Jonathan Abercrombie

Jonathan David Abercrombie, a Decatur resident who built homes for the homeless and bridged social and racial conflicts through community dialogue, died Nov. 30, 2025, from complications of Parkinson's disease. He was 77.

Abercrombie forged Christian faith and social justice into a life devoted to activism, from early beginnings as a youth minister in Tennessee to later community-building work as a leader of round-table discussion groups in Atlanta, Decatur and cities across the country.

"Atlanta and Decatur are the communities that they are today because Jon's spirit was all wrapped up in both places," said the Rev. Joanna Adams, Pastor Emerita, Morningside Presbyterian Church and community leader.

Abercrombie followed Jesus' commandment to "love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself," Adams said.

"He had deep concerns for the least, the lost and the left out," she said. "His manner was always gentle and truthful, always strong and always tender. He cared about all kinds of people, believing that we are better off connected to people who are different from us."

In his group facilitation work, Abercrombie was guided by two principles: People know what they want their communities to be, and everyone deserves to be heard and respected. He was admired for his kindness and warmth and his ability to listen to people and understand their problems.

"Jon was a peacemaker who could bring a diversity of people together to find common ground - an artist, poet, storyteller, lifelong seeker, a lover of nature and ideas, but most importantly Jon was a dear friend to anyone who knew him," recalled Bill Bolling, a friend and founder of the Atlanta Community Food Bank.

"He was a born facilitator," Bolling said. "By nature, he looked for common ground and saw the best in people."

Former Decatur Mayor and Councilmember Jim Baskett recalled that Abercrombie, known to his many friends as "Abie," was drawn to the nature and effect of grace.

"Jon always found something good to say about everyone," Baskett said.

Born at Atlanta's Crawford Long Hospital Dec. 26, 1947, Abercrombie was the only child of James J. Abercrombie and Ruth Elizabeth Morris Abercrombie. The couple raised their son in southwest Atlanta and named him for two missionaries: Jonathan Goforth, a Canadian Presbyterian missionary to China, and David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary to Africa.

His mother hoped he would follow their missionary paths abroad. But Abercrombie found his calling in urban youth ministry and later building homes for Atlantans in need.

Raised in the Baptist church, Abercrombie saw first-hand the racial discrimination of his era when his parents and extended family formally withdrew from their southwest Atlanta Baptist church because the church refused to admit two black members, both of whom had ties to Carver Bible College, which the Abercrombie's former church supported financially.

Abercrombie graduated from Therrell High School in Atlanta and attended William Jennings Bryan College in Dayton, Tenn., earning a degree in Greek in 1969. Later, he earned a master's degree in sociology from Memphis State University and another in education and community counseling from Georgia State University.

He took his first job with Campus Life, a program of the nonprofit Youth For Christ, working with high school students. He spent a year in Jackson, Miss., in 1971, and witnessed protests for racial equality that had a major impact on the direction of his life.

Abercrombie then led a Campus Life club at Gordon High School in DeKalb County, where he met his lifelong partner, Frances Lynn Atkins, who was a teacher at Gordon. The couple fell in love and were married in 1972.

The newlyweds lived six years in Memphis, Tenn., where Abercrombie worked with troubled youth, before returning to the Atlanta area for good in 1980.

That year, Abercrombie founded Charis Community Housing, a nonprofit that built homes for poorer residents in Atlanta's Summerhill neighborhood, not far from where he grew up. Charis was later selected as one of President George H. W. Bush's Thousand Points of Light.

In 1981, Abercrombie became a founding trustee of the Atlanta Taskforce for the Homeless. The task force's original model to bring business, government and faith communities together to build trust and find common ground was Abercrombie's idea and had never been done before, Bolling said.

Abercrombie also guided the opening of the first homeless shelter for women and children in Atlanta at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church.

In recognition of his emergence as a civic leader, Abercrombie was selected for Leadership Atlanta and graduated in the class of 1986.

Mike Florence, a childhood friend, said Abercrombie exuded kindness and gentleness at an early age.

"Every time I hear the 23rd Psalm where it says, 'You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies,' I think of Jon inviting those enemies to join him at that table for a meaningful discussion," Florence said. "They will leave that table with a better understanding of each other and maybe even friends."

Following retirement from Charis, Abercrombie threw his energies into mediating challenging community problems through round-table discussion groups.

In the late 1990s, the city of Decatur began a difficult and contentious process of reconciling its post-Olympic growth with its commitment to diversity and fairness for all residents.

Abercrombie spearheaded a community-wide discussion on the city's future, recalled Baskett, Decatur's former mayor and councilmember.

Called the Decatur Roundtables, the initiative was one of the most successful community engagement efforts in the country, and became a model for other cities, Baskett said.

"He never stopped reminding me to think about individuals and groups that needed support in the face of strong institutions," Baskett said. "He had a powerful impact on civic engagement - not just in Decatur, but across the country."

Over his years in Atlanta, Abercrombie served on the DeKalb County Public Library Board of Trustees, the Decatur Housing Authority Board of Commissioners and the board of the Clarkston Development Foundation.

Abercrombie was an avid outdoor enthusiast and athlete, playing soccer at a time when the sport was new in the South. He refereed youth soccer matches when he could no longer play.

On Christmas mornings, Abercrombie had a tradition of running through Decatur streets, and calling out "Merry Christmas" to houses as he ran by. The movie, "It's a Wonderful Life," in which character George Bailey runs through his hometown wishing neighbors merry Christmas, inspired the tradition.

Abercrombie read widely, loved poetry, carved wooden Christmas ornaments and became an avid artist later in life, working in a studio behind his Decatur home. His paintings were featured in a Decatur exhibit in 2020 and nearly every piece sold.

He had talent for flower arrangement and served on the St. Bartholomew's Flower Guild for many years.

He even wrote lyrics for a song composed by a friend, Lindy Hearne, who recalled Abercrombie's "beautiful spirit and kindness."

The onset of Parkinson's in 2012 slowly weakened Abercrombie, but it did not diminish his love of community and his capacity to make friends from every walk of life.

Michelle Montalvo, a visiting caregiver, developed a close bond with Abercrombie over the final two and a half years of his life, singing with him, walking with him and sharing laughter.

Abercrombie spent the last weeks of his life at Albert's House, a senior living home in Tucker, where caregivers Love Stubbs and Shiree Cunningham became devoted to him. Stubbs took time on her day off to visit Abercrombie the day he passed.

In 2017, Abercrombie was featured in "I am Decatur," a large-scale installation of portraits and stories of people who embody Decatur's vibrancy. He told photographer Beate Sass that as he was learning to live with Parkinson's, time and love had become most valuable to him.

"I will paint deep from my heart," Abercrombie said. "I will paint to overcome the black and white palette of fear of those we do not know. I will paint with a multi-colored palette to capture the love of the God we do know."

Abercrombie is survived by his wife, Frances Abercrombie, sister-in-law Betty Atkins Holland, a nephew and two nieces, three grand nephews and two grand nieces - and many loving friends and admirers.

Memorial services will be on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, at 2 p.m. at St. Bartholomew's, 1790 LaVista Rd. NE, Atlanta 30329, with a reception to follow in the parish hall. A private interment will be in Decatur Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions in Abercrombie's honor be made to the Decatur Education Foundation, decatureducationfoundation.org, or to the Flower Guild at St. Bartholomew's.