The Rev. Doctor John Conway Ropp, 89, of Raeford, died Friday, September 9 in his home.
He was born in Columbia, South Carolina on April 25, 1927 to the late George Holland Ropp and Miriam Coker Ropp. He was predeceased by his brothers, George H. Ropp, Jr., and Richard F. Ropp.
He grew up in Columbia, graduating from Dreher High School in 1944. He was one of the first radio "disc jockeys," working as an announcer at WCOS radio in Columbia for 15 years. After a year at the University of South Carolina, he enlisted in the Navy, serving for 16 months at the end of World War II. In June of 1948, he married the former Sarah Wilson Beaty. He graduated from Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina. He and Sarah and their four children moved to Decatur, Georgia in 1957 in order for him to attend Columbia Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1960 with a Master of Divinity degree. He later earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from McCormick Theological Seminary.
His home church was Arsenal Hill Presbyterian Church in Columbia. He served pastorates at Good Hope Presbyterian Church in Iva, South Carolina (1960-64), Kingston Presbyterian Church in Conway, (1964-1970), and Raeford Presbyterian Church (1970-90). He retired from the Raeford Presbyterian Church in 1990, going on to serve the Rex Presbyterian and Lumber Bridge Presbyterian churches for the next 16 years.
He is survived by his wife, Sarah, and their four children: John Conway Ropp, Jr. and his wife, Linda of Columbia, Robert Beaty Ropp and his wife, Kathy of Conway, Sarah Cecelia Ropp of Atlanta, Georgia, and Miriam Ropp McNeill and her husband, Neal of Raeford; five grandchildren: Sarah Ropp Cathcart and her husband, Robert, of Hickory Tavern, South Carolina, John C. Ropp III and his wife, Caroline of Hartsville, South Carolina, and Emily Ropp Terry and her husband, Joe of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina; and Elizabeth Cashwell McNeill and Katharine Beaty McNeill of Raeford; and 12 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, September 13, at 11:30 a.m. at Raeford Presbyterian Church with Rev. Dr. Robert D. Cathcart Jr. officiating. A private committal service will be conducted prior to visitation. Visitation will be held from 10 until 11:15 before the service at the church in John Conway Ropp Fellowship Hall. Memorials may be made to the Raeford Presbyterian Church Building Fund, PO Box 1570, 128 W. Edinborough Avenue, Raeford, NC 28376.
Online condolences may be made at www.crumplerfuneralhome.com