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Denny C. Wise
My husband, Denny C. Wise, is the author of Sugar-Free Religion. It was his prayer that this book might bring a little light into the midst of our darkness. He grew up in Manteo, N...view moreMy husband, Denny C. Wise, is the author of Sugar-Free Religion. It was his prayer that this book might bring a little light into the midst of our darkness. He grew up in Manteo, North Carolina and thus began his love of all things coastal. During Denny’s formative years, church was an important part of his life. He knew all the bible stories and could answer all the questions posed to him by Sunday school teachers. He was living an idyllic life as a beach bum until, at age 10, his father, a butcher, put down his cleaver and picked up a Bible becoming a United Methodist minister. Denny hated the “fish bowl” aspect of parsonage life and vowed once he left, never to return. Then he took a religion course at North Carolina Wesleyan and the professor questioned everything his students held sacred. Finally, one day near the end of the semester, the professor said something in class that bothered Denny, so he made an appointment with him. The professor responded to Denny’s question, “At last, I thought nothing bothered you.” So the professor and he sorted through Denny’s beliefs until they discovered a core that Denny knew nothing could shake. He began to build his theology. He took more religion courses and by the time he graduated, he knew what he wanted to do with his life and he knew the direction he wanted to go with his theology. He went first to Candler School of Theology at Emory University in GA for one year; finishing his last two years at Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC. Denny and I were married in 1967, just before his final year at Duke. Be sure and read “our” story in the book. Denny graduated with such excitement. He knew (as did I) that everyone who heard him would become a believer, but it didn’t work quite that way. Don’t misunderstand me, many, many people came to believe because of what Denny had to say. Denny served as a parish minister for 40 years, delivering his message of “relational theology” both from the pulpit and in his daily life. He retired in 2006 and we moved to Graham, NC. In 1999, he was diagnosed with Lymphoma and lived with the disease and the chemotherapy that goes with it for 14 years. In all of those years, he never missed a single Sunday worship service or meeting because of his illness. At the beginning of 2013, the disease took a more vehement turn and Denny did battle for almost a year, but in December we knew the disease was winning and he died on December 19, 2013. Denny and I have one son, Patrick, wife, Christie and grandsons, Cameron, Jose and Connor who live in Norcross, GA. We will never be the same as we were before the loss of Denny Wise, but we are ever so much better for having had something so GREAT to lose. (Paraphrased from Leigh Standley 2010, Curly Girl Design, Inc.) ---Judy Wiseview less