Pastor, wife remembered after fatal accident
LAKE COUNTY, Tenn. — Church members at Wynnburg Baptist Church in Lake County are remembering their pastor, Larry Byassee, and his wife, Shirley, after they were killed Sunday afternoon in a two-car collision. “They were two great people, and I loved them both,” church member Bonnie McClain said. Members at Wynnburg Baptist Church said they are left heartbroken. “We’re still in shock because the last time that we really said goodbye to them, we thought they were going to be in Nashville today,” church member Evelyn Norris said. Members of the church said Brother Larry announced during Sunday Morning’s service it would be his final one there and he and his wife Shirley were moving to Nashville to be closer to her doctor. “When we said goodbye to him, well then within an hour and a half we had heard about the accident,” Norris said. “We all hugged him, didn’t think about it being our last hug,” McClain said. According to the Tennessee Highway Patrol, three others were hurt in the Highway 78 accident. Members of the church said the Byassee’s daughter and son-in-law also were in the car and were reportedly transported to The Med in Memphis. Evelyn Norris teaches Sunday school at the church and said Pastor Larry has been there for six years. “Our whole church, as of last night, we met again and we told different things about Brother Larry,” Norris said. Church member Bonnie McClain said God took two angels. “The Lord just had something better for them to do.” Norris said she knows Brother Larry will continue to bless them. “How that God blessed us, was saying ‘bye’ that we did not know that we were actually saying ‘bye’ to him the last time.” There are no reports yet on the condition of the three injured. Church members said arrangements for Larry and Shirley Byassee have not yet been made.
