92-Year-Old Stroke Survivor Officiates Her First Wedding
Assemblies of God Minister Rev. Verna Linzey, a recent stroke survivor, has officiated her first wedding ceremony this past Sunday.
Linzey oversaw the marriage proceedings of her termite inspector Jeff Bybee and his fiancé Vena Goodrich at Carlsbad Beach, Calif.
Bybee met Linzey when he first inspected her home for termites. Bybee was reportedly overwhelmed by her spirituality, charismatic personality, and world-renowned reputation as a woman of God. After consulting with his fiancé and Linzey’s son, Chaplain James Linzey, Bybee selected Linzey to officiate his wedding.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Linzey in turn chose Anglican wedding vows, due to her eloquent use of the English language.
However, the couple had no prior knowledge of Linzey’s past occurrences. She survived a past stroke and has never officiated a wedding before. Linzey suffered her stroke in October 2010. Nevertheless, the couple stated that they felt a special connection to her.
Linzey is a well-known figure in the religious world. While serving as a television Evangelist, Linzey spoke at the World Believer's Convention in Phoenix, where she was awarded Evangelist of the Year 2010 Award. She chose to speak at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., for the 2011 Leadership Summit, where she was awarded the Leader of the Year Award.
Bill Owens spoke on the reaction to Linzey at the Heritage Foundation saying, "Dr. Linzey's academic presentation was received with tremendous applause and brought the audience of academics, politicians and executives to a standing ovation."
Linzey also embarked upon her second solo artist CD. She was filmed in a movie titled “Iniquity.” She also completed the Women's Leadership Bible as General Editor, and was continually listed in Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World.
Verna Linzey has an interesting back-story. She is a trained minister and was previously married to a U.S. Navy Chaplain. Lindzey has 10 children, who are all married, and is the mother of three military chaplains. She is also the grandmother of one military chaplain, and the great, great, great granddaughter of a chaplain in George Washington's Army. Her stepfather and mother once served as ministers and she also had five siblings who were also ministers. The churches represented among them were Methodist, Assemblies of God, Pentecostal Church of God, Independent and Southern Baptist.
Linzey now spends her time studying God's word and gardening. She frequently communicates with God, which helps her receive the spiritual strength to continue succeeding and change lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. She is 92-years-old.
