Rev. Peter Gomes remembered by UNC community

He’s remembered for being candid, witty and at times incendiary, but what people remember the most about the late Rev. Peter Gomes is his voice.

When Gomes spoke, his warm and gravelly timbre rose and fell with a seasoned cadence perfected by more than 40 years of preaching.

On Monday, those years of inspiring others came to an end when Gomes died of complications from a stroke. He was 68.

In 2005, Gomes became one of the best commencement speakers in the University’s history.

“Gomes was one of the great preachers of this country,” said Chancellor Emeritus James Moeser. “He had a golden voice and a silver tongue.

“He was a mighty orator, incredibly funny but at the same time, wonderfully probing and full of insight.”

Moeser, who was chancellor during Gomes’ first visit to the University, described Gomes’ passing as both a personal loss and a loss for the academic arena.

“One of my themes when I was chancellor was that UNC could be both great and good — it was something that I got directly from him. It’s a profound thing.”

A graduate of the Harvard Divinity School, Gomes had served as a professor of Christian morals and a Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church at Harvard since 1970.

On graduation day 2005, Gomes was welcomed the podium with resigned but respectable applause.

Dr. Ron Strauss, executive associate provost, said seniors that year had hoped for a famous commencement speaker — specifically Oprah Winfrey.

Instead, they got a 62-year-old unknown reverend from Harvard.

But Strauss, who also serves as chairman of the commencement speaker selection committee, said their resentment ebbed almost as soon as Gomes began to speak.

“He said, ‘I recognize that I wasn’t your first choice,’ and he charmed everyone,” Strauss said.

This year, Strauss cited Gomes as evidence that lesser-known speakers can be the best after the selection of E.O. Wilson, a Harvard professor and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, was met with criticism.

Gomes’ candor disarmed the students and, within five minutes, he had their attention, Moeser said.

“All of your life has been a mere prelude to the day after tomorrow,” Gomes said. “Life is to be lived and loved, not merely anticipated. This is your life. Whatever it is, it’s yours.”

In the spring of 2008, Gomes served as a distinguished visiting professor in the department of religious studies and taught a course on the morality of different interpretations of the Bible.

Senior Lacy Green said the semester she spent with Gomes was the reason she chose to become a religious studies major.

“As a freshman it was so different than anything that I’d ever heard,” Green said.

“He was direct and unapologetic in his interpretation of Bible, but it wasn’t like we were being patronized – he was sincere in his delivery.”

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