Carroll O. Prewitt Jr., a longtime volunteer in Texas Baptist Men disaster relief and prison ministry, died Oct. 31. He was 80. He was born Aug. 1, 1945, in Fort Worth to Carroll Ordie Prewitt Sr. and Mary Edmonia Knowles Prewitt. His family moved to Irving, where he grew up and graduated from high school in 1963. He attended North Texas State University before he married his high school sweetheart Tina. He joined the Dallas Police Department in 1966, serving in various roles including detective, sergeant and divisional supervisor until he retired in 2000. He completed his Business Administration degree from NTSU in 1972. After a few years of being part-owner of a plant nursery near Lindale, he retired a second time. He taught Sunday school more than 40 years, and he served as a deacon and sang in the choir at churches in Lewisville, Garland, Dallas and Lindale. He loved using part of his vacation time to help build churches in the Rio Grande Valley. He was active in the Bill Glass Prison Ministry, spending many weekends in prisons across Texas. He also taught Bible study classes in the Hutchins State Prison and the Winnsboro unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. After retirement, he became active in the disaster relief ministry of Texas Baptist Men, now Texans on Mission. In addition to working on disaster relief in Texas and throughout the United States, he served in Iran, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Grenada and Haiti following major disasters in those countries. He and his wife served two years with the Southern Baptist Convention International Mission Board as missionaries in South Asia after she retired. In his senior years, he was diagnosed with a terminal lung disease but received two lung transplants at age 68. After he recovered from surgery, he shared his testimony and journey with patients, encouraging others who were waiting for transplants. He was also present to support families while a transplant was taking place. He is survived by his wife Mary Ernestine King Prewitt, better known as Tina; daughter Diane Derebery and her husband Jason; daughter Denise New and her husband Russell; daughter Donna Cornell and her husband Michael; eight grandchildren; and one great-grandson, as well as a sister, Susan Whaley. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to Texans on Mission, designated for disaster relief. Give online here, call (214) 275-1100 or mail a check to Texans on Mission, 5351 Catron Dr., Dallas, TX 75227.
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