MONTICELLO — Lawrence County lost one of its most prominentguiding lights Thursday.

After 55 years of serving as a leader in the county’s spiritualand communal growth, the Rev. Frank Elbert Sellers died of cancerThursday at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg.

Funeral services are Saturday at the church he pastored sinceits inception in 1947, Monticello Methodist Protestant Church.Burial will be in Bethshan Cemetery.

Sellers, 72, was born in Brooklyn, Miss., Sept. 23, 1927, toCharles and Virl Martin Sellers. He was one of ten children.

He often said he knew his calling in life was to preach thegospel since he was 14 years old. At the young age of 18, with onlynine months of preaching experience, Sellers moved to LawrenceCounty in 1945 to assume duties as the pastor of Divide MethodistProtestant Church. He brought his wife, Elgie, with him.

It didn’t take long for Sellers to make his mark in countyhistory. Two years later, Monticello Methodist Protestant Churchwas organized under his leadership. The first church was completedon Robinwood Road in 1948.

Fourteen years later, in 1961, the present brick church wasbuilt on Highway 27 South. The church continued to grow over theyears and in 1987 the F.E. Sellers Christian Life Center was builton the church grounds.

Sellers not only guided his church to prominence, but workedactively to promote the county and ensure its growth. He was amember of the Exchange Club and a volunteer firefighter with theMonticello Fire Department.

The pastor’s commitment to the county’s spiritual and communalgrowth did not go unrecognized. State, county and town officialshonored him on July 15, 1998, for his years of service to the areaby renaming Old Highway 27 South as F.E. Sellers Highway.

District 1 Supervisor Carey Hedgepeth and Mayor David Nicholsmade the original presentations to their respective boards to seethe highway named in his honor.

“Brother Sellers came to Lawrence County 51 years ago and hasserved his church well,” Hedgepeth said during the ceremony. “Hehas been a pastor not only to his church but to the county. Icannot think of a more deserving person.”

Nichols echoed those sentiments at the ceremony.

“Brother Sellers is involved in the community,” he said. “Thisman needed to be honored, should be honored, and we are pleased todo so.”

Sellers said during the ceremony he had much to be thankful forand would strive to the see the honor was deserved.

“I love Monticello and Lawrence County,” he said. “I have knownmany of you all your lives. I thank you very much for giving methis honor. I will always try to make you proud that you have namedthis highway after me. I will never forget this day.”

Many residents of the county would say Sellers never had toworry about making them proud. His everyday actions served as atestimony that the honor had been well earned.

Sellers was preceded in death by his parents and a son, TimothyFrank Sellers.

He is survived by his wife, Elgie Miller Sellers; a daughter,Jane Russell, both of Monticello; three brothers, Dan Sellers,Wiley Sellers and Charles Sellers, all of Brooklyn; five sisters,Eunice Hagan of Hattiesburg, Lessie Carmichael of Newton, Ina FayMiller of Petal, Mary Swilley of Wiggins and Bethel Swilley ofBlouncstown, Fla.; two grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; andone step-great-grandchild.