An upstate man who lost his life while rescuing his 6-year-old great-granddaughter from drowning is being remembered as a happy person and a beloved pastor.
Carl JordanCarl William Jordan, 69, pastor of Calumet Baptist Church, Liberty, died July 6, 2007, at Oconee Point on Lake Hartwell after he pushed his great-granddaughter toward shore when she dropped her fishing rod into the lake and fell out of the boat from which the two were fishing.
An avid outdoorsman and a good swimmer, Jordan apparently became overwhelmed by the effort, the Anderson County Coroner’s Office reported.
Jordan’s great-granddaughter, who made it to shore and was able to flag down a passing boat, was not injured.
Besides serving as a pastor, Jordan was a chaplain with the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office, a ministry he returned to a couple of months ago after an absence of a few years “because he missed it,” according to Sheriff David Stone.
Stone described Jordan as a “tremendous person who could work with everybody.”
“Most preachers don’t meet strangers, and he was one of those. He was just a person’s person.”
Stone said Jordan enjoyed joking with the deputies he accompanied on patrols, but added, “no doubt, he would have put his life on the line for an officer.”
Jordan was pastor of Calumet Baptist Church since 2003. Bill Stanifer, chairman of deacons, said Jordan was “passionate” about leading the church to retire its debt, which was more than $150,000 when Jordan arrived. The debt had been reduced to $12,000, and the church was planning a mortgage-burning ceremony for Oct. 14 to coincide with a homecoming service.
“As for his leadership as our shepherd, none come finer than Carl Jordan,” said Stanifer. “He was energetic and enthusiastic and wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. You can see his thumbprint on many ministries of the church.”
Stanifer related a conversation he had with Jordan’s son, who described his father as a “fixer of broken things,” whether they be material things, broken families or broken hearts. “It was a fitting way to describe him,” Stanifer said.
The church, still “kind of numb,” Stanifer said, will go forward with the homecoming celebration and mortgage burning and will dedicate to their pastor’s memory a walkway leading to the church entrance. The walkway will be paved with bricks inscribed with names of deceased church members.
Stanifer described Jordan as a hero, and he said Jordan’s great-granddaughter “was a heroic little girl herself,” who “needs to be lifted up in prayer” in the days and months ahead.
Jordan, born in Aiken County, was a graduate of Furman University. He previously served as associate pastor of Eastlan Baptist Church in Greenville, pastor of Smith Grove Baptist Church in Liberty, Riverview Baptist Church in Powdersville and Beaver Hills Baptist Church in Roebuck. He also previously served as a chaplain of the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Department.
Survivors include his wife, Iris Anderson Jordan, three children, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.