TGN Gold Remembers Timothy Wright

On this date in 2008, Brooklyn pastor and acclaimed gospel singer Timothy Wright was critically injured and his wife was killed when their vehicle was hit head-on by a car that was headed the wrong way on a Pennsylvania highway, the authorities said.

His wife, Betty Wright, 58, the church’s co-pastor, died in the accident, the police said.

Pastor Wright has recorded more than 10 albums of gospel music and been nominated for several Grammy Awards.

The accident occurred about 10:30 p.m. on July 4, 2008 on Interstate 80 in Greene Township in north central Pennsylvania, about 200 miles west of New York City, the Pennsylvania State Police said. Pastor Wright and his family had been returning from a church conference in Detroit

Pastor Wright’s vehicle, which was traveling in the interstate’s eastbound lanes, was struck head-on by a car that was headed west, the police said. The driver of that car also was killed. He was identified by the police as John Pick, 44, of Lewisburg, Pa. After the collision, the pastor’s vehicle was struck again from behind.

Pastor Wright, who has collaborated with a number of traditional and contemporary gospel performers and choirs, began composing songs as a teenager. In 1976, he started his own choir, and he has had a series of gospel hits, including, “Troubles Don’t Last Always,” “Who’s on the Lord’s Side?” and, most recently, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”

Nine months after a devastating car crash left him paralyzed, the Rev. Timothy Wright -Brooklyn's Godfather of Gospel - died.

"He will be tremendously missed, but his voice will be eternal," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, a decades-long friend of Wright.

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