Note: Mr. Fred West died June 14, 2025, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where he and wife Joy had retired. Visitation and funeral services will be Saturday, June 21, at Beaver Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Powell. Full obituary here.

Fred West, long-time member of Beaver Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church, retired as an elementary school principal, completed studies for CP ordination through the Program of Alternate Studies, and was serving a small church near Jefferson City.

The Beaver Creek church hired him to be visitation pastor.

Fred E. West Jr.

“My only request to him was that he spoil the senior citizens,” said Dr. Tom Campbell, then primary pastor. “And he did. He was a faithful and effective visitor in the many homes where our seniors lived.

“You could set your clock – and calendar – by his work. He spoiled our seniors and he spoiled me.”

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Fred found no special difficulty in the transition from school leader to church leader.

“For one thing, I had been doing both for a few years and, perhaps more importantly, I always viewed my public-school work as a type of ministry.

“I recall a mother who came in to discuss her concerns about transferring her child from a church-related school. She said, ‘We have had him in a Christian school.’

“My answer was, ‘Well, as far as I have anything to do with it, this is a Christian school as well.’”

There never was any doubt that Fred West knew who he was.

“I have preached a few sermons about my basic beliefs and I always include these in my prayers when I speak or sing at places like Shannondale and Elmcroft.

“God has promised from the Old Testament and the New that He will never leave us or forsake us. Since God always keeps His promises, we can be assured that we will never have to experience or face anything all alone. He will be there to comfort and strengthen us, whatever may come.

“We are assured that ‘nothing can separate us from the love of God.’”

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The Beaver Creek congregation and hundreds of others appreciated the Rev. West’s rare musical talent. His favorite songs were ‘His Eye is on the Sparrow’ and ‘How Great Thou Art.’

“I also like ‘He Touched Me,’ ‘Fell on My Knees’, ‘The Lord’s Prayer,’ ‘The Holy City’ and the ‘Stranger of Galilee.’

“Songs I like keep coming to mind.”

Fred West took his inspirational or comforting words and songs to people who couldn’t make it to church for messages and music. Some visits to residences and nursing homes were predictable. Some offered surprises.

Fred smiled when he recalled weekly visits with Oscar Evans after he voluntarily stopped driving – for the safety of the neighborhood.

“Oscar liked for me to feel useful. One day he told me that he needed to go to Vaughn’s Pharmacy to get a prescription refilled. He handed me a bottle so I would know what he was talking about.

“The date it was first filled was one week earlier, but the bottle was nearly empty. It was a tonic for increasing his appetite, one small dose before meals.

“I said, ‘Oscar, have you been following the directions?’

“He said, ‘Well, no. I’ve just been taking a sip whenever I pass by.’

“I looked at the bottle more closely and saw that it was 25 per cent alcohol.”

Oscar Evans did not drink. That was an established fact. But he was glad to see Fred West and to have his help. He was running a little short of appetizer tonic.