Can one man’s faith make a difference?
The cynic might say no, holding up as evidence humanity itself – never more self-consumed than today despite countless intercessions and the salt-and-light presence of Jesus’ most devout followers over the last 2,000 years.
Dan McCulloughBut for the many whose lives were touched – and changed – by Dan McCullough, “a simple, ordinary man,” according to his sister, the cynic could not be more wrong. McCullough, who died of a heart attack last month at age 49, was a testament to the idea that the gospel, living in men, changes whatever it touches.
McCullough was an everyman. He was a middle school guidance counselor, a coach, a community leader, an advocate for underprivileged children, a Sunday school teacher, a deacon, a husband and a father. He was not a pastor, theologian or philosopher, yet on the eve of his funeral thousands stood in line outside Good Hope Baptist Church in Iva to pay their respects to his widow and to share stories of how McCullough’s life had changed them. The visitation began shortly after 5 p.m. and didn’t conclude until sometime after 1:00 the following morning, eight hours later. Wendell Madray, a director for McDougald’s Funeral Home in Anderson, said it was the largest family visitation he had ever witnessed.
That so many people showed up would have surprised McCullough. “Dan was the simplest of men,” said his wife, Deirdre, who met her husband-to-be on a blind date in 1984. “He never wanted recognition. Dan never would have imagined he touched people so deeply.
“His desire was to help others. He wanted to draw people into a relationship with Christ. This is not about Dan, but Christ being glorified through Dan.”
McCullough accepted Christ at a young age and, from that moment, “tried to do what was right,” said his sister, Karen McMullan. She said her younger brother was also her “spiritual brother,” someone whom she could “bounce things off of.”
“He was an easy person to talk to,” she said. “He was that way with many people.”
McCullough, who grew up with his four siblings as an active member of Union Baptist Church in rural southern Anderson County, came to believe early in his adult life that he should spend his life sharing Christ with young people. He showed up unexpectedly at his pastor’s house late one evening eager to talk about his calling, said Danny Burnley, who was pastor at Union from 1983-88. McCullough was graduating from Lander University and had received an offer to teach and coach in neighboring Elbert County, Ga.
“He really believed this was of God,” Burnley said. “He told me, ‘Somebody’s got to go and be a witness in our schools.’?”
McCullough told his pastor he felt God was calling him “just like he’s called you.”
For the next nine years, McCullough taught and coached at Elbert County Comprehensive High School. He was adviser to the school’s chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which grew from three members to more than 60. Several of his former FCA students have since entered the ministry. “A lot of people think you can minister only behind the pulpit, but school does leave some doors open to share Christ,” said McCullough’s wife, who is principal of Calhoun Falls Charter School.
McCullough later taught at Belton-Honea Path High School before going to work at the school district where he received his own education. For the final 13 years of his life, he was a guidance counselor at Starr-Iva Middle School.
Michelle Parnell, a career specialist at Starr-Iva, had an office next door to McCullough’s, and McCullough had been Parnell’s assistant coach for the girls’ basketball team. “He pretty much approached his job the same way he approached his life,” Parnell said. “He treated kids with a sense of respect and was a good-hearted person. It all came from his Christian faith. He loved his life and his job as his ministry, and he took every opportunity to be a witness, whether with words or with actions. His passion was for the kids.”
In his hometown, McCullough was active in strengthening a youth recreation program and spearheaded the establishment of the area’s $1.3 million Parker Bowie Sports Complex earlier this year to provide recreational opportunities for more than 1,000 area children, including many who lacked the financial resources to participate.
Nakia Davis, who served with McCullough on the Iva Recreation Association, described his friend as someone who touched kids’ lives on a daily basis. “That was his mission field: witnessing to the youth in our community,” he said. “Once those kids played for him, they wanted to play for him no matter what. He cared about them no matter their status. He made sure they all had the opportunity to know about Christ.”
At his funeral, several of McCullough’s current and former players, including some who now play varsity football at Crescent High School, wore their team jerseys to honor their former coach, Davis said. Davis, the father of three girls under age 11 – themselves budding softball players in the Iva Recreation Association – said McCullough was a role model, adding, “I would love to have an influence on the youth of our community like he did.”
In his church, where McCullough was a deacon and a “gifted” Sunday school teacher, he was a calm, level-headed peacemaker, according to Good Hope’s pastor, Jamie Duncan. “Dan tried hard to love everybody,” Duncan said, “and everybody was on the same playing field with him – from crack addicts to administrators. It was an extension of his genuine love and concern for everybody.”
On the night before McCullough’s funeral, Duncan spoke with a man and learned that he was a coach who was led to Christ by McCullough. Duncan described meeting others at the visitation who became Christians because of McCullough’s life and personal witness. One person told Duncan, “I’m doing now what Dan showed me.”
“Another person told me that Dan invested his life in people, and this [turnout] is the result,” Duncan said.
The McCullough family, from left: Jordan, Deirdre, Grayson, Raegan and Dan.According to his wife, McCullough was the same at home as he was at work, at church or on the ball field. “He was just like he was to everybody – genuine, sincere, pure of heart, pure of word.
“Dan invested in his children,” she said, “coaching them in every sport they ever played, studying with them, being a friend to them, sharing his faith with them daily. He wrote a letter from his heart to them on Valentine’s Day. It was a tradition he started.
“They watched him. He shared with them how to walk through the valleys. They are grieving, but they are not devastated. I can’t explain the peace and stability we are experiencing.”
In addition to his wife, McCullough leaves behind three children: Jordan, 20, a junior at Lander University; Raegan, 16, a student at Crescent High School; and Grayson, 11, a student at Starr-Iva Middle School, where his father was a beloved staff member.
During a memorial service at the middle school, Grayson sat with his friends, many of whom had been coached by his dad. When some of them were overcome with emotion during the service, it was Grayson who comforted them, said McCullough’s co-worker, Parnell. “He’s shown so much maturity,” she added.
McCullough’s wife said the biblical teaching on love, found in 1 Corinthians 13, best sums up her husband. “He never boasted – he just made himself available to everyone,” she said. “His goal was to help people and lead them to the helper.”
Even in his final moments of life, McCullough, by extension, was touching the lives of strangers at the hospital. According to his wife, as family and friends gathered to pray and to support each other, people noticed and asked, “Who is this man?”
“It opened doors to share who Christ was in him,” she said. “It was something indescribable.”
Can one man’s faith make a difference?
“Dan left a legacy,” said his sister, Karen. “He exemplified who Jesus is.”
On McCullough’s online condolence page, someone wrote: “I am one of the lives touched by Coach McCullough. I know he’s celebrating in heaven now.”