Francis Kyle III, a minister who was active in the civic organization Weldon in Action, died this morning in a motorcycle crash on Highway 301 near the intersection of Washington Avenue, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
“I got a call early this morning and like other people I was just in shock,” said Alice Irby, a cofounder of WIA along with former Mayor Julia Meacham and others. “I still am. It’s just hard for me to believe that that happened. I thought the world of him. To me he was an extraordinary human being.”
Irby called Kyle a true man of God. “He was not just a pastor of Weldon Baptist Church, but he was a minister to just about everybody he met, whether in Weldon or some distant place.”
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Kyle began his pastoral duties at New Bethllehem Baptist Church in Roanoke Rapids before going to Weldon.
For WIA, Kyle was creative. “He took the initiative in establishing our Weldon Heritage Speakers Series, which is one of the outstanding programs that we have,” she said.
Kyle was also on the committee to work on the Ralph J. Bunche Commemorative Park and introduced Irby to Florine Bell, a local minister and historian who has been working towards a new Lincoln Heights Community Center and has become a strong member of WIA. “When I called her today she was as shocked as the rest of us.”
Irby said, “I think just about everybody that knew him loved him. He was not just a minister among people, he was also a very scholarly person. He brought such a presence to everything. He was creative, he was energetic, he was reliable, he was dependable. He was unlike anybody else that I knew because he had such broad interests. He was such a committed Christian and he was scholarly in his pursuits.”
Irby said that Kyle last summer gave a paper in Cambridge, England. “He had articles in scholarly journals. He learned a lot of history and knew a lot of history — not just about Halifax County. He went everywhere. He would send me notes saying he was in Richmond today at such and such and such a place. He went everywhere to learn everything he could. He was a student, a scholar but he shared everything.”
What made Kyle remarkable was that he was a giving person, she said. “He was a person of many talents. I think of him as really a man for all seasons.”
Kyle would volunteer at PGA golf tournaments. “He went to the US Open in Pinehurst and served in some capacity there as a volunteer.”
Irby said the loss of Kyle to WIA is devastating. “We’re getting the word out to our people and everybody is just shocked. He’s actually irreplaceable. We will certainly carry on and we will carry on his name.”
And, she said, the group will find a way to carry on the speakers series. “He just pitched in. If we were having an event downtown and needed somebody to put up a banner or put up a tent he’d come and help out. He was just always there. You can imagine what a loss that will be for us.”
Sergeant L. Bynum of the NCSHP said the crash occurred this morning around 6:15.
Kyle was riding his motorcycle when a vehicle made a left turn onto Washington Avenue in his path and ejected him. A vehicle behind Kyle collided with his motorcycle.
Bynum said there is the possibility this morning’s foggy conditions might have contributed to the crash. He said Trooper J.J. Lynch and Sergeant S. Richardson are continuing their investigation to determine whether charges will be filed in the 53-year-old Kyle’s death.
