Reverend Dr. Elwood Douglas "Doug" Vaughan Jr

The Reverend Dr. Elwood Douglas “Doug” Vaughan, Jr. departed this Earth Friday morning, October 7, 2022, after a period of declining health, just shy of his eighty-fifth birthday, October 19.
Doug’s journey to heaven followed his parents, Dr. Elwood D. Vaughan, Sr, and Annie Lane Cartledge Vaughan, and older brother, David Lane Vaughan. He is survived by his beloved wife of 60 years, Martha Gaines Walsh, son, Elwood Douglas Vaughan, III, of Taylors, SC, as well as a number of nieces, nephews, and grandnieces and nephews.
Sunday, November 20, at 3:30 PM, a memorial service is planned at the chapel, at Foothills Presbyterian Community, 205 Bud Nalley Drive, Easley, SC, where Doug and Martha lived the past seven years. Those unable to attend the service may choose to watch the streamed video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwgioJhexr8ylfTxJUcmLQw
The Foothills Chapel choir will perform Doug’s original musical arrangement of Psalm 90, which he wrote just before his son’s birth in 1965.
Born in Belle Haven, on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Doug was reared by his father, Dr. Elwood D. Vaughan, Sr., and mother, Annie Lane Cartledge Vaughan, who accompanied worship and taught music alongside her husband’s ministry, in Belle Haven, Berryville, and Richmond. The elder Vaughan’s final and longest service was at Salem Presbyterian, Salem, VA, where Doug earned his diploma from Andrew Lewis High School. Annie Lane took music education seriously, and her sons became proficient performers on piano, strings, and vocals.
Doug’s forte became the violin and viola, and he began conservatory study toward performance after high school; however, Doug found the practice regimen suffocating his love of music. After leaving the conservatory, Doug followed his heart’s call (and perhaps his father's suggestions) to Hamden-Sydney College and then led by God, to Richmond’s Union Presbyterian Theological Seminary where he graduated in 1963. Doug’s father, Dr. Vaughan completed three degrees at Union, culminating with his doctorate in 1943. Doug received his Doctor of Sacred Theology from the San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo, in 1974.
Colleagues, friends, and family remember Doug’s humor, joyful mirth, compassion, and will to serve humbly both God and his fellow man. Many recall how his favorite gatherings revolved around a good meal and better wine. Doug was a person who sincerely loved being with people.
It was during his first student pastor assignment, between his first and second year of seminary training, in Lenoir, NC, that he saw — and heard — a pretty, dark-haired, young woman practicing Bach on the church organ. Martha was studying art at Erskine, but her sister, Jane Bauer recalls that Martha practiced more organ that summer than ever.
During a year-long courtship, Doug commuted from Richmond to eastern North Carolina, where Martha was finishing her studies at St. Andrews. They visited churches together on Sundays, in the Fayetteville area, Godwin, and McMillan, NC. The Vaughans married in 1963 just after his graduation. He accepted his first call that year to Greenville Presbyterian, in Donalds, SC, and then in 1967, took the pulpit at the Presbyterian church in Abbeville, SC.
In 1971, Doug branched out, organizing and serving as the first pastor of the North Anderson Community Presbyterian Church, (NACC) influenced by his doctoral coursework in San Fransisco.
While many of his colleagues remember his scholarly sermons, tracing ancient Greek and biblical translations, his last sermon at Anderson was "From Adam's Rib to Women's Lib."
NACC is still where the mission is to “[embrace] all as we seek love, justice, and peace in our fragile world… [celebrating] our differences as we demonstrate openness, compassion, and understanding.”
“His work set us on a good path and helped us continue; his periodic visits with us as a guest minister and musician let us know he was still part of us,” said member Sharon Fowler.
This past summer, Doug enjoyed attending the 50th celebration of the church’s founding.
Doug was also one of four charter members of the Anderson String Quartet during his time at NACC.
In 1976, Doug accepted a call to Raleigh, NC, at St. Giles Presbyterian. Doug took the call from First Presbyterian in Tyler, TX, in 1982, and in 1989, accepted the pulpit at First Presbyterian, Wilmington, NC.
Throughout his 36 years of active ministry, wherever Doug accepted a call, he also joined quartets and symphonies. His church work was consistently complemented with fiddling gigs in Raleigh, NC, and Tyler, TX, as concertmaster, and in Wilmington, NC.
In Tyler, Doug helped organize and launch PATH, People Attempting to Help. Operating now for over 30 years, PATH, “seeks to restore HOPE with a personalized approach to empower our East Texas neighbors to thrive in our community,” and has received several recognitions and awards, including 1991’s 544th Daily Point of Light from former President Georgia H. W. Bush and Tyler’s 2021 best charitable and community service provider.
“That agency is still going strong and is one of the most highly regarded non-profits in Tyler,” said Rev. Dr. Stuart Baskin, currently pastor at Tyler First Presbyterian. “I cannot tell you how important PATH is in Tyler. His legacy in helping start it is enormous.”
Doug retired from the pulpit in 1999, leaving Wilmington for the Blue Ridge mountains. He continued to substitute and fill in for pastors on leave or vacation, and to look for fiddling gigs where and when they could be found. Doug played in Dionne Warwick’s orchestra, performing at the Biltmore House, and on a New Age recording in Asheville. The Vaughans entered the Presbyterian communities in Clinton, SC, where he led Bible and book study at Presbyterian College and adult Sunday school for the Episcopalians.
While in Clinton, Martha served briefly on the National Alliance on Mental Illness board, with Doug accompanying her to meetings, both learning about work to help the one in five people living with mental illness. During this time, Doug championed the publication of their son’s book, “A Question of Comfort: Words and phrases for contemplation assembled by Elwood Vaughan, an American Schizophrenic,” on Amazon and Apple e-book platforms.
Listening to Mozart and Bach in his last days he said “felt like heaven,” with Martha at his side.
As he wished, his remains were cremated, and family members hope to carry portions of his ashes to the mountains and various points of lands’ end where the ocean begins, both his favorite spots to commune with nature.
Memorials may be made to:
PITCH (Providing Instruments To Children) by mailing checks to:
The Music Club of Greenville,
8 Badger Drive
Taylors, SC 29687