High 70, Low 46 Mostly sunny, nice Weather 4C www.standard.net SERVING THE TOP OF UTAH SINCE 1888 ALAN MURRAY/Standard-Examiner Participants clap during a recent revival at the Second Baptist Church in Ogden. Religion plays a role in lowering the suicide rate among elderly black men, who kill themselves far less often than white men. Family, faith help deter suicide. Study: Social support behind lower suicide rate among black community By JAMIE LAMPROS Standard-Examiner correspondent - trong religious faith added to family and social support of older African Americans may be the reason they die by suicide far less often than whites, according to a research report. A study at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania, found that in 1998, white men ages 65 and older died by suicide at a rate of 33.1 per 100,000 compared to a rate of 11.7 for black men. South Ogden Mayor George Garwood, Utah’s first black mayor, said the study makes sense. “T think we tend to take in our relatives more than other people do,” Garwood said. “If you’re down on your luck or something has gone wrong in your life, we take you in without any judgment.” Garwood said his mother has lived with extended family over the years, and his father, who died recently, lived with him while he was sick. “It would have been real- > See SUICIDE/5A ALAN MURRAY/Standard-Examiner The Rev. G.L. Ford preaches to a congregation as Pastor Charles Petty (right) listens during a recent revival at the Second Baptist Church in Ogden. Petty says that while his generation values church and family, he fears the next generation is becoming too concerned with materialism, distorting traditional values.