'God was calling me': Beloved pastor of large Columbia County flock dies at 69

Joe Hotchkiss, Augusta Chronicle
·2 min read
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The Rev. Mike Ingram smiles beside a wall of crosses and crucifixes in this photo from 2011, shortly after arriving at St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church in Grovetown. Ingram died April 2 at age 69.
The Rev. Mike Ingram smiles beside a wall of crosses and crucifixes in this photo from 2011, shortly after arriving at St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church in Grovetown. Ingram died April 2 at age 69.
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The Rev. Mike Ingram – who followed the call to become a Catholic priest after managing a downtown Augusta sporting goods store for more than a decade – died April 2.

Ingram, 69, had pastored St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church since 2011, helping the large parish complete its move from Pleasant Home Road on the Richmond-Columbia county line and settle into a new 44-acre campus on Columbia Road near Grovetown.

He also helped preside over the construction of support buildings at St. Teresa as part of the parish’s emerging plan to establish Columbia County’s first Catholic school.

Walter Young Ingram IV grew up as the oldest of three brothers, all parishioners at Augusta’s St. Mary on the Hill Catholic Church. He graduated from St. Mary on the Hill Catholic School and Aquinas High School.

In this photo from 2014, the Rev. Michael Ingram, pastor of St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church, officially opens the doors to the new parish church for the first time as Diocese of Savannah Bishop Gregory Hartmayer (left) and Bishop Emeritus Kevin Boland look on.
In this photo from 2014, the Rev. Michael Ingram, pastor of St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church, officially opens the doors to the new parish church for the first time as Diocese of Savannah Bishop Gregory Hartmayer (left) and Bishop Emeritus Kevin Boland look on.

After graduating in 1976 with a public administration degree from then-Georgia Southern College, he spent six years working for local governments in Richmond, Bulloch and Jenkins counties. Ingram returned to Augusta for a short teaching stint at his alma mater Aquinas but spent a longer time helping coach and coordinate sports for the Richmond County Recreation Department.

At about the same time, Ingram began what would become a 14-year career managing Johanssen’s Sporting Goods. He coached several basketball and softball teams. If his teams didn’t win, because of Johannsen’s they usually were the best-dressed – which is exactly the award they won in 1987 when he took one of the state’s slow-pitch softball champs to a tournament in Macon.

Blessed event: Bishop dedicates new classroom, activity buildings at Grovetown church

Through it all, Ingram’s Catholic faith ran deep.

"I became a daily communicant, committed to stewardship, and got involved in youth ministry, Catholic Social Services, perpetual adoration, etc.," he said in a 2002 interview with the Diocese of Savannah's publication The Southern Cross, shortly before his ordination. "Eventually I realized, despite loving my job at Johanssen's Sporting Goods, how happy I was serving God and his people and that I felt God was calling me to the priesthood."

Ingram served as parochial Vicar of St. Anne Catholic Church in Columbus from 2002 to 2005, then pastor of Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Macon from 2005 until his 2011 appointment at St. Teresa.

In this photo from 1967, Mike Ingram (second from left) and three other pupils at St. Mary on the Hill School helps the Rev. Cyril Gabbett demonstrate how to dance a four-hand Irish reel. Ingram, who went on to become a priest himself, died April 2 at age 69.
In this photo from 1967, Mike Ingram (second from left) and three other pupils at St. Mary on the Hill School helps the Rev. Cyril Gabbett demonstrate how to dance a four-hand Irish reel. Ingram, who went on to become a priest himself, died April 2 at age 69.

A Holy Rosary will be recited at 6:45 p.m. April 16 at St. Teresa. The family will receive friends there from 7:15 to 9 p.m.

The funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. April 17 at St. Teresa.

An additional funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. April 18 at the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist in Savannah. Interment will be at 12:30 p.m. at the Catholic Cemetery in Savannah.

Memorial contributions may be made to the St. Teresa Building Fund, 4921 Columbia Road, Grovetown, GA 30813.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta coach who followed faith to second career as priest dies at 69