Hundreds gather to memorialize Brother Ron Fender

A large attendance listen during the Celebration of the Life service for Brother Ron Fender, BSG, on Saturday inside the Saint Paul's Episcopal Church.
A large attendance listen during the Celebration of the Life service for Brother Ron Fender, BSG, on Saturday inside the Saint Paul's Episcopal Church.
photo Brother Larry Reich, right, Chief Verger at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, and The Reverend Ann G. Weeks lead a procession into the Celebration of the Life service for Brother Ron Fender, BSG, on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

"Rank on rank the host of heaven spreads its vanguard on the way, as the light of light descendeth from the realms of endless day, that the powers of hell may vanish as the darkness clears away."

Hundreds sang out Saturday in joy and sorrow. They sang for love and loss.

They sang for Brother Ron.

Ron Fender, a Gregorian monk who spent years working as an outreach coordinator at the Community Kitchen, died on Jan. 29 at age 61, leaving behind thousands who were touched by his ministry. Many of them gathered at St. Paul's Episcopal Church to celebrate the example he set and mourn his passing.

Brother Ron was known for rolling up his sleeves and sitting down with a bucket of warm water to wash the feet of the homeless.

"He was looking for people whose hearts had been most broken, holding them tenderly," Brother Thomas Bushnell, a fellow monk, said in a short homily. "Holding their feet. Holding their hearts."

Friends, coworkers and brothers all said Fender embodied Christ's ministry, setting an example of love in action for every soul who knew him.

"Ron was going into the places that the world calls dark and finding in them unapproachable, mystical, glorious light," Bushnell said.

Those who knew him said Fender built relationships with anyone he could, whenever he could. The crowd at St. Paul's included students, social workers, police officers, businessmen and actors.

"And this is just barely a fraction of the people he impacted," said Cindia Williams, director of the Homeless Healthcare Center.

Williams said she met Fender 13 years ago, just after he had joined the Brotherhood. During their first encounter, he excitedly told her about his plans to wash the feet of the homeless in Chattanooga.

"He helped mentor all of us in teaching clients with dignity and respect," she said.

Cindia's husband, Mark, is the corporate director of case management at the Community Kitchen. He said while Fender worked with the homeless, he always met clients where they were. Most social workers spend years learning to handle cases with care and respect by attending seminars and learning through experience, but Fender was a different breed.

"It was just intuitive for him," he said.

But before he was ever Brother Ron, Fender spent years working with the hurt and broken.

A friend, Erik Quist, said he worked with Fender years before when Fender was the artistic director of the Oak Ridge Community Playhouse. Fender would identify troubled young adults and work tirelessly to include them in plays and projects.

"He made sure they knew they were wanted and needed, and it worked gloriously," Quist said.

One of those youths Fender worked with in Oak Ridge came to pay his respects Saturday. T.J. Gambrel now has a doctorate in psychology, but when he met Fender at age 19, he was on his way to Los Angeles to begin an acting career.

By chance he stopped in Oak Ridge, worked with Fender at the playhouse and years later, asked him to be his daughter's godfather.

"I'm not a fan of living in a Ron Fender-less world," he said tearfully. "He was one of the greatest loves of my life."

Like so many others, Gambrel said he is a better man for having known Fender. But for those who cherished him there's a hole where he used to be.

On the night Fender died, Mark Williams said mournfully, "It seems as if the world should stop."

"At least for a time."

Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfree press.com or at 423-757-6731.

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