Malvin M. Utleye Jr.

Malvin M. Utleye, Jr, age 87, of Newark, Delaware, went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday, December 11, 2024, due to complications of Parkinson’s disease. Mal grew up in Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia where the state line runs down the middle of State Street. Home and school were in Tennessee and church was in Virginia. When he was ten years old, his mother led him to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. For his remaining 77 years, he walked through this earth with his eyes on heaven. At 14 Mal believed that God was calling him to be a preacher and that guided his education through Tennessee High, University of Richmond (BS in History) and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas (MDiv). He often joked that he crammed 4 years of college into 7 since he had to work to pay his way. During college years, Mal pastored Hatcher’s Memorial Baptist Church - a small country church, traveling to northern Virginia every weekend. His dad took a teaching job at Hopewell (Virginia) High School and the family joined First Baptist Church where he met and married Mary Nuel Swift. He worked as an elementary school teacher and radio announcer and taught English to inmates at the nearby federal reformatory. He was interim pastor of Powers Memorial Baptist for a summer before heading off to Texas for seminary. Seminary years were busy with school, church and work. Mal helped to lead boys as Royal Ambassadors at Polytechnic Baptist where Mal and Mary sang in the choir. He tried selling shoes, which he didn’t like, but enjoyed doing children’s photography in their homes. After seminary Mal pastored First Baptist Church, Narrows, Virginia. He enjoyed trout fishing in the mountain streams though without much success at catching any. During this time, baby Jennie became an Utleye and teenager Joy Moore joined the family. From the mountains the family moved toward the coast when Mal became pastor of Lexington Park (Maryland) Baptist on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Lifelong friendships were formed in this 21-year pastorate and baby Matthew became an Utleye. With Mal, Mary and Matt in agreement and with the blessing of friends at LPBC, Mal next accepted a pastorate at Hockessin Baptist Church (now Sycamore Hill Church) in Delaware. The church started in an abandoned school building and has been renovated and expanded over the years. But more importantly the biblical preaching, teaching, fellowship and loving outreach to the community and the city of Wilmington have all strengthened and deepened even through the challenges of COVID. Mal has especially enjoyed encouraging the young pastors and preachers who have followed since he retired. He was then honored to serve as a deacon and later to be named Pastor Emeritus. After retirement Mal served as interim pastor of Bethany Baptist (now Catalyst Community Church) in Newport and London Village Baptist Chapel near Dover. He also enjoyed serving as interim Director of Missions for Delaware Baptist Association and working with all of those churches. Mal was a radio announcer in Bristol and at station WHAP in Hopewell and for many years the Sunday services were broadcast in Maryland. He even wrote and recorded a radio commercial for Aldridge Ford. He served with the rescue squads in Narrows and for 13 years in Lexington Park. Mal had a heart for people near and far to come to know the Lord - traveling to Malawi to encourage missionaries, to the Shetland Islands in partnership with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, to Latvia after the breakup of the Soviet Union, to Moldova and then Ukraine for 20 years - often leading medical teams to offer hope for physical and spiritual healing. He also cooperated with establishing a Slavic language church in Delaware. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Mary Utleye; daughter, Jennie Mitchell; son, Matthew Utleye (Jeanine Allen); granddaughters, Jacque (Tim) Lawrence and Taylor Utleye (Darren Flinkstrom; and grandson, Ryan Cornish. Waiting to greet him in heaven were his parents, Malvin and Dorothy Utleye and grandson, Jason Mitchell. During his last two weeks, many people came to thank Mal for the ways God enabled him to impact their lives. His life verse was Proverbs 3:5-6. ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.’ A celebration of Mal’s life was held at Sycamore Hill Church in Hockessin, Delaware, on January 11, 2025. There will also be a time to visit with family and friends at 10:30 AM, Saturday, February 8, 2025, at First Baptist Church, 401 North Second Avenue, Hopewell, VA 23860. For directions or to send an online condolence, visit www.stranofeeley.com.

Malvin M. Utleye Jr.

October 31, 1937 - December 11, 2024

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