Leonard Lee Few Passes on July 10, 2021

Mr. Leonard Lee Few is pictured.

  Leonard Lee Few, Sr., 82, passed away July 10, 2021. His funeral was conducted by the Rev. Raymond D. Burrows and the Rev. Phil Lord at Faith Temple Church at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 13, 2021. Burial followed in the church cemetery.

A Taylors native and son of the late Eddie Lee and Gertrude Edith Dill Few, he was retired from International Harvester and a member of Faith Temple (FT). He served on the church’s deacon board for many years.

Surviving are his wife, Tweedie Good Few of the home; two daughters, Diane Few Ebert (Chris) of Greenville and Sally Few McWhite (Neil) of Greenville; two brothers, Buster Few (Linda) and Robert Few (Nancy); two sisters, Frances Batson and Thelma Robertson (Millard); four grandchildren, Colby Ebert (Lindsey), Chelsea Torres (Drew), Keith McWhite (Molly), and Collin McWhite; four great-grandchildren, Ava, Evans, Banks, and Ellie; and one sister-in-law, Louise Few. 

Mr. Few was predeceased by one son, Leonard Lee Few, Jr.; two brothers, Odell Few and Benny Few; one sister-in-law, Alice Few, and one brother-in-law Butler Batson. 

Pallbearers were Robert Few, Chris Ebert, Neil McWhite, Colby Ebert, Keith McWhite, and Collin McWhite. Memorials may be made to Faith Temple, 5080 Sandy Flat Rd., Taylors, SC 29687.

At the funeral, organist Jerry Stepp played “How Great Thou Art.” The family entered and Pastor Phil Lord prayed, “Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you. We’re thankful we can come today and honor Brother Leonard Few.” 

Mrs. Ann Burrows, wife of FT’s Pastor Burrows, sang, “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross”: “Jesus, keep me near the cross; there, a precious fountain; free to all, a healing stream, flows from Calvary’s mountain … till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.”

Addressing the gathering, Daughter Diane Few Ebert said, “It was always very important to me that my dad be proud of me…Dad and I always spent a lot of time together…We spent Sundays at my grandmother’s…spent a lot of time camping with the family…he was always ever-present.” 

She said her dad taught her how to change oil in a car. When the family moved to Florida because of Leonard’s job with International Harvester, “The first thing we did was find a church,” Diane said. 

They moved to Alabama and back to Florida. Leonard developed interest in CB radios. “Country Gentleman” was his moniker.

“He helped me buy my first car,” Diane said. “My family decided to move back to Greenville [after she had finished high school].” She soon moved to Greenville, too. 

She recalled that the Few family watched  ‘Dallas’ on Friday nights and ate Krispy Creme doughnuts.

“He was always a patient man. Dad was always our go-to. He loved his family, his children, his church…lots of fish-fries…my dad was a very wise man. He never really told me I was wrong.” (Instead of saying she was wrong, he taught her in subtle ways, she indicated.)

“I was taught to love the Lord by his example…and hearing him pray…The last words I said to him were, ‘I love you, Daddy.’” 

Daughter Sally Few McWhite spoke, saying that her father would joke that he and Mrs. Tweedie had been married for 12 wonderful years (indicating their many other married years weren’t wonderful). 

Sally said that on her parents’ first date, Leonard deceivingly took his sister, Thelma, along, but then he made his sister get out of the car and took Tweedie on a date.

Her dad hurt himself in trying to stop her from sleep-walking at age three. During high school, Sally would sneak out her bedroom window at night. One Saturday, she saw him nailing her window shut. He said, “It keeps popping off in the middle of the night, and I’m gonna fix it.” 

During school years, Sally worked a while for her father at International Harvester. Some workers would say, “That’s Leonard’s daughter; don’t mess with her.”

Sally sometimes accompanied her father to treatments at the cancer center.

“I don’t think I’ve ever known a more godly man,” she said. “‘Be kind to one another,’ he’d say.”

She said her father would quip, “You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone. You’ll have to deal with your mother.” 

“We ‘got’ Mama,” she said. 

“He had a cookout for us on July 4th,” Sally said. “That was his last hurrah. We’re gonna miss him.” 

Grandchild Chelsea Torres read a poem containing these words: “We knew that you were suffering…You left beautiful memories.”

Pastor Phil Lord said, “We could talk all day long about good stories about Leonard Few. 

He read Psalm 37:23: “ The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.”

Lord said the first thought he had when he heard by phone on Saturday afternoon that Leonard was dead was, “Leonard Few was a good man.”

“And he’s with Jesus right now,” Lord said. 

Lord said that when he passes a cemetery, he thinks about how many people buried there went to heaven and how many went to hell. 

“Praise the Lord. Leonard Few is with the Lord,” he said. “He obtained favor with the Lord. 

Proverbs 12:2a: “A good man obtaineth favour of the Lord.”

“God only accepts the goodness that comes from God,” Lord said. “The world devises — and sometimes the church — a goodness [that won’t merit entrance into heaven]… I don’t think I ever saw Leonard that he didn’t have a smile on his face. He was a true Southern Gentleman.”

After Phil Lord began preaching, Leonard and Tweedie told him ,” God has surely got a call on your life.”He recalled Leonard’s great fish-fries and asking, “Where is Tweedie’s Cole slaw?”“I have no negative thoughts or memories of Leonard Few,” Lord said. 

Proverbs 15:23: “A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!”

Proverbs 25:11: “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”

“He always had a word in due season…a timely word,” Lord said. “God gave Leonard wisdom. He was a man of few words, but when he spoke, you needed to listen.”

In 2014, Lord had a mass removed from a lung and had to rest for two months. Leonard called and “made a difference” in Lord’s life. 

“Years ago, he asked Jesus into his heart,” Lord said about Leonard. 

Lord said that we are not “seeing” Bible prophecy, we are “living” Bible prophecy, today. 

“If you don’t know Christ as Savior, you won’t see this good man [Leonard] again,” Lord said. “You’re one breath away from eternity. Leonard was a good man whose steps were ordered by the Lord.” 

A video of “Amazing Grace” (sung by Judy Collins) was played.

Pastor Raymond Burrows spoke of serving as Leonard’s pastor for over 20 years, saying he saw in Leonard the character of Christ. “He was equipped with many virtues of the Savior. He was one of the greatest…a friend to many, attracted to him…something about his personality. People loved him for the person he was.”Pastor thanked Tweedie for the way she cared for Brother Few. He thanked Few’s children for the care they provided. 

Pastor quoted from Matthew 25:  “‘Enter thou into the joy of the Lord.’ How do you gain that spiritual status as a Christ-follower?…There are things you have to do to hear the Lord say, ‘Well done.’…The master in the story wanted the servants to properly and rightly portray him. The master was very kind. People who encountered the servant saw that quality.”

“I’ve been with him [Leonard] in board meetings where things were tense,” Pastor said. “We know that Jesus is kind, and part of that is that we saw it in his servant…Brother Leonard would use every gift the Lord bestowed in his life…carpenter work, knowledge of cars…his Lord would get credit as he used his gifts.”

Pastor continued, “One time he invited me on a fishing trip. I’m not fond of handling fish with my hands.”

Leonard, “a generous man,” got a strike and handed his rod to Pastor, so he could get credit for a catch. To hold the hybrid fish, Pastor put a towel around it at Leonard’s lake-house.

“He’d get up early and make breakfast — a Christlike virtue of serving others,” Pastor said.

The servant in Christ’s parable was honest, Pastor said.

“Brother Few was straight as six o’clock — honesty,” he said. “A beautiful person who exemplified Christ.

Pastor quoted lines from the hymn “He Leadeth Me.” Its last verse includes these words: “And when my task on earth is done, When by Thy grace, the vict’ry’s won, E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee, Since God thru Jordan leadeth me.” 

“A few years ago, he encountered horrific sickness,” Pastor said.

If Leonard was having a bad day, he’d often say, “Well, I’ll feel better tomorrow.”

Around midnight on Saturday, he passed, Pastor said.

“He’s gained the status of the Lord saying, ‘Well done.’…an example of how to ‘run this race,’” Pastor said. “Mrs. Tweedie, congratulations on finding such a marvelous man to live your life with.” 

Follow this man’s example, and we’ll hear, “Well done; enter into the joys of our Lord,” Pastor said before praying that the Lord would minister his helps and blessings to the family.

“What a void it creates in our fellowship,” he prayed. “Lord, raise up someone else…do it in his honor…We praise you…in the exalted, worthy name of Jesus the prayer is offered. Amen.”

Mrs. Ann Burrows led in singing “Heaven Came Down.” The family exited the service as the organist played “When We All Get to Heaven.”