Harold Lerow Weatherby, Jr.
Harold Lerow Weatherby, Jr. fell asleep in the Lord on May 1, 2023, aged 89. He took the name “Andrew” when he converted to Orthodox Christianity in 1978, at the (then) small Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Nashville, TN. He was an unlikely addition to a community of Greek immigrants and their descendants, and a seemingly more unlikely major donor. As he passed from this world to life everlasting, he left a legacy gift to each of his beloved parishes. To Holy Trinity in Nashville, TN he bequeathed $900,000 for the iconographic program, and to Annunciation in Montgomery, AL he designated another $1,350,000 to the parish’s Annunciation Fund Trust as a permanent endowment.
“Hal,” as he was known to his friends, was a son of the South. He grew up in Montgomery, Alabama and his Nashville connection commenced when he matriculated at Vanderbilt University, graduating in 1956 as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his Master’s degree from Yale University in 1957, and was awarded his Ph.D. from the same illustrious institution in 1962, following a two-year hiatus to serve in the U.S. Army overseas.
Dr. Weatherby enjoyed a long and illustrious career as an English professor at Vanderbilt University from 1962 until 2006, teaching Shakespeare and becoming an internationally recognized expert in the works of the 16th Century English poet, Edmund Spencer. In 2006, Dr. Weatherby had the honor of presenting a lecture on him at Pembroke College – University of Cambridge, which was Edmund Spenser’s alma mater.
As a devout Christian of the Episcopalian Church, Hal was the co-founder of the Society for the Preservation of the Book of Common Prayer. In 1975, he appeared on William F. Buckley’s nationally broadcast “Firing Line” to debate proposed changes to the Episcopal Church’s Book of Common Prayer. However, his search for an authentic expression of the Gospel led him inexorably to Orthodox Christianity.
His decades long commitment to Orthodoxy was lived out in both Nashville at Holy Trinity, and in Montgomery at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church. He served both Parishes as a reader and was a fixture at virtually every Vespers and weekday Service. Although a lifelong bachelor, he became godfather to more than a dozen Faithful, and had an expansive spiritual family tree, whose branches are still flowering and bearing fruit. He was a generous and loyal steward to both parishes throughout his long and productive life. Additionally, his command of Ancient Greek was formidable, and he was a translator of many liturgical texts long before they became widely available. His book, Mirrors of Celestial Grace: Patristic Theology in Spenser’s Allegory, was a tour de force of research and ingenuity, and highlighted his great personal devotion to Saint George the Trophy-bearer (his original translation of the canons of the Feast of Saint George into English were of the highest quality).
He fell asleep in the Lord after a long life of service as a teacher of extraordinary academic stature, and a rich life as a deeply loved and respected member of his Church community. He is dearly missed by his church families and all his various friends who cherished knowing such a wonderful and honorable gentleman. His example of care and devotion to his local Church community is one to be emulated, for he did so with humility, generosity, and above all, faithfulness to the Sacred Tradition of Christian Orthodoxy. May his memory be eternal!
Author: George Anderson, Archon Maestros
Photo Credit: George Anderson, Archon Maestros
