1963 – Rev. Elmore Ryle
In the summer of 1963, the Woodland Christian Church called Elmore Ryle to become its Pastor. Ryle, a 1941 graduate of Eastern Kentucky University, and the College of the Bible in 1944, had been serving as Pastor in Corbin.
During his career Ryle also pastored in Middletown, (Richmond?), Simpsonville, and Tipton, Indiana, but he probably made his biggest mark in Kentucky history as the state Director of Probation and Parole, before coming to Woodland.
Ryle was a reformer who encouraged Kentuckians to consider improvements to the criminal justice system following a series of riots that shook the nation’s prisons in the early 1950s. He lobbied for adequate facilities and praised judges who recognized the difference between a law breaker and a criminal. He reported that 85% of paroled offenders never returned, while as much as 70% of those imprisoned do return.
Believing that idleness led to the erosion of prisoners’ minds and souls, Ryle pressed the legislature to provide prison factories and equipment and criticized industry leaders and organized labor for their efforts to thwart prison work programs.
Rev Elmore Ryle and Margaret, with their children Stanley and Merrilee.
During his career Ryle also pastored in Middletown, (Richmond?), Simpsonville, and Tipton, Indiana, but he probably made his biggest mark in Kentucky history as the state Director of Probation and Parole, before coming to Woodland.
Ryle was a reformer who encouraged Kentuckians to consider improvements to the criminal justice system following a series of riots that shook the nation’s prisons in the early 1950s. He lobbied for adequate facilities and praised judges who recognized the difference between a law breaker and a criminal. He reported that 85% of paroled offenders never returned, while as much as 70% of those imprisoned do return.
Believing that idleness led to the erosion of prisoners’ minds and souls, Ryle pressed the legislature to provide prison factories and equipment and criticized industry leaders and organized labor for their efforts to thwart prison work programs.
Rev Elmore Ryle and Margaret, with their children Stanley and Merrilee.