Long time Rotarian Rev. Bill Ingersoll leaving Kilgore

Sammy D. York, president of the Kilgore Rotary Club, right, presents a book to the Rev. Bill Ingersoll, left, the guest speaker for the club Wednesday. Rev. Ingersoll, the Presbyterian minister in Kilgore for 18 years and a member of the Kilgore Rotary Club for about that long, will be moving to Libertyville, Ill., in December. The Rev. Bill Ingersoll, minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Kilgore for the past 18 years and a member of the Kilgore Rotary Club for about that long, was the guest speaker for Rotarians on Wednesday.

Rev. Ingersoll will leave Kilgore at the end of December to go to Libertyville, Ill. His wife, Roberta, is an education minister at a church there and he will be serving in a pulpit in the area, as well.

He began his presentation by thanking the members of the Kilgore Rotary Club for so many memories, so many friendships and so many good times. The local minister said he was in the Camden, Ark., club before coming to Kilgore, and since moving here he has enjoyed the many community activities the Rotary Club performs. Among his favorites are the flag program, the fish fry and the Scholar Athlete Banquet.

"We have helped many people in the time I have been here," he said of the Rotary Club. "I know this club will be blessed for many years because the members put their heart and souls into every project."

Rev. Ingersoll moved to Kilgore from Arkansas 18 years ago and began his time at First Presbyterian the week the first Gulf War started.

"I had to tear up the sermon I had planned for my first Sunday morning and come up with some comments on that front," he said.

Rev. Ingersoll said Kilgore has been wonderful for him, his wife and his two children, Lori and John.

"Lori was in kindergarten when we moved here and John was 2," he said. "So our kids were raised here and love it. This town has been wonderful for us."

Lori is now a speech teacher and debate team coach in the Houston area, and John is in his second year at Texas State University in San Marcos.

The longtime Presbyterian minister — he has 29 years of ministry at three locations— devoted most of his time to telling humorous church stories. Most of them involved pastoral sermons or church giving or things related.

He also gave a short inspirational sermon on Thanksgiving, ending his comments by saying we need to give thanks for each other and give thanks to God.

In other Rotary news, the Rotarians will hand out flags at the Christmas Parade Tuesday night. They will be near the front of the parade and pass out small American flags to children lined up along the parade route. They are expecting 10 to 15 people to hand out 4,000 flags.

Wednesday is the annual Rangerette luncheon, so club members will meet at the Charles K. Devall Student Center on the Kilgore College campus for lunch. The week after that, they will return to Meadowbrook Country Club to meet in their regular place.

The Kilgore Rotary Club meets each Wednesday at noon in the ballroom of the Meadowbrook Country Club. Guests are always welcome.