Robert Allen Fanning, a Baptist layman and attorney who served on a variety of denominational boards, died Nov. 2 in Dallas. He would have been 88 the following day. Fanning was born in Dallas on Nov. 3, 1931, to Charles Allen and Beryl Buckner Fanning. He graduated from Baylor University and Southern Methodist University Law School. He served in the U.S. Air Force, rising to the rank of first lieutenant while serving in Japan in the JAG Corps. He was married to Carolyn Parker Fanning from 1960 until her death in 2006. He married Margaret Sharpe Fanning in 2008. He was a founding partner and longtime chairman of the board of the law firm of Fanning, Harper, Martinson, Brandt and Kutchin. Fanning was a member of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas. He served more than 40 years on the board of San Marcos Baptist Academy, including service as board chair. In recognition, the academy awarded him its Distinguished Service Medal and Exemplary Service Medal. He received an honorary doctorate from Dallas Baptist University, where he served as chair of the dinner committee for the Russell H. Perry Free Enterprise Award Dinner and as a member of the DBU Foundation. He also served terms on the boards of Baylor University, the Southern Baptist Convention Annuity Board and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He was preceded in death by his brother, Charles Buckner Fanning, longtime pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in San Antonio. He is survived by his wife, Margaret; sons Barry and Marc Fanning; and five grandchildren.

Nelson Rodriguez of Fort Worth, a Baptist layman and a leader in both business and government, died Oct. 22. He was 67. He was born Jan. 24, 1951, in Harlingen to Benjamin and Aurora Rodriguez. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas in Austin and began an early career as an entrepreneur. At age 27, he was the first chair and president of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The next year, he moved to Washington D.C., where he served in a series of presidential appointments during the Reagan administration. Rodriguez was the youngest senior executive at the Department of Commerce, won the Secretarial Achievement Award at the Department of Transportation and received the Affordable Housing Award at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was the founder and owner of the Nelrod Company in Fort Worth, an affordable housing and energy efficiency consulting firm. He served on the coordinating boards of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and CBF of Texas, and he chaired the national CBF finance committee. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Esther; sons, Nelson Jr., Joshua, Jacob and James; daughters, Cathy, Ester and Haley; four grandchildren; sister, Pearl Garza of Harlingen; and brothers, Ben Rodriguez of San Antonio, Hector Rodriguez of Dallas, David Rodriguez of Harlingen.

Chester C. O’Brien of Amarillo, retired pastor and denominational executive, died Oct. 20. He was 94. O’Brien was born on Nov. 25, 1924, to Chester and Katie O’Brien in Fort Worth. He graduated from high school in Big Spring, and he went on to earn degrees from Hardin-Simmons University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. O’Brien married Bonnie Louise Ball on June 25, 1946 in Big Spring. He was pastor of Baptist churches in Big Spring, Denton, Gruver and Wellington, as well as in Wolf Creek, Ky., and Tucumcari, N.M. He was the founding pastor of Paramount Baptist Church in Amarillo, served Amarillo Baptist Association as the director of missions and the Baptist Convention of New Mexico as executive director. He retired from full-time ministry after serving as associate pastor of First Baptist Church in Amarillo. O’Brien was preceded in death by his wife, Bonnie. Survivors include son David of Austin; daughter Marianna Chopin of Charleston, S.C.; son John and his wife Marilyn of Amarillo; brother William R. O’Brien and wife Charmaine; and three grandchildren.

Samuel Douglas “Doug” Dillard, longtime editorial cartoonist for the Baptist Standard and veteran Christian communicator, died Oct. 5 in Belton. He was 90. He was born in Temple on July 11, 1929, to Clarence “Cy” and Aleene Lynch Dillard. He graduated from Temple High School, then went on to earn degrees from Baylor University in Waco and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. Douglas was licensed to ministry at 15 and ordained at 17 by Memorial Baptist Church in Temple. As a student, he was pastor at Pendleton Baptist Church and School Creek Baptist in Lampasas County. His ministries also included service as youth evangelist and minister of education at several churches before launching a career in religious public relations. He operated a public relations and advertising firm known as Ministry of Ideas before becoming president of a management company that specialized in fund-raising for non-profit organizations. He won numerous awards and was listed in Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, Who’s Who in Public Relations, and PR Blue Book. He spent four years in an international business, where he was editor of the Texas International Business Directory, a monthly news magazine on world trade, and an online electronic bulletin board on world trade that pre-dated the rise of the Internet. He retired in 1995 as vice president for the Radio and Television Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, where he directed public relations, direct mail, marketing, graphics, and printing for radio and television programming that reached an audience of more than a half-billion persons in 87 countries. In 1993, he received the Baptist General Convention of Texas Communications Award for outstanding contributions to the religious life of Texas through communications media. In 2002 the Dallas Chapter of Religion Communicators Council, of which he was a founding member and past president, presented him with the Norvell Slater Lifetime Achievement Award. Dillard was widely known as a cartoonist and banquet speaker. He published three collections of his cartoons, illustrated several other books and award-winning filmstrips, and for more than 30 years published weekly editorial cartoons in the Baptist Standard and other religious news magazines. His beleaguered pastor character, “Brother Blotz,” has been viewed on the walls and in newsletters of thousands of churches. One of his editorial cartoons won a Freedom Foundation Honor Certificate. After retiring, Douglas returned to Bell County in 2007 to marry his childhood sweetheart, JoAn Musick Flowers, and he spent the rest of his life joining in her volunteer and philanthropic support of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Belton Christian Youth Center, Texas Baptist Children’s Home, Hope Pregnancy Centers, Helping Hands, the J.A.I.L. Ministry, Friends of the Lena Armstrong Public Library, First Baptist Church in Belton, Belton Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors and Central Texas Master Singers. In a final act of stewardship, he donated his remains to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. He was preceded in death by his wife of 53 years, Marah Martin Dillard. He is survived by his wife JoAn Musick Dillard of Belton; sister Doris Dillard Edwards and her husband Marshall of Blowing Rock, N.C.; son David Dillard and his wife Karen of Plano; daughters Debbie Manns of Georgetown and Donna Pool of Round Rock; twin stepsons Randy and Ricky Rubendall, 10 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

Edward “Ed” Lee Wittner of Waco, longtime minister of music, died Oct. 2, 2019. He was 89. He was born Oct. 10, 1929, in Waco to Robert and Lillie Wittner. As the only child of a Baptist minister, he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at an early age. Growing up in Alpine, he learned the trumpet, was the high school drum major, played football, basketball, tennis, ran track and was involved in FFA. Much of his youth was spent on the grounds of Paisano Baptist Encampment, where his parents built their home. He considered Paisano “holy ground,” and out of love for the encampment, its history and the ministry it provided, he returned every summer to direct worship or lead in some capacity for more than 65 years. As a student at Baylor University, he met his future wife, Dolores Merlene “Merle” Davis, and he discovered his talent for singing and committed to use it for the glory of God. He directed music in small community churches before being called to full-time ministry. He served more than five decades in seven churches, developing music programs and leading numerous choirs, ensemble and hand bell groups in each one. Many of the young people who were part of his youth choirs in Lamesa and Plainview went on to serve God in a variety of ways. During his time in Plainview, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, he led the way with contemporary music, taking his youth choirs on numerous mission trips and musical tours throughout Mexico and the United States. In his later years, particularly at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco, he took choirs of all ages outside the United States to spread the gospel and love of Christ through music. He served 23 years on staff at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church and was ordained to the gospel ministry there. Even after his retirement in 1999, he continued to serve that church and other congregations for another decade. He received special recognition by the governor of Texas and the mayor of Waco for his longtime service to his church, community and state. In 2002, he was made an honorary Alumnus of Truett Theological Seminary for the role he played in mentoring prospective music directors. He is survived by his wife, Merle; three children, Edward Houston, Robbie and Dan; and two granddaughters.

James “Jim” F. Humphries, former missionary and pastor, died Sept, 28 in Tyler. He was 93. He was born March 9, 1926, in Savannah, Ga., to James Madison Humphries and Anna Fagg Humphries. He made his profession of faith in Christ at age 8 and was baptized on Aug, 5, 1934, at the Long Branch Baptist Church in Anderson, S.C. Immediately after he graduated from high school in 1944, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He served aboard the LST 807 in the Pacific theater of World War II. His military service included battles at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. After returning from the war, Humphries enrolled at Furman University in Greenville, S.C., where he earned an undergraduate degree. Upon graduation, he began working for the Kellogg Corporation as a regional salesman in Lubbock, where he met the love of his life, Mary Lou Lookingbill. After a three-month courtship, they married on Christmas Day 1955 in Springdale, Ark. A few years later, he felt God’s call to ministry and enrolled at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he received a Master of Divinity degree. During his time in seminary, he was pastor of a church in Loco, Okla. In 1966, the Humphries answered the call to missions, moving with their three young children to Vietnam. In Saigon, he became pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, where he ministered to U.S. military personnel. The Humphries served on the foreign mission field seven years before returning to the United States in 1973. He served with World Evangelism Foundation until 1977. He then became pastor of First Baptist Church in San Marcos, where he served 13 years. During his early retirement years, he was interim pastor at churches in New Braunfels, Corpus Christi, Odessa, Frankston and Canton. Survivors include his wife of 63 years, Mary Lou Lookingbill Humphries of Tyler; son Matt Humphries and daughter-in-law Stella of Tyler; son Mark Humphries and daughter-in-law Laurie of Tyler; daughter Tracy Humphries Miller and son-in-law Ben of Denton; seven grandchildren; one great-granddaughter; a sister, Ellen Bracewell; and a brother, Tom Humphries.

Forrest “Butch” Pesch, retired Texas Baptist pastor, died Aug. 22 in Goldthwaite. He was 77. Pesch was born June 22, 1942, in Great Falls, S.C., to Forrest D. and Emily Hunter Pesch. He married Nan Laughlin on Feb. 18, 1961, in Idalou. He was a graduate of Hardin-Simmons University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Pesch was pastor of Priddy Baptist Church in Mills County from 1988 to 2016. He was preceded in death by his grandson, Micah Farrell. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Nan Pesch; his daughters, Keri Farrell and her husband Stewart, and Sheri Bonsal and her husband Doug; and his son Joel Pesch and his wife Sarah; six grandchildren; and his sister Eve Williams and her husband Jerry.

Harvey W. Hoffman Jr. of Farmerville, La., former Texas Baptist pastor, died Aug. 27. He was 85. Hoffman was born July 7, 1934, to Wilburn and Julia Hoffman in Kosse in Limestone County. He made his profession of faith in Christ at age 11 and began preaching at age 15. He earned his undergraduate degree from Baylor University and a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was pastor of churches in Gonzales, San Antonio, Hockley, DeLeon and Granger, as well as several congregations in Louisiana. He served on the board of directors of the Baptist Standard and was moderator of several associations. For five years, he served as a Home Mission Board-appointed state missionary in Louisiana. Throughout his life, he conducted more than 195 revivals. After retiring, he continued to serve another 23 years in pulpit supply and interim pastorates. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Janet Darl Thompson Hoffman; a daughter, Shelda Hoffman Reeves and her husband Dennis of Bullard; son Bill Hoffman and his wife Terri of Shreveport, La.; son Jeffrey Hoffman and his wife Angela of Arcadia, La.; four grandchildren; and four great-grandsons.

William C. “Bill” Everett, longtime Texas Baptist pastor, died Sept. 2 in Carthage. He was 86. Everett was born Oct. 23, 1932, in Texarkana, Texas, to Gaynell Wicker and William Clarence Everett. He earned his undergraduate degree at East Texas Baptist University, where he also met Anita June Scott. They married June 19, 1954, and celebrated 62 years of marriage before she preceded him in death in 2016. He earned two degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and holds a Doctor of Divinity degree from ETBU. Everett was pastor of First Baptist Church in Longview, Fielder Road Baptist Church in Arlington and Central Baptist Church in Carthage, in addition to student pastorates in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. During his ministry in Arlington, Fielder Road Baptist Church grew from 500 members to more than 7,000. While he was pastor, the church completed more than $15 million in building projects, including several educational buildings, an early childhood center, a new worship center and a family life center. Upon his retirement after serving 21 years, the church named him pastor emeritus. Everett served on executive boards and committees in Baptist associations and in conventions at the state and national levels. He served more than 20 years on the ETBU board of trustees. He was preceded in death by his wife; a brother, Wendell Haynes Everett; and a sister, Doris Pecot. He is survived by his son, James Ross “Jay” Everett and wife Beth; daughter, Laurie G. Everett Lindloff and husband Andy; and three grandchildren.

Eddy Lee Curry of Abilene, longtime Texas Baptist minister of education, died Aug. 14. He was 66. Curry was born in Brownfield to Bill and Alice Curry on June 4, 1953. He graduated from Ropesville High School and Wayland Baptist University. He married Dee Ann Adkins on Aug. 10, 1973, in Lubbock. Curry graduated from Southwestern Baptist Seminary in 1992 and served various churches in Texas and New Mexico during a 30-year career in ministry. The last 14 years, he was minister of education at Pioneer Drive Baptist Church in Abilene. Curry served on several boards with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Texas Baptist Educators Association. He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Dee Ann; daughter Kamber Bailey and husband Kelvin of Lubbock; son Kade and wife Jenni of Springdale, Ark.; six grandchildren; and brothers Dan Curry and wife Alicia of Arlington and Larry Curry and wife Amanda of Abernathy.

Addie Muriel Robinson, longtime home missionary and minister’s wife, died Aug. 11. She was 86. She was born to Warren B. and Roxie Kinamon Thompson on June 20, 1933, in the Arnold community near Blue Ridge in Collin County. She was the granddaughter of Finis P. and Lucy Kinamon, with whom she lived from the time she was 3 years old. After her graduation from Blue Ridge High School, she attended East Texas Teacher’s College in Commerce, where she received her undergraduate degree. She began her teaching career in McKinney in 1955, where she taught third grade. Later, she taught in New Mexico, as well as in Amarillo and Plano. Soon after accepting her first teaching job, she met and began dating Ken Robinson, a recent graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, who was minister of music and education at First Baptist Church of Farmersville. They married on Nov. 22, 1956, in McKinney. Together, she and her husband served churches in Texas, New Mexico and Washington before being commissioned as missionaries by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Home Mission Board in 1987. In various churches, she was young adult Sunday school director, organized and led women’s conferences and retreats, led numerous Bible studies and prayer groups, and worked with Woman’s Missionary Union, holding a state position in New Mexico. She also taught school and piano. She particularly enjoyed teaching women of all ages the importance of prayer and the impact it can have on the health of one’s family. She was preceded in death last year by her husband of nearly 62 years, J. Kenneth Robinson. She is survived by their four children, Libby Clifton of Amarillo and her husband Bruce; Mark Robinson of Canton and his wife, Carolyn; Robin Newman of McKinney and her husband Patrick; and David Robinson of Amarillo; 11 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

Jerry Bob Taylor of Brownwood, former Baptist encampment manager and Texas Baptist Men leader, died July 15. He was 84. He was born in Brownwood on Jan. 24, 1935, to Bob and Mildred Taylor. He accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior during a campus revival at Howard Payne University. Taylor graduated from HPU in 1966, and went on to become pastor of churches in Brady, Blanton, Lohn, Brownwood, Midkiff, Big Spring and San Marcos. From 1970 to 1981, he served on the TBM staff, where he was instrumental in developing the disaster relief ministry that became a model for Baptists nationally. As a volunteer, he assisted with the recovery process after the 9-11 terror attacks, and he served in Africa feeding refugees from Rwanda’s civil war. The disaster relief communications room at the TBM headquarters in Dallas is named for him. After he retired from TBM, he became camp administrator for Circle Six Ranch Baptist Camp in Stanton. Under his direction from 1981 to 1995, the camp served more than 69,000 guests, and Taylor witnessed 1,739 give their lives to Christ. After returning to Brownwood to retire, the Taylors opened the Tuf Times Art Gallery. Taylor—an acclaimed woodcarver and sculptor—was a member of several artist associations through the years. He participated in numerous judged art shows, and he designed and created the Will Rogers Award that is given annually at the Academy of Western Artists awards ceremony. He was preceded in death by his son, Stephen Taylor. He is survived by his wife, Audrey Laverne Taylor of Brownwood; daughter Lori Hurt and husband Doug of Brownwood; two grandsons; a great-granddaughter; and a sister, Jo Ann Ricker of San Angelo.