David Edwin Harrell, Jr.

Dr. Harrell was a native of Jacksonville, born on February 22, 1930. His parents were Dr. David Edwin Harrell, Sr. and Mildred Lee Harrell.

He was preceded in death by his parents and sisters, Marilyn Harrell Hardage (Robert) and Elinor Harrell, and by two sons, John Stephen and Harold Robert.

He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Adelia Roberts Harrell and four children - Mildred Harrell Harris, Woodbridge, Virginia, David Edwin Harrell, III, Tampa, Florida, Elizabeth Harrell Roberts (Russ), Ponte Vedra, Florida, and Lee Harrell Carter (Tony), Wiesbaden, Germany. He is also survived by eight grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, two nieces, and two nephews.

Dr. Harrell attended the U.S. Naval Academy and David Lipscomb College before earning his Ph.D. at Vanderbilt University. He taught as a teaching fellow at Vanderbilt for four years and began his full-time teaching career at East Tennessee State University. He went on to teach at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, the University of Georgia in Athens, the University of Alabama in Birmingham, the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, and ended his career as the Daniel Breeden Eminent Scholar at Auburn University from 1990 to 2005 in Auburn, Alabama.

During his career, he authored eight books, one of which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, co-authored several books including Unto a Good Land, a college textbook, and wrote for a number of journals, encyclopedias, etc. As a noted expert in the field of American religious history, Dr. Harrell made numerous television appearances and was frequently contacted by media members for additional insights and historical commentary.

Dr. Harrell taught as a Senior Fulbright Lecturer from 1976 to 1977 at Allahabad University in Allahabad, India. He returned to India in 1993 as the Director of the American Studies Research Center in Hyderabad where he served in that position until 1995. Both residencies were through the Fulbright Program.

He lectured for the State Department in numerous countries in Asia and Africa. As a result of this work, he was listed in Who’s Who in the World.

An avid golfer with a handicap of six, Dr. Harrell played on five continents and at the highest golf course in the world in East Sikkim, India in the Himalayan Mountains.

Dr. Harrell’s travels in his professional capacity allowed him to work in what he considered the most important of his life’s labors: preaching the gospel, edifying the saints worldwide, and establishing New Testament churches in the farthest corners of the globe. His love for God and his love for his fellow man motivated him to work diligently to spread the news of salvation through Christ. This was the work that defined him. He was one of five men who founded and edited Christianity Magazine for seventeen years. His greatest desire was to be a humble servant. Baptized into the Lord’s body at the age of 13, he was a constant worker in a local church of Christ wherever he found himself. Most recently, he was a member of the South Jacksonville church of Christ on Parental Home Road.

A graveside service will be held at 2pm, Thursday, March 18, 2021 in Mandarin Cemetery. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Indian Christian Evangelization Fund, P.O. Box 3397, Ponte Vedra, Florida, 32004, or Florida College, 119 N. Glen Arven Ave, Temple Terrace, Florida, 33617.

Arrangements by Hardage-Giddens Oaklawn Chapel, 904-737-7171. Please sign the guestbook at www.hardagegiddensoaklawnchapel.com.