Billy Sunday's Three Sons All Went To The Devil

Proverbs 29:15, “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” Ephesians 6:4, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

One of the most famous revival preachers of the 20th century was Evangelist Billy Sunday (1862-1935). Yet, tragically, Billy Sunday himself pained in his soul to admit publicly that his three adult sons were all Christ-rejecting, hellbound, heathens...

Billy Sunday was the most famous and successful evangelist of the early 1900’s. He was a flamboyant professional baseball player who met Christ at Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. Within a few years he had formed a very successful crusade team which captured media attention all over the country. He is remembered as a colorful preacher who not only led multitudes to Christ, but also led the fight against ending prohibition.

Billy Sunday would be considered a success by almost any standard. Yet he lamented, “The great tragedy of my life is that though I have led thousands to Christ, my own sons are not saved.” Indeed his sons mocked their father’s ministry and were drunks with horrible family lives, one of whom ended his life by suicide.

It was the practice of the Sundays to leave their children in the care of a nanny while they pursued their ministry. Maybe we should note that fact as we discern what truly is redeeming the time.

SOURCE: Billy Sunday's Children

I do not judge Billy and Helen Sunday, because every human being has their own freewill to choose and decide. In the Old Testament, Josiah grew up in a wicked home, having wicked Amon for his father, and wicked Manasseh for his grandfather. Yet, Josiah chose to serve the Lord.

The inspired Word of God is very clear that God will not hold children accountable for the sins of their parents, nor hold parents accountable for the sins of their children. Ezekiel 18:20, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” We all have nobody to blame but ourselves. But that doesn't mean God won't hold parents accountable for their failure as parents to raise up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We will all be judged according to our works, even Christians (Revelation 14:13; 2nd Corinthians 5:10-11). The unsaved will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).

Billy and Nell Sunday had four children. Nell often traveled with her husband, later becoming his business manager, and the couple hired a full-time governess to take care of their children. Both parents were closest to their oldest child, Helen E. Sunday (1890-1932). She married Mark P. Harris in 1913, and they lived in Michigan. The Sundays’ three sons, George M. Sunday (1892-1933), William A. Sunday Jr. (1901-1938), and Paul T. Sunday (1907-1944), worked on their father’s campaigns at various times. All three men had unstable lives, including multiple marriages and financial troubles.

SOURCE: Billy Sunday

The Sunday's troubled oldest child, George Sunday (1892-1933) commit suicide at age 40. George had been arrested for public drunkenness and stealing a vehicle. The Sunday's only daughter, Helen Haines (1890-1932), died in 1932 at age 42 of what is commonly believed today to have been Multiple Sclerosis. I feel so sorry for Billy and his wife Nell, who suffered so much heartache in so little time:

1. The Sunday's daughter Helen Haines dies of Multiple Sclerosis in 1932 at age 40
2. George Sunday is arrested for stealing a vehicle and public intoxication
3. George then commits suicide on September 11th, 1933
4. Some of the ex-wives of Sunday's three sons tried to blackmail their in-laws to pay money for their silence about their son's debauchery
5. Prohibition ends on December 5th, 1933, undoing nearly everything that Billy Sunday worked so hard to fight against most of his adult life as a Bible preacher
6. Billy Sunday himself dies in 1935 at age 72, leaving his wife Helen (whom Billy often called “Nell” or “Ma” Sunday”) all alone. She went to Heaven in 1957 at age 88.
7. Billy Sunday Jr. (1901-1938) died of Pneumonia in 1938 at age 37
8. Paul Sunday, a test pilot, died in an airplane crash in 1944 (Helen Sunday outlived ALL of her four children and her beloved husband)

Those are just the tragedies that I am aware of, I am sure that there were many more on top of all that. My heart goes out to Helen Sunday, whom Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) met years later. She suffered so many heartaches during her life, but as God's redeemed saints we know it will be worth it all when we see Jesus. 

Sadly, Billy Sunday's three sons caused him and their mother Helen Sunday much grief. The Sunday's three sons were pampered and largely reared by strangers, because of Billy Sunday's busy lifestyle. The sons embarrassed their parents with their errant sordid lifestyles. As I mentioned earlier, George was arrested for drunkenness and auto theft before he committed suicide in 1932; Billy Jr., died from Pneumonia after an automobile accident in 1938 at age 37; and Paul, a test pilot, died in an airplane crash in 1944. Furthermore, their oldest child, Helen Haines, though happily married, developed a degenerative disease and died of pneumonia in 1932. No parent should have to outlive their children and bear that pain of soul.

The boys' ex-wives remained a continuing dilemma for the Sundays. Some blackmailed the evangelist to keep quiet about their son's infidelities. Others used gentler techniques to extract money, and Nell often provided friendly advice to the women when she responded with financial assistance.

I would never condemn any parent for the sins, mistakes, crimes or failures of their children. Albeit, I think we can learn a lesson from all this. It is obvious to me that Billy and Helen Sunday made an unwise decision when they hired a nanny to raise their children. The Proverbs 31 woman was a mother to her own children. She didn't outsource the job to some paid stranger. It is Biblical for women to stay home to rear their own children. 1st Timothy 5:14-15, “I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. For some are already turned aside after Satan.”

I heard Pastor Jack Hyles in person, when I was a member of the great soulwinning First Baptist Church of Hammond in Indiana, crying through tears from his pulpit, blaming himself for the sins and failures of his adult children, particular his son. Dr. Hyles said that while he was so busy trying to save America, he lost his own children. That is tragic!

Yet, I do not condemn Pastor Jack Hyles nor Evangelist Billy Sunday. They did what they believed was right at the time to save a nation for imminent destruction if we don't see great revivals across the nation. Sadly, we've never needed those type of citywide revivals any more than today in 2022. 2023 is just around the corner. Only one of two things will bring America to our knees. One is massive tragedy; such as, a nuclear holocaust nationwide. I sincerely and humbly think that is exactly what Revelation chapter 18 is about, the coming destruction of the United States. I triple-dog dare you to read Revelation 18, and then tell me what other country fits that vivid description any better than The United States of America.