Craig Melvin’s brother, a pastor in SC, dies of colon cancer
Lawrence Meadows, the brother of Craig Melvin, died of colon cancer last week, the “Today’ show host and Columbia native said.
Meadows died Wednesday, according to an obituary from Serenity-Murray Mortuary. No memorials or funeral arrangements have been planned or made public.
The 43-year-old pastor died four years after he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, Melvin said Saturday on Instagram.
“Colon cancer robbed him and us of so much,” Melvin said in the post. “Lawrence Meadows was a husband (to Angela, his childhood sweetheart), father (to Addie, 11 and Lawson, 7) Baptist minister, entrepreneur, and one of the best human beings you would’ve ever known.”
Born in Spartanburg in 1977, Meadows graduated from Dorman High School and Wofford College before getting a Masters in Divinity and and a Doctorate in Ministry from Gardner-Webb University, according to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance.
It was in 2017 when Melvin, 41, told his brother’s story on the “Today” show. Melvin said doctors removed a baseball-sized tumor from Meadows’s abdomen in October 2016 and discovered that the cancer had spread, according to “Today.”
In 2018, Melvin gave an update on his brother’s cancer battle, calling him “a fighter” and saying Meadows had undergone 28 chemotherapy treatments, according to “Today.”
Melvin said Meadows spent time in recent years raising awareness about colon cancer, which is the third most common cancer diagnosed, and second deadliest, in both men and women in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society.
Meadows spent time speaking about colon cancer and the importance of getting screened and tested, according to “Today.”
“Dead at 43. Missed but never forgotten. Get checked. Talked about your family history,” Melvin said. “We’ll be keeping up that fight. We love you, bro.”
That sentiment was echoed by the Colorectal Cancer Alliance.
“This world lost a man who was full of energy and will forever be missed,” the group said in a fundraiser in Meadows’ memory. “Lawrence was a tremendous man of faith and strength, who was taken too soon by this horrible disease. We will continue to honor Lawrence and carry on his legacy by never stopping the effort to end this disease that is hurting and impacting too many people.”
Melvin grew up in Columbia, where he graduated from Columbia High School.
He started his career in 2001 at Columbia’s WIS, an NBC affiliate. He moved to another NBC affiliate before joining NBC News in 2011. Before taking on the role as “Today” show anchor, his previous role with the company was anchoring Weekend Today.
Earlier this year, South Carolina native and “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer. Like Meadows, Boseman was 43 when he died, four years after being diagnosed with the disease, the Washington Post reported. The Anderson native also portrayed Hall of Fame baseball player Jackie Robinson, musical icon and S.C. native James Brown and Thurgood Marshall, the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
This story was originally published December 13, 2020 at 2:16 PM with the headline "Craig Melvin’s brother, a pastor in SC, dies of colon cancer."
