Benjamin Paul Camp

This is the story of Hugh Waddy, a follower of Jesus Christ, a professional piano player, a lover of music, an enthusiast of words and language, and the best friend of Coco the dog. I have to admit that this is not the first time I’ve met Mr. Waddy. He is considered a close friend of my family. He grew up next door to my great-grandfather and grandfather. Today he still lives in a house that borders the pasture behind my parent's house.

In my interview with Mr. Waddy, he told me all about his life and the different places he got to see. He began the interview with a prayer and note he wrote several years ago. The note reads, “Everything that has happened to me in my life has brought me to the point where I am now.” Mr. Waddy explained that his life had many painful moments and has been full of ups and downs. He said the Lord always surprises him with little blessings along the way, and he counts it all joy.

“I'll start by saying that I am 89 years old. Come September, I will be 90. Never dreamed of getting to this place, but when you're younger, you don't think like that.”

Mr. Waddy was born in 1933 to Fred and Joyce Waddy; he also had an older brother, Gerald. They all lived in a little farmhouse in Jonesboro, GA. The superintendent of Clayton County schools owned the house, and there was no running water or electricity. Mr. Waddy recalls when they finally had electricity installed. He said, “Daddy made a deal with the superintendent that if he would put in electricity, then Daddy would pay the bill…the light hung down from the ceiling, and you reached up and gave it a little twist to turn it on.”

Hugh and Gerald started taking piano lessons in Atlanta at an early age. They practiced at home on a piano given to them by an uncle. The piano had many issues and was covered in scorch marks from a house fire where the piano had previously lived. Mr. Waddy didn’t think  High School was anything out of the ordinary; however, he graduated at 16 due to there being only 11 grades at the time.

 Mr. Waddy started college at the Atlanta division of the University of Georgia. The college was in an old parking deck and would later become Georgia State University. He said, “I was not a very good student…I may have been immature in managing my time, but I can’t remember.” Some Christian friends told him about Baylor, University of Waco, Texas, and he decided to go there. He took a Grayhound to Texas and remembered getting on the bus. He said, “My brother was two years older and probably happy to get rid of me, and so Gerald and mother stood in front of the bus. I could see them through the windshield. Mother looked like she was about to cry, and my brother looked like he was just about to burst into laughter.” Mr. Waddy would later have a scholarship to Juilliard, but at the last minute, he felt the Lord calling him to attend Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. It also was the same school his brother was attending. 

During the summers of his college career, Mr. Waddy played the organ for the Southern Baptist Assembly in Ridgecrest, NC. There, he became interested in sign language and would go on to teach at multiple schools for deaf students. It was after his time teaching at those schools that music became his primary focus. He would move to New York City and start pursuing music as a career.

Once in NYC, he started doing temporary office work around the city to pay for his apartment. Mr. Waddy said, “...as the Lord would have it, straight across the hall from my apartment, lived a girl who was studying singing. She said her voice teacher needed someone to come to his studio and play for his pupils. So I started doing that, which introduced me to a lot of classical vocal music that I didn't know.” Mr. Waddy would slowly increase the number of people he was playing for. He would start giving private lessons for singers because it was cheaper for them to work with him instead of paying for studio lessons. He would eventually stop doing the temporary office work altogether. 

During his 32 years in NYC, he attended Glad Tidings Tabernacle. He fell in love with the worship, the people, and the culture within that church. He would eventually play the organ for Glad Tidings and loved every minute of it.  A group of Korean members at Glad Tidings wanted to start a church of their own and asked Mr. Waddy if he would play the organ for their services. He did and would do so for many years. A group of Korean churches, not any particular denomination, would gather singers together every summer and go on mission trips. The choir ranged between 50 to 150 people. They asked if he would go with them and play piano. They traveled all over the world during those summers. He went to 17 different countries. He still finds it hard to believe a little country boy from Georgia got to be a part of something so incredible. He still has a great love for the Korean people. 

It was around 1999 when Mr. Waddy’s mother died, leaving his father alone back in Jonesboro. He moved home to care for his father during his last years. This profoundly affected Mr. Waddy because it would help heal the psychological wounds left by his parents. He said they were very good parents, but he has no memory of affection from them. They were distant and cold. He never remembers getting a hug or a loving pat on the back. Mr. Waddy said, “Perhaps they came from a family that was not affectionate. Both of them were from families of 10 children.” He believes they inherited the same parenting attitude from their parents. He said childhood was not traumatic, but their childhood lacked the love and affection that young children need. 

Mr. Waddy said, “After Daddy died, and my brother had died earlier, everything of his land and so forth was settled up. It ended up that I didn't need the 19 acres, so it was in my heart to give it to a black church, which was next door. They thought instead of me having to do something on my own, they would buy me a house. It would be mine as long as I lived, which is known legally as ‘life estate.’ So they bought this house, which is mine as long as I live there.”

“Years have gone by, my body changes, my mind changes, I'm forgetful, my food tastes change, and many things change, but I have no complaints. God has led me through it all. I’ve got these words on my [future] tombstone, ‘All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe it all to thee.”

After conducting this interview and trying to write everything down, I’ve come to understand an essential thing about life: there is no sufficient substitute for human interaction. Mr. Waddy also noted that his best days, at this age, are when he has conversions with other people. He is left in a mental fog on days without human interaction, and even the most straightforward task becomes difficult. We both agree that talking with people is the best medicine for life’s troubles. It doesn’t make the pain disappear or fix all the problems, but it helps put everything in perspective. It reminds us we’re not alone.

The End.

Special thanks to “The Photo Spot” for film processing.