SOUTHERN ACCENTS, BURR CUTS, AND SOAPY TOOTHBRUSHES
Dr. Gene Fant Jr. was born in Laurel, Miss., where his grand- father preached on one side of town and his father on the other. When Gene was four years old, his father felt called to missions and moved the family to Upstate New York to plant churches.
In the Fant household, each week had a sort of routine. You went to school and took mandatory speech therapy lessons to get rid of your Southern accent on weekdays. You got a burr cut every Saturday night. You went to church in the Johnny Carson suit factory on Sundays. And, any day of the week, you had to soap up your tooth- brush and brush your teeth out for cussing.
Gene says he had a “salty sailor” mouth back then, even at the age of five. He’ll never forget one particular day when his dad caught him letting out a four-letter word.
“We went upstairs for what I thought was going to be the punishment, and when we got to the bathroom, my dad soaped up his toothbrush. And he said, ‘I want you to know this is what Jesus did for you. He took the punish- ment that you deserved,’” Gene remembers.
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Gene took this illustration to heart. Afterwards, he and his father sat down to talk, and Gene prayed to receive Christ.
THE FANT FAMILY BAND
When Gene was 11, his family moved again, this time to Hampton, Va., where his father served as pastor at Ivy Memorial Baptist Church. At church, Gene was known for playing sports — and “going nuts” over calls he didn’t like, he admits — and playing music, too.
When Gene’s dad travelled to preach revivals, the whole family would tag along to provide the worship. Gene played bass and his younger brother played guitar to accompany their gospel singer-songwriter mother, whose stage name was Mona Faith.
After graduating from high school in 1981, Gene went on to earn his bachelor’s degree at James Madison Universi- ty and, immediately following, his master’s degree at Old Dominion University. Right after that, he started teaching for Gloucester County Public Schools in Virginia.
While waiting to take his TB test at new teacher orienta- tion, Gene couldn’t help but notice the girl standing in line beside him: Lisa Williams.
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