Lela ‘Bo' Buice, 94: Matriarch at First Baptist Roswell

Before 1979, Sunday school classes at First Baptist Roswell were segregated by gender.

Men attended their own classes; women attended theirs.

When then-pastor the Rev. Brantley Seymour moved to combine the classes, he turned to one of the church matriarchs.

Lela Buice had been a church member since 1947.  She had taught a Sunday school class for young married women for years. She'd been a popular fifth-grade teacher at Roswell Elementary School. In all, she was a fine Christian woman wrapped in faith, spirituality, the message.

Still, grumblings arose. Some didn't cotton to the notion of men and women attending the same Sunday school class. Yet Mrs. Buice made church history. That was the first time.

In 1989, she made church history again. Mrs. Buice became the first female deacon at First Baptist Roswell. She garnered more votes than two men up for the post.

"She was awed by that," said her daughter-in-law, MaryEm West Byce of Roswell. "She knew it was a large responsibility, but if any lady was fit for the position, she was."

Jan Moore of Roswell called her a trailblazer.

"You didn't find many Baptist churches with female deacons," she said. "She blazed the way at our church for women's leadership. She was definitely one of those who blazed the trail for us."

On Tuesday, the trailblazer died of natural causes at North Fulton Hospital. She was 94. The funeral for Lela "Bo" Buice will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at First Baptist Roswell. Roswell Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Buice was born in Chattanooga but grew up in Buford. Her late father, the Rev. Horace Cleveland Whitener, had been called to serve as pastor of that town's First Baptist Church.

In 1947, she moved to Roswell with her husband, the late Ervin Luther Buice, and her son, the late Ervin Luther Buice II.  Her husband ran a hardware store; Mrs. Buice, a University of Georgia grad, taught at Roswell Elementary. The family made First Baptist Roswell their church home.

Linda Mansell Martin of Ellijay said Mrs. Buice became her "spiritual mentor" shortly after Mrs. Martin's mother died.

"My mother planted the seeds in my life, but Bo Buice, mainly, watered those seeds," Mrs. Martin said. "I adore her."

Mrs. Martin said church leaders would have been hard-pressed to bypass Mrs. Buice. Her inherent leadership abilities and spirituality were hard to ignore.

"She came from a wonderful Christian home," Mrs. Martin said, "and she grew up with so many gifts and talents, and she used them. The church is bad about putting men in leadership roles, sometimes, when women are more gifted. In this case, she was the gifted one."

Besides her husband, Mrs. Buice outlived her parents, a son, sister and brother.