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Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Gospel singer Squire Parsons dies at 77
ASHEVILLE, NC (WOWK) — Well-known southern gospel singer Squire Parsons, famous for writing the classic 'Sweet Beulah Land,' has died, as confirmed by personal friends. He was 77 years old. Parsons was born in West Virginia and after graduating from West Virginia Institute of Technology with a BS in music, he became the band director at Hannan Junior Senior High School, where he wrote 'Sweet Beulah Land.' A man with an open asylum case was deported. His lawyers want to know if there are others Dr. John. R. Carlisle, the principal at Hannan High School, told 13 News in an exclusive interview that he had been talking with Parsons by phone over the last few weeks because Parsons is going to be honored at the campus, along with other notable alumni. 'I called him, and he sent me the manuscript for 'Sweet Beulah Land' that he wrote on his way to work at the high school,' said Carlisle. 'He finished the first part of the song after he got to work. He told me he was driving into work and looked up at the sun, and it made him think of an old gospel hymn his dad used to sing, and that caused him to write 'Sweet Beulah Land.'' Squire Parsons photo from a 1970 WV Tech yearbook (Photo Courtesy: West Virginia State Archives) Carlisle said he had just sent Parsons a message recently and hadn't heard back from him, and then he got the sad news today that Parsons had died. 'I had invited him to come in for our celebration at Christmas and was hoping he'd get to sing 'Sweet Beulah Land' here for that,' Carlisle said. 'We will now make it a celebration of Squire Parsons.' Carlisle said a plaque with his sheet music and an autographed photo will go up on a wall in the school in Parsons' memory. ''Sweet Beulah Land' is such an inspiring and beautiful song,' Carlisle said. 'He is such a big part of Hannan history, and we want to honor his memory.' Robin Richardson, who now lives in Fraziers Bottom, was a student in Hannan's band under Parsons, and she said she and all of the band members loved him. 'He was just one of a kind,' Richardson told 13 News. 'He was a good, Christian man and an inspiration to all of us. He actually wrote a lot of his songs in our band building.' If penny production halts, could you cash yours in? Richardson's bandmate, Kathy Coleman-Tate, told 13 News that she kept in contact with Parsons and, just two days ago, he even liked a photo of her mother that she put up on Facebook for Mother's Day. 'He started at Hannan as the band director in 1970 and said he was only going to stay there one year, and he stayed until 1975 when I graduated,' Coleman-Tate said. 'He stayed until the Lord called him on to other things.' Coleman-Tate said Parsons lived not far from her in North Carolina, and she saw him once there and once in nearby Huntington. 'I was so proud. I would tell everybody that he was my band director, and they couldn't believe it because he was such a great singer,' Coleman-Tate said. 'They just loved him, too. They couldn't believe he was my band director. He was just a great man. He was so nice to everybody.' Coleman-Tate said she read on Facebook in the early morning hours that Parsons had died. 'I will love that song forever,' she said. The sheet music for 'Sweet Beulah Land' by Squire Parsons. (Photo Courtesy: Dr. John R. Carlisle, Hannan High School) Parsons composed many other well-known Gospel songs, including 'The Master of the Sea,' 'Walk On,' 'He Came To Me,' 'I Call It Home,' 'I Sing Because' and 'I'm Not Giving Up.' Parsons was ordained as a minister at Trinity Baptist Church in Asheville, NC. John Roberts, executive director of Mountain Mission in Charleston, said Parsons sang every year at the church's annual Christmas benefit. Smokey Robinson accused by former housekeepers of sexual assault and rape 'We had the privilege of having Squire Parsons sing every year for 40 years,' Roberts said. 'It was an event that helped feed nearly 1,000 families every Christmas, and he would come and sing for us, and sometimes his brothers would come up on stage and join him.' Roberts said he has fond memories of Parsons, whom he called 'the gentle giant.' 'He was about 6-feet-6, but he was the most gentle person,' Roberts said. 'He would sing 'Sweet Beulah Land' every year because that was his signature song, but he would change it a bit for Christmas.' Roberts said Mountain Mission sent a tractor-trailer load of flood relief supplies down to Parsons' church following Hurricane Helene and the severe flooding last year. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Yahoo
Where is Hayden? Mystery after boy, 9, has been missing for five years but was just recently reported to police
On December 24, 2019, the Manis family gathered in Muncie, Indiana for a Christmas celebration. Among them was four-year-old Hayden Manis — a 'happy little boy,' his great aunt Barbara Phillips said. He spent the day enjoying Christmas, opening gifts, being his 'typical self,' his grandfather Gary Manis added. 'Typical Hayden, running back and forth from a grandparent to me to aunt to great grandparents, back to aunt and to uncle,' Gary told The Independent. 'I noticed nothing wrong, nothing at all.' But the day would soon take on a different tone, as that would be the last time many of his family members would see Hayden. Now, police say the boy is missing — and has been since 2020 — but no one realized until just months ago. 'We think he actually went missing sometime in 2020 but, so far, we have not been able to pinpoint an actual date,' Delaware County Sheriff Chief Deputy Jeff Stanley told 13News. 'I can't ever remember something quite like this,' Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman told 13News. 'It haunts me every day.' Here's what we know about Hayden Manis's disappearance: When Hayden was just a year old in 2016, his father Dustin Manis and his mother Terri Williams lost custody after they were arrested on drug-related charges, Gary told The Independent. Williams did not respond to The Independent's request for comment. That's when Hayden went into Gary's custody. 'All he ever wanted to do was just be with me, no matter what I was doing,' Gary said of Hayden. 'Working on the car, he wanted to do that. Fixing something around the house, he wanted to be right beside me.' 'He loved trying to skateboard,' he added. Phillips, Hayden's great aunt, described him as a 'regular, happy little boy.' 'We were always together,' she told The Independent. 'He loved to go to the park.' But over a year later, a judge returned Hayden to Dustin's custody after he completed court-ordered probation, drug treatment and counseling, 13News reports. Hayden's mother was still incarcerated at the time, Gary said. The Independent has been unable to verify this claim. Gary told The Independent he 'completely disagreed' with officials' decision to return the child to Dustin, noting his history of drug use. But Phillips had a different view, adding that Dustin was always good with children — especially Hayden. 'He had already done everything that they've asked him to do, and he was not with Hayden's mother when he got custody back,' she said. 'So I thought, okay, maybe he's on the mend and everything's all right.' At first, Gary didn't see Hayden or Dustin. But soon enough, Dustin needed more help with the young boy, and Gary and other family members regularly saw the pair. That is, until things fell apart after that fateful Christmas Eve celebration in 2019. After Christmas 2019, Phillips continued to keep in touch with Dustin and invite him to family events via Facebook Messenger. But he never showed. Then, Phillips received one final message from Dustin on May 18, 2023. 'Hey aunt barb, I promise on everything all is well,' he wrote,'[I] promise [I've] just been having a lot going on try to work on my family that I am making and what not I appreciate u reaching out and checking.' No one heard from Dustin after that. But then, Hayden's great-grandparents happened to meet up over a year later and the story began to unravel, according to Gary. Hayden's great-grandmothers ran into each other at a grocery store in September. One asked how Hayden was doing, and the other responded Dustin said he was put in his mother's custody not long after he moved, Gary told The Independent. But the story didn't add up, Gary said. Family members contacted the police, who later went to interview Dustin. He told them a similar story, claiming Hayden was with his mother — but authorities later confirmed that was a lie and the Department of Child Services never placed Hayden with her, 13News reports. Williams even posted about her Hayden's disappearance on Facebook in September. 'I never thought i would have to make a post like this but if anyone has any information on the where abouts of my son Hayden Manis please contact me or the Delaware county police department,' she wrote. 'The last known location I have for him is in the Muncie, Indiana area,' she added. 'I am begging anyone that knows anything about Hayden to please come forward.' Police have searched a home in Eaton, where Dustin lived as recently as last year, 13News reports. Police also searched a home in Muncie where Hayden and Dustin reportedly lived along with Dustin's former girlfriend and her family, according to 13News. But they never found Hayden. Dustin's former girlfriend and her father have since sold that Muncie home and moved out of state, 13News reports. The move was planned long before the investigation started and they have both cooperated with investigators, her father told 13News. In November 2024, Muncie police arrested Dustin on drug charges. He then died on December 15 from a drug overdose — leaving police in an even more difficult situation. Hayden will be ten years old in May of this year. But investigators are still hopeful — and are still working to find him. 'Just because Dustin Manis is dead does not mean the investigation is dead. We're still going forward,' Hoffman, the Delaware County prosecutor, told 13News. The investigation is also complicated by the fact that police believe Hayden has been missing for five years now — and may be dead, given no one has been able to locate him. Hoffman told 13News he no longer believes the boy is alive. 'It's haunting. It's definitely haunting, some of the facts of this case,' Hoffman said. 'There are very few days I come to this office and I don't think about Hayden Manis,' he continued. 'This case is on my mind, and it's on the investigators' minds on a daily basis. We're not going to stop until we get to an answer. We need to know the truth.' When contacted by The Independent, the Delaware County Sheriff's Office declined to share additional information, citing the ongoing investigation. Hoffman was also unable to provide any updates to The Independent. Anyone with information on Hayden should contact the Delaware County Sheriff's Investigations Division at 765-747-7881.
