MAJORS PAUL & KAREN EGAN
MS Gulf Coast Area Commanders
Majors Paul and Karen Egan are beyond excited about the opportunity to move to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and serve the community as The Salvation Army’s Area Commanders. They are amazed at the extraordinary services provided at the Centers of Hope and Kroc Center. They see it as an obvious testimony to the commitment these communities have to love and care for their neighbors in need through the life-changing mission of The Salvation Army.
Paul, the sixth and last son of Thomas and Rosemary Egan, was born in Ft. Stewart, GA. His late father was a retired Air Force air traffic controller who worked for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps.
Paul started attending church at The Salvation Army at age 10 when his family moved to Beaufort, SC. His mother, whose family was nurtured by The Salvation Army when she was a child, would “volunteer” Paul to serve as a bell ringer, visitor to the nursing home and assistant to the Thrift Store truck driver. What began as a somewhat begrudged service has flourished into a cherished career.
Karen (nee Dick) was born in Florida, the youngest of four children. She is the 4th generation of her family to be a part of The Salvation Army. Karen grew up attending The Salvation Army’s Clearwater Corps, where she was Girl Guard leader, Sunday School teacher, and sang in the songsters. After receiving an AA in Elementary Education, Karen moved to Atlanta to work in the Child Care Department at The Salvation Army’s School for Officers’ Training and then as the Youth Program Coordinator at the Atlanta Temple Corps.
In 1988, Paul and Karen were accepted as cadets to The Salvation Army’s School for Officers’ Training as part of “The Witness for Jesus” session. Paul loves to regale how fortunate he felt that early on, cadets were seated alphabetically in chapel services, allowing him to sit next to Karen. Those early interactions were less memorable for Karen, but blessed is the one who perseveres. Paul and Karen were ordained and commissioned as Lieutenants in June of 1990 and married in March of 1991.
They have served for 35 years in Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Kentucky, predominantly as Corps Officers. Eight years of their service have been at Headquarters, with Paul leading the finance and personnel department, and Karen leading the women’s and adult ministries departments.
Majors Egan have one child, Bradley, who in 2015 graduated with a BA in acting from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro “on time and debt free.” He shares Paul’s love of music and entertainment, along with Karen’s drive for excellence. Bradley now lives in Orlando, Florida, and has embraced many dramatic acting roles there, ranging from Don Quixote’s faithful squire Sancho Panza to Nancy Drew’s table. (There are no small parts.) Currently, he is telling tales at Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter and leading the singing and jokes at Disney’s Frozen Sing-a-long.
Majors Egan receive great personal satisfaction through their work with The Salvation Army, especially seeing broken lives and families made whole.