Death of Reverend Dr. Richard Sales, former missionary to Zambia, Botswana, and South Africa

Death of Reverend Dr. Richard Sales, former missionary to Zambia, Botswana, and South Africa

Global Ministries is saddened to learn of the death of The Reverend Doctor Richard (Dick) Winton Sales on August 30, 2012, in Birmingham, Alabama.

1931-2012

Global Ministries is saddened to learn of the death of The Reverend Doctor Richard (Dick) Winton Sales on August 30, 2012, in Birmingham, Alabama.

Dr. Sales was born September 16, 1931, in Syracuse, New York, the son of Mark Bishop Sales, Sr. and Evelyn Lillian Reichert.  He graduated from Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio) in 1953 and earned his Master of Divinity at Chicago Theological Seminary in 1956.

Dick met and married Jane Claire Magorian in 1956.  The couple were assigned to a South African mission in 1957 by the United Church of Christ’s American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, a predecessor of Wider Church Ministries, and worked there until 1971.  He and Jane did further graduate study in Chicago earning their doctorates in theology and history respectively.  They returned to Africa, assigned to the Republic of Botswana when their visas for South Africa were denied.  Shortly thereafter Jane was diagnosed with cancer and they returned to the United States for treatment, but Jane died in 1974 after they returned to Botswana.

In 1975 Dick married Nancy Anne Magorian, and the two spent the next decade working for the mission board in both Botswana and Zambia where he was instrumental in developing programs in theological education by extension in southern Africa.  Dick and Nancy came back to the US and he took a position with the Christian Council of Metropolitan Atlanta in 1986, serving as interim pastor in Birmingham and Chattanooga churches.  Dick was called to Pilgrim Church United Church of Christ in Birmingham in September 1988, where he served until September 1997.  For the next several years Dick served on the staff of the Southeast Conference, United Church of Christ in the development of theological education by extension, “Theology Among the People,” based on the principles of the programs in Botswana and Zambia. He had also helped the Alabama Region of the Disciples of Christ begin a similar program of training for church leadership. Following his retirement he remained active with Greater Birmingham Ministries and as a member of First Congregational United Church of Christ and Beloved Community Church, United Church of Christ. Dick and Nancy continued to live in Birmingham until his death.

Dick is survived by his wife, Nancy M. Sales; his children Mark Irving, Anne Evelyn, and James Robertson; his granddaughters Brittany Jane Medosch, Eden Claire Sales, and Tara Lindsey Sales; his brother, Mark Bishop Sales, Jr.; and his nieces and nephew, Kathleen Elizabeth Sales, Mara Lynn Sales Street, and James Gregory Sales.

Memorial service will be held Sunday, September 23, at 3:00 p.m. at First Congregational Church United Church of Christ, 1024 Center Street North, Birmingham.  In lieu of flowers, gifts in memory of Dr. Sales may be made to: Global Ministries (www.globalministries.org), 700 Prospect Avenue E., Cleveland, OH 44115-1100.   The Kgolagano College of Theological Education by Extension in Botswana established the Dr. Richard Sales Bursary Fund to provide scholarship support for its students in 2002 and gifts to that Fund are welcome through Global Ministries. Contributions to:  Greater Birmingham Ministries, 2304-12th Avenue North, Birmingham, AL 35234; or Magic City Harvest, 3728-4th Terrace North, Birmingham, AL 35222 are also welcome.

Messages of condolence can be sent to Ms. Nancy M. Sales, 705 47th Way S, Birmingham, AL 35222-3435.

Read the Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ tribute to Dr. Richard Sales