Mary Lou Humphries of Lindale, former Baptist missionary to Vietnam and a past president of Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas, died June 18 in Denton. She was 88. She was born May 10, 1933, in Springdale, Ark., to James and Theresa Lookingbill. She made her profession of faith in Jesus Christ at age 8 and became a member of First Baptist Church in Springdale, Ark. After she graduated with honors from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, she began her teaching career in Lubbock, where she met Jim Humphries. After three months of courtship, they married on Christmas Day 1955 in Springdale, Ark. A few years later, the Humphries felt God’s call to vocational Christian service. Jim Humphries enrolled in Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, and the first church where they served was in Loco, Okla. In 1966, they answered the call to missions. They stepped out in faith, moving with their three young children to Saigon, Vietnam, where they served the congregation of the Trinity Baptist Church. She sang in the choir and taught English classes and cooking classes to Vietnamese women. They served on the foreign mission field eight years before returning to the United States in 1973. They moved to Arlington, where she mentored women and taught Sunday school at Northside Baptist Church. In 1978, her husband was called as pastor of First Baptist Church in San Marcos, and they served together there 13 years. In 1992, she was elected president of Texas WMU. In May 2000, the Humphries moved to Lindale and became active in ministry at First Baptist Church of Tyler. She was preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, Jim Humphries, and by brothers James Lookingbill and Tim Lookingbill. She is survived by son Matt Humphries and his wife Stella of Tyler; son Mark Humphries and his wife Laurie of Tyler; daughter Tracy Humphries Miller and her husband Ben of Denton; seven grandchildren; three great-granddaughters; and a sister, Sarah Schmidt. A memorial service will be held at First Baptist Church in Tyler at 2 p.m. on July 10. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Lottie Moon Offering for International Missions through First Baptist Church in Tyler.
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