survivors include brother Roger, sister-in-law Elizabeth and nephews Thomas Hunter Ard and John Wesley Jones, and his friend Shan Sanders.
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