Kenneth Poe Funeral Services

June 23, 2023

CHARLOTTE – Dr. Aldrich, age 101, died on June 23, 2023 at Southminster Retirement Community.  He was born in Painted Post, NY on December 16, 1921 to parents, Allen Russell Aldrich and Marjory Lee Ross. From the fifth grade on he was reared in Orlando, FL.

He graduated from Orlando High School, Mars Hill College, Wake Forest College with a degree in English, and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary with BD and ThM degrees.

He was married to Edna Lou Lamb of Sampson County, NC on August 9, 1946. Their marriage continued for more than 64 years until Edna Lou’s death on January 1, 2011. They are survived by two children, Judith Aldrich Planer and her husband Geoffrey Alan Planer, and Joseph Douglas Aldrich and his wife Susan Elizabeth Dancy, five grandchildren, Dr. Jonathan Alan Planer and his wife Rose Miller Planer, Dr Christopher Douglas Planer and his wife Dr. Jessica Oliver Planer, Rachael Palmer Jones, Hannah Aldrich Frink and her husband Samuel James Frink, Kathryn Aldrich Guo and her husband Dr. Jiasheng David Guo, and eight great grandchildren.

Dr. Aldrich served as a Baptist minister and pastor for more than 70 years. After several student pastorates he served First Baptist Church, LaFollette, TN, Forest Hills Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC, and First Baptist Church, Gastonia, NC. Upon his retirement at the close of 1985, he continued his ministry as an interim pastor for 20 more years in 11 different churches. He also served as Minister of Visitation at First Presbyterian Church in Gastonia, NC.

During his career he served as second vice president of the NC Baptist Convention, trustee of Wake Forest University, Shaw University, Meredith College, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Trustee Chairman), and the Biblical Recorder. He wrote Sunday School Lessons for the Sunday School Board for 23 years. He served on the Gastonia Human Relations Committee and was chairman for 1 term. He had a keen interest in ecumenical relations between various religious groups and was an active member of the Board of the Ecumenical Institute of Wake Forest University and Belmont Abbey. 

He graduated from Wake Forest College magna cum laude, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and the ODK leadership fraternity and received the honorary DD Degree from Wake Forest in 1967.

A Memorial Service will be conducted at Myers Park Baptist Church Saturday, July 1, 2023, at 1PM. The family will receive friends in Heaton Hall immediately following the service.

The family would like to thank the Southminster staff for their love and care for Dr. Aldrich and our family.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorials be made to the Edna Lou and Douglas Aldrich Scholarship Fund at the Wake Forest University Divinity School, PO Box 7227, Winston Salem, NC 27109 or the Southminster Community Fund, 8919 Park Road, Charlotte, NC 28210.

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Ave., Charlotte, NC 28204; (704) 641-7606. Online condolences may be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.