LeRoy “Allen” Messick, Jr. of Seaford, passed away on Oct. 18, 2020 at John’s Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md. Born on Dec. 9, 1959, he is the son of the late LeRoy A. Messick, Sr., and Evelyn LeCates Messick.
Allen loved the Lord and was the lead pastor at St. John’s Chapel in Canon and a former Chaplain and life member of AMSA, also serving as a board member for the United Methodist Board of Laity. He was a steward to the land and farming was his passion. He earned many awards in his farming career including, NCGA “National Corn Yield Contest” in 2002, where he took second place, 2015 Governors Conservation award for “Excellence in the Fulfillment of Agricultural Conservation Activities in Sussex County”, and 2015 Outstanding Cooperator of the Year for the Sussex Conservation District. Allen served on the Delaware Soy Bean Board, was treasurer of the Delaware Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation, and served on the State Board and County Board of the Sussex County Farm Bureau. In his leisure, he enjoyed fishing, hunting, camping, antique tractors and tractor pulls.
Allen is survived by his loving wife, Sondra Conaway Messick of Seaford; son, Rob Bagwell of Seaford; daughters, Jessica Kinsell and her husband Kenny of Seaford, and Morgan Vanderwende and her husband Cody of Bridgeville; brother, Kirk Messick and his wife Susan of Seaford; grandsons, Dalton and Chase Kinsell of Seaford; faithful and furry grandchildren, Diesel, Axel, Brutus, and Lucy, and several nieces and nephews also survive him.
A viewing will be held from 10 a.m.-noon on Friday, Oct. 23 at St. John’s United Methodist Church, 300 N. Pine Street, Seaford, Delaware 19973. A funeral service will be held at the church at noon. Pastor Rich Evans will officiate. Due to current COVID-19 gathering restrictions, masks and social distancing are required. Interment will follow in Odd Fellows Cemetery in Laurel, Delaware. Contributions may be made in Allen Messick’s honor to St. John’s United Methodist Church 300 N. Pine Street, Seaford, Delaware 19973 or to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, “JDRF’s”, P.O. Box 37920, Boone, IA 50037-0920. Arrangements are in the care of the Hannigan, Short, Disharoon Funeral Home in Laurel.