The Rev. Edwin A. “Eddie” Lockwood is a scant two years from his centenary birthday, but the 98-year-old retired evangelist who pastored Peniel Friends Church in Onemo for 17 years still has the voice, the presence, and the spirit of evangelism—attributes that made him a favorite on the Midwest and Southern camp meeting circuits in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Visit Lockwood at his Gwynn’s Island home, and you’ll be greeted warmly in his rich baritone voice and regaled with stories of his childhood or his three years at Bible college or his first church or his beloved first wife Mary or his six children or his missionary work in Africa or with lots and lots of other stories from his long, full life. And his second wife Deedee will be right there by his side, refreshing his memory and offering coffee and cookies. (Click here for a video of Lockwood playing his harmonica.)
Early years
Lockwood was born in a Methodist parsonage in Cheshire, Ohio, in 1917, and h...