STATESBORO (BP) — Former Georgia pastor Quinn Pugh died Feb. 13 following open heart surgery. He was 74.

Pugh was associate pastor and then pastor of Jackson Hills Baptist Church in Atlanta from 1957-62. He also pastored churches in Bel Air, Md. and Westwood, N.J. He went on to become executive director of the Baptist Convention of New York from 1984-96.

Pugh earned undergraduate degrees at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall and Oglethorpe University in Atlanta; a divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur; and a doctor of ministry degree from Southern Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

Pugh is survived by three grandchildren in addition to his wife of 45 years, Norma, who served as a trustee of the SBC’s former Historical Commission; his son, Reuben Quinn Pugh Jr. of Denver; and daughter, Ruth Loy Pugh Forman of Phoenixville, Pa.

The funeral was held Feb. 17 at First Baptist Church in Statesboro, where he had been serving as a deacon.

The family requested that memorial contributions to be made to the Baptist World Alliance in Falls Church, Va.