It wasn't exactly a move of biblical proportions, but it was biblical. Like other followers of Jesus, David Usrey stopped what he was doing to answer a divine call. In 2003 he left his corporate job and moved his family to France to go into full-time ministry.
It was a radical move but it had to be done, said Kathy Miller Usrey, his wife of 29 years, who now lives in Marietta.
And it wasn't a glamorous move, said friend and former boss, Jim Norton, of Duluth.
“He went from making good money in sales and marketing with a nice house, to life in a small apartment with his family so he could do the work he felt like he was supposed to do,” Mr. Norton said. “Not many people are called like that, and respond to their call like that.”
Mr. and Mrs. Usrey, who met while attending college in Texas, often discussed expanding what they did with youth through their church, Johnson Ferry Baptist. They talked about the idea as something they would take up during their retirement years, when their three children were grown.
“But David said maybe the time is for now and not for later,” said Mrs. Usrey.
David Alan Usrey, of Marietta, died Wednesday at home after battling brain tumors over the past three years. He was 50. His body was cremated and a service is planned for 3 p.m. Monday at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. SouthCare Cremation Society and Memorial Centers, Alpharetta, is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Usrey, a Texas native, started his career in the gas and oil business. When the couple moved to Atlanta in 1985, he switched careers and went into internet sales and marketing.
While still in the corporate arena, Mr. Usrey worked in his calling to win souls for Christ, Mr. Norton said. Before the two met, Mr. Norton identified most closely with beliefs held by agnostics and atheists. But after the two met, Mr. Norton accepted Christ.
“There was something special about David, I just don’t know how to describe it,” said Mr. Norton, of Duluth.
In 2001, after taking a job with another sales company, Mr. Usrey began to explore what he felt God was calling him to do. By 2003 the couple, with two children in tow, headed to France to work full-time for Young Life, an organization that ministers exclusively to youth.
The family had to return to the states in 2009 after Mr. Usrey was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The peach-sized tumor was removed and six months later, he returned to France to work for Young Life, where he was an area director. He also served as youth pastor of Emmanuel International Church in Rueil-Malmaison, approximately 30 minutes northwest of Paris. A second tumor brought him back to the states in 2010. He had a second surgery to remove a lemon-sized tumor from his brain, but was unable to return to France.
Mrs. Usrey, who took over her husband's position as area director for Young Life 17 months ago, and their youngest daughter Tiffany Usrey, of Marietta, who has been on staff for the past five years, both plan to return to France to continue the family's ministry work.
“He was very excited that we were going to return,” she said. “He wanted me to do what the Lord led me to do, no matter where that may be.”
In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Usrey is also survived by another daughter, Kinser Euler of Acworth; son David A. Usrey Jr., of Marietta; father, Dr. David C. Usrey, of Dallas, Texas; sister Debby Haynie of Aledo, Texas; and one grandson.
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