The Black Mountain/Swannanoa Ministerial Association sponsor the service “in an effort to offer healing and closure to the community, and to celebrate the lives of Leslie and Allen,” the Rev. Scott Oxford said. Oxford is pastor of the host church.
The event is also a fundraiser to raise funds for a planned public memorial to the couple in the new Black Mountain Town Square.
From the Citizen-Times:
“The clergy of the community have been very aware of the sense of loss and grief to many of our parishioners, and to the whole Swannanoa Valley, at the sudden deaths of the Cargiles,” Oxford said. “We feel that a communitywide observance is more than appropriate.”
The Rev. Steve Runholt, pastor of Warren Wilson Presbyterian Church, agreed, saying, “I think, given the circumstances of their deaths, it is really vital for us to provide this opportunity for people to celebrate the memory of the Cargiles and, of course, to mourn their loss — and we feel it acutely.”
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Oxford said community members have discussed how they can best remember the Cargiles on a long-term basis, and it has been decided that the best way to honor them is with a permanent memorial at the new Black Mountain Town Square.
That project, still in the fundraising stage, will include green space, parking, a marketplace, concert space, restrooms and other amenities on the site at the corner of U.S. 70 and Montreat Road, said Kelly Stephenson, parish administrator at St. James Episcopal.
Read the whole article here.
From the church’s website:
Memorial Service for Dr. Leslie Cargile and Allen Cargile
The community of Black Mountain is invited to a memorial service to honor Leslie and Allen Cargile. This service is sponsored by the Black Mountain/Swannanoa Ministerial Association in an effort to offer healing and closure to the community, and to celebrate the lives of Leslie and Allen. The service will be held at St. James Episcopal Church on Sunday, October 21 at 4pm. A reception will be provided by the Black Mountain Welcome Table. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Leslie and Allen can be made to the Black Mountain Town Square project.
St. James Episcopal is at 424 West State Street in Black Mountain.
2 Comments
I really fail to see the merit in this. It is obvious that their family does not want it. We know nothing of their deaths (which were tragic, apparently, but a lot of unanswered questions). I had known her for more than 20 years. Her behavior with me was always professional but I could very much off the record say some unflattering things about her professional conduct. I think the town should put their focus into honoring the civic leaders who have put far more into the well being of the town than Leslie & Alan Cargile.
Why haven’t our local newspapers been able to do some serious investigative reporting on the deaths of the Cargiles and give us some deeper understanding of this sad event?