Robert Dee “Bob” Longshore, Texas Baptist pastor and development officer, died June 10 in Mesquite. He was 100. He was born Jan. 25, 1923, in Commerce to Otis and Leonora Longshore. Soon after he graduated from Commerce High School, where he was co-captain of the football team, he joined the U.S. Army. Longshore served as a first sergeant in the Army Signal Corps attached to the Air Force during World War II. He was honorably discharged in 1945 having been awarded nine Bronze Stars, one Bronze Arrowhead, the American Defense Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. While stationed in Darmstadt, Germany, Longshore felt God calling him to preach. Upon returning to the United States following the war, he was ordained to the ministry by First Baptist Church in Commerce. He earned his undergraduate degree from Baylor University and Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Theology degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. While a student at Baylor, he met Anita Ruth Moore. They married June 18, 1948, in Winnsboro. Longshore was pastor of Fairlie Baptist Church near Commerce, Heidenheimer Baptist Church in Bell County, First Baptist Church in College Station and First Baptist Church in Littlefield. In 1966, he joined the Baptist General Convention of Texas as a development officer. In 1969, he was instrumental in starting Baylor University’s Student Foundation, a student organization that has since raised more than $5 million in student scholarships. He retired from the Baptist General Convention of Texas in 1985 as the director of the Texas Baptist institutional development program. He was preceded in death by a brother and two sisters. He is survived by his wife of nearly 75 years Anita; daughter Catherine Rendon of Mesquite; daughter Faith Houston of Sunnyvale and husband Steve; and daughter Deanna Harrison of Denver, Colo., and husband Scott; five grandchildren; one great-granddaughter; and three great-grandsons. Visitation will be at 1 p.m. on June 17 at Restland Funeral Home Memorial Chapel in Dallas, with a memorial service following at 2 p.m. Burial is scheduled at 1 p.m. on June 21 at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Baylor University Student Foundation, to the Baptist General Convention of Texas designated for the “Pastor Sabbatical Grant” or another charity.
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