Mr. Joseph Wright, Sr. was born May 17, 1925 in the “Red Land Community”, Elmore County, Alabama, to the late Ocie and Mary Claybon Wright. He was the fifteenth child of sixteen children.
Joseph confessed Christ at an early age and united with Rehoberth Baptist Church, Tallassee, Alabama. He later united with the Mt. Hillard Missionary Baptist Church with his mother, Mary Wright. After returning back to Macon County, Downs, AL, Joseph was ordained as a deacon at Mt. Hillard Missionary Baptist Church. At his death, he was the oldest deacon at Mt. Hillard Missionary Baptist Church. Deacon Wright served faithfully in this position until his health failed. Deacon Wright was a sharing and giving person. He helped Union Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church by serving as a Deacon there until Mt. Hillard became a full service church. He could sing, pray and he shared that God given blessing wherever he entered a house of worship. He made it known that he was a child of God by his serving and he honored the charge given to him. Deacon Wright loved to sing in his teens, he and his siblings formed a gospel group when he moved to Kentucky. When he moved to Kentucky, he and his siblings formed a gospel group “The Spiritual Aires” of Kentucky. In his middle twenties, he met and married, Ms. Johnnie Mae Stevens. He and his family moved to Kentucky in the early 1950s. Upon his arrival in Kentucky, he united with Bethel Baptist Church in Anchorage, Kentucky.
On January 11, 2016 at 3:30 p.m., in Jackson Hospital Room 327, Montgomery, AL, Deacon Wright heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto Me and rest.” He closed his weary eyes and entered into eternal bliss. He was also preceded in death by one daughter, Dorothy Jean Holmes; one grandson, Tommie Lee Wright, Jr.; seven brothers and eight sisters.
Deacon Wright will live on in the life of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He leaves to celebrate his life, his daughters: Mary K. Holmes-Floyd, Mt. Meigs, AL, Etta Marie, Loretta, Minnie Wright, Felecia Dixion, all of Louisville, KY, Carla Byrts, Tuskegee, AL, Valerie Byrts, Fort Davis, AL, Dedria Byrts, Cotton Valley, AL and Cheryl Byrts, Fayetteville, NC; sons: Joseph (Elaine) Wright, Jr., Dallas, TX, Tommie Lee (Johnnie) Wright, Sr., Union Springs, AL, James A. Wright, Phoenix, AZ, Lynn Wright, Keith Wright and Tyrone Wright, all of Louisville, KY, Willie Byrts, Union Springs, AL and Corporal Rudolph Byrts, Montgomery, AL; forty-two grandchildren, thirty-two great-grandchildren; two daughters-in-law, two sisters-in-law, two brothers-in-law; a dear and devoted friend: Mozell Byrts; along with a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.