A dear friend and leader of FIND and the VOAD community, Deacon Marcus Hepburn, died on Tuesday, June 8, 2010, after suffering an accidental fall at home. Those who knew Marcus could surely tell many stories of his active faith and compassion for all. He will be missed greatly. Our prayers go out to his family and colleagues.

We gratefully acknowledge the kind permission of Gerald Ensley and the Tallahassee Democrat to reprint their article on Marcus.

Local activist Marcus Hepburn,63, dies after home accident

Hepburn helped the area's downtrodden

• This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it DEMOCRAT SENIOR WRITER JUNE 9, 2010

Marcus Hepburn, a devout Catholic who spent a career helping the less fortunate, died Tuesday. Hepburn, 63, died nine days after suffering a freak home accident. Hepburn was cleaning his garage May 30 when he fell and fractured his skull while moving a box spring. He was hospitalized but succumbed to internal bleeding and pneumonia. Hepburn was the emergency manager for the Florida Catholic Conference, charged with coordinating natural disaster response among the state's seven Catholic dioceses. But in a career spanning more than 30 years, he wore many hats.

He was a former Florida Department of Community Affairs official, who conducted prison counseling programs and still visited death row monthly. He and his wife, Toni, were former managers of the Ronald McDonald House. He was a president of the Tallahassee Homeless Coalition and member of Tallahassee Equality Action Ministry, which works on social justice issues. He was the Florida chair of the national Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster. In 2004, Hepburn was honored with a "Point of Light" award from Gov. Jeb Bush for his faith-based social activism.

"Marcus' gift was he understood the culture of the church and the culture of government and had such a far reach into the community of volunteer organizations," said Mike McCarron, executive director of the Florida Catholic Conference. "He used his ability with people and his knowledge of how systems work to make things happen." Hepburn was a longtime deacon at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, where he was respected for his social awareness. "He was very much aware of the needs of our time and the challenge we have to respond to those needs because of our faith," said Father Mike Foley, of Good Shepherd Catholic Church. "He will be missed, especially from the perspective of his social involvement."

Hepburn was renowned for his great sense of humor, fondness for practical jokes and playing Santa Claus at the annual Christmas party. He had recently begun work on his dissertation for a Ph. D. in anthropology from the University of Florida. "He was energetic and approachable. He had a real place in his heart for the downtrodden," said Brant Copeland, pastor of First Presbyterian Church. "He was a really fine example of a committed Christian."

Hepburn is survived by his wife and a daughter; the couple lost a daughter to a childhood heart condition. The funeral is Saturday at 10 a.m. at Good Shepherd.