Missionary videographer dies in South Asia

Missionary videographer dies in South Asia

RICHMOND, Va. — Lee Pursley, a Southern Baptist missionary videographer, died July 20 while traveling in South Asia.

Pursley, 39, suffered a heart attack, according to an IMB spokesman. Physicians worked unsuccessfully for an hour to revive him. He had a history of heart problems.

His wife, the former Nancy Garner of Tampa, Fla., and their two children, Kathryn, 4, and Matthew, 10 months, are returning to the United States, where they will live in missionary housing provided by First Baptist Church of Brandon, Fla.

A native of Atlanta, Pursley was a graduate of West Georgia College in Carrollton and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Prior to missionary appointment in 1996, he was a master control operator at the former Southern Baptist Radio and Television Commission in Fort Worth (now part of the North American Mission Board).

Pursley was the son of Bob and Barbara Pursley of Brookwood Baptist Church in Snellville, Ga.