Verl Capps, 89, Jan. 18 in Waxahachie. A graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he was a minister of music 42 years, building comprehensive music programs from preschool to adults, training singers to be leaders in worship. Verl CappsHe served churches in Oklahoma and North Carolina in addition to Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, Highland Baptist Church in Dallas and Fairview Baptist Church in Grand Prairie. He also taught at Dallas Baptist College, where he led the chorale. He served as national sales manager for E.R. Moore Company, leading its church choir robe sales division. One of his favorite pastimes was watching his children play basketball and yelling at referees. He was preceded in death by his wife of 54 years, Helen, and his brother, Onzel. He is survived by his sisters, Norma Stephenson and Oma Gean Holt-Geis; son, Buddy; daughters, Kimberly Alexander, Christie Siar and Cheryl Hawkins; nine grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. Visitation will be Jan. 21 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Sparkman Hillcrest Funeral Home in Waxahachie. A memorial service will be held Jan. 22 at 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Waxahachie.

Mike Gresham

Mike Gresham, 61, Jan. 19 in Port Lavaca. A graduate of Howard Payne University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he was pastor of First Baptist Church in Port Lavaca, where he had served more than 12 years. He previously was pastor to congregations in Schulenburg, Bellmead, Electra, Holliday, Jean and Mother Neff. An avid runner, he also enjoyed fishing from a kayak in local bays. He is survived by his wife, Glynda; daughter, Tara Gresham; and brothers, Pat and Kim. Visitation will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Jan. 22 at the First Baptist Church in Port Lavaca Family Life Center. The funeral will be Jan. 23 at 10 a.m. at First Baptist Church.

Ralph Storm, 86, died Jan. 7 in Corpus Christi. A Baylor University graduate, he was a Sunday school teacher and deacon chairman. A staunch supporter of Baylor, for years the oilman often flew himself and his wife, Jean, to Waco to visit his daughters and attend all Baylor’s home football games. Ralph StormThey also endowed the Ralph and Jean Storm Chair of Mathematics. He served on as a Baylor trustee/regent for 27 years between 1970 and 2000. He received Baylor’s Distinguished Alumni Award, Herbert Reynolds Service Award and W.R. White Award. In 2007, he and his wife (posthumously) received the Founder’s Medal. He was preceded in death by his wife of 53 years; brothers, James, Wash, Bob, Jack and Walter; and sister, Ann Reagan. He is survived by his daughters, Susan Guyton and Kathy Sley; five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Carter Lyles, 87, died Jan. 9 in Carrollton. A graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he was pastor of Antioch Baptist Church near Leonard, First Baptist Church of Cookville, First Baptist Church of Paradise, Carter LylesTemple Baptist Church in Tyler, First Baptist Church in Naples, First Baptist Church in Decatur and Bethel Baptist Church in Clardy. He also was director of missions for Red River Baptist Association in Paris 26 years until his retirement in 1997. In retirement, he continued to lead worship at the Corinthians Retirement Community in Carrollton. He was preceded in death by his six siblings; his wife of 50 years, Doris; his second wife, Clara; and his grandson, Eric Lyles. His is survived by his sons, Tom, Ron and Paul; daughter, Elaine Dean; 10 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.

Orville Scott, 80, died Jan. 12 in Grand Saline. During his long career in denominational communications, he directed the Baptist General Convention of Texas public relations office and the BGCT’s news and information service. Orville ScottHe also worked for the Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina, where he was editor of Charity and Children. He was a noted poet, and for several years, the program of the Texas Baptist Evangelism Conference featured a poem he wrote using that year’s theme as its inspiration. In retirement, he collected his poems in a book, Autumn at the Lake and Other Poems. He also was a deacon and Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church in Richardson and later at First Baptist Church in Canton. He was preceded in death by his brother, Donald. He is survived by his wife, Emma Jean; sons, James and John; daughter, Elizabeth Steadman; sisters, Wanda Gray and Shirley Williams; brothers, Lane and Mervin; and five grandchildren.

John David Hopper, 80, died Jan. 10 in Houston. After graduating from college, he spent a year as a missionary in Cuba, where he became fluent in Spanish and discovered an interest in working with people from different cultures. John David HopperHe attended Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in California, where he continued to work with Spanish-speaking people. After graduating from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he and his wife, JoAnn, went to Europe in 1965 as missionaries. He taught at International Baptist Theological Seminary in Ruschlikon, Switzerland, until 1970, when the couple began their work among the Baptist churches of Eastern Europe. In 1988, he returned to Ruschlikon as the seminary’s president, and led the school’s move to Prague in 1995. In total, the Hoppers spent 32 years as missionaries, and in 1992 were appointed among the first missionaries of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship after their resignation from the Southern Baptist Convention’s Foreign Mission Board. A lover of languages, he spoke Spanish, German, French, Italian, Esperanto, Russian, Romanian, Serbo-Croatian and Czech. He also read Latin, Greek and Hebrew. After retirement, he moved to San Antonio and became a member of Trinity Baptist Church. He was preceded in death by his sister, Ruth Sylvest; and brother, Thomas. He is survived by his wife of 56 years; sons, John David Jr., Joel and Timothy; three brothers; and seven grandchildren.

J.T. Elliff, 97, died Dec. 12 in Moore, Okla. He was a longtime pastor, serving churches in Texas, Arkansas, Missouri and Arizona. He was the founding director of the missions department of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention in the 1960s. J.T. Elliff

He was executive director of Capitol Baptist Association in Oklahoma City from 1971 until his retirement. He was a second-generation pastor who raised three sons who became pastors and a daughter who married a pastor.

Twenty of his grandchildren are pastors, missionaries or the spouse of a pastor. He is survived by his wife of 31 years, Wanda; daughter, Sandy Smith; sons, Tom, Jim and Bill; stepdaughter, Nancy Lanford; stepsons, Don and Steve Jackson; 26 grandchildren; 46 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.

Randy Lofgren, 74, Dec. 26 in Crawford. A graduate of Baylor University, he was minister of music at Calvary Baptist Church in Waco and choral director at Waco High School. Randy LofgrenIn 1974, he joined the music faculty of Carson Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn., and created and directed a touring musical group. He continued his music ministry at Lakeside Baptist Church in Lakeland, Fla., before moving back to Texas to serve as minister of music at First Baptist Church in Duncanville. He later served as choral director of Duncanville High School. In 1988, he began his association with Baylor University as an administrator. He retired in May 2014 as associate vice president of constituent management after 26 years of service. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Jeanine; daughter, Wendy Smith; son, Kevin; sister, Karla Davis; and six grandchildren.

T.W. Hunt, 85, died Dec. 11 in Spring. Hunt was widely known as an authority on prayer and was the author of such books as The Mind of Christ and Disciple’s Prayer Life. He also was a professor of music and missions at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1963 to 1987. T.W. HuntWhile he made a profession of faith in Christ at age 10, it was not until 1959 that he committed his life to Christ after reading a copy of the Martin Luther German translation of the Bible. The Bible was a gift from a music student who knew Hunt spoke the language. Four years later, Hunt followed God’s leading to teach at Southwestern Seminary. He soon developed a course offering students techniques for using music to communicate the message of the gospel by focusing on the indigenous music of the people. In 1987, the SBC Sunday School Board asked him to become the board’s first prayer consultant. He retired from LifeWay Christian Resources in 1994. Hunt was preceded in death by his wife, Laverne, in 2009.

Robin Feistel, 66, died Dec. 10 in Houston. Her passion and calling was ministering to others through English as a Second Language. Her first experience with teaching English to non-English speakers was as a journeyman missionary to Taiwan in 1971. While a member at First Baptist Church in Richardson, she became a volunteer ESL teacher, and soon became director. Robin FeistelUnder her leadership, the program grew from less than 20 students in 1981 to more than 250 when she left in 1989. When she moved to Nacogdoches, she developed the ESL program there. While she enjoyed teaching students, she began to realize she could have a bigger impact by developing curriculum and training materials for other ESL teachers. In 2006, she wrote TEX—Teaching English with Excellence—in conjunction with Literacy Connexus. She received the Marie Mathis Award for Lay Ministry presented by the Baptist Standard and Baylor University. She is survived by her husband, Robert; daughter, Helen; son, Andrew; brothers, Harry, Walter and Randy Creighton; sister, Sherry Creighton; and two grandsons. A memorial service will be held Jan. 17 at 11 a.m. at Sugar Land Baptist Church in Sugar Land. A second memorial service will be held Jan. 24 at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church in Nacogdoches.

Julio Aldape, 86, Oct. 25 in Corpus Christi. While serving in the military, he was a guard at the Nuremberg Trials following World War II. He surrendered to a call to ministry in 1955 during the funeral service for his father, Gil Aldape, who also was a pastor. Julio AldapeWhen graduation from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1963, he became pastor of Gollihar Baptist Church in Corpus Christi, where he served 30 years. After he retired as pastor there, he joined Parkdale Baptist Church in Corpus Christi, where he served until his death. He was preceded in death by his brothers, Daniel, Isabel and Santiago, and sister, Eulogia. He is survived by his wife, Ofelia; sons, Joel and Hector; daughters, Elizabeth, Annette and Lydia; brother, Abraham; sisters, Marta and Noemi; 17 grandchildren; and 21 great-grandchildren.

Gregorio Gomez, 85, died Nov. 3 in Yorktown. He was a medic in the U.S. Army from 1950 to 1956. A graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he was pastor to congregations in Edroy, Universal City, Goliad, Seguin, Gregory, Seagoville, Rockport, Gregorio GomezCorpus Christi, Victoria, San Antonio, Edinburg, McAllen, Junction, Austin, Buda, New Braunfels, San Marcos, Mathis and Yorktown.

As a missionary, he served in Panama, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. He also was a professor at the Hispanic Theological Seminary. He wrote four ministry books in Spanish.

He was preceded in death by his sisters, Eva Nino, Emma Trevino and Juanita Rios; brother, Robert; and grandson, Gregory Gomez IV. He is survived by his wife, Ofilia; son, Gregory Gomez III: daughters, Christine Castro and Linda Flores; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

James Tatum

James Tatum, 64, died Nov. 10 in Tyler. He had been pastor of First Baptist Church in Owentown since 2000.

He also served as park pastor at Tyler State Park six years and was youth minister at East Lake Baptist Church in Tyler five years.

He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Martha; sons, Rick Ward and Jeff Tatum; daughters, Michele Bolton and LeAnn Davidson; brother, Art; sister, Becky McMurry; 16 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Philip Tilden Sr., 93, Nov. 24 in Kerrville. He was born in Assam, India, to missionary parents. He was pastor of churches in Texas and California, and he was founding pastor of Sunrise Baptist Church in Kerrville. Philip Tilden Sr.He served as ambassador for the Commission to Every Nation since 2001. He was associational evangelist for Wilbarger County and worked with the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board as a consultant. He served on active duty in the U.S. Army as chaplain, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. He also was a chaplain at the Kerrville Veterans Administration Hospital 16 years. In addition, he worked for Heart of the Hills Hospice as director of volunteers and was a counselor for the 3H Boys Ranch two years. He was president of Christian Assistance Ministries and the Kerrville Ministerial Alliance. He also was an accomplished magician, ventriloquist and after-dinner speaker. He was preceded in death by his wife of 46 years, Doris. He is survived by his sons, Philip Jr. and Daniel; daughters, Francy Neal and Juanita Alfaro; 16 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.

Mary McCall, the former first lady of Baylor University, died Nov. 13 in Dallas at the age of 95. She began her Baylor experience as a 16-year-old student. She was a teacher and counselor in the Waco Independent School District. Mary McCallHer first husband, Lloyd Russell, was the Baylor baseball coach and chairman of the department of health, physical education and recreation prior to his death in 1968. On Christmas Day in 1970, she married Baylor University President Abner McCall. She supervised construction and decoration of the president’s home, Allbritton House. Also, as president of Baylor’s Round Table, she challenged members to establish the Round Table Scholarship Fund to benefit Baylor students. She also established the Lloyd O. Russell Memorial Scholarship Fund and the Abner V. and Mary McCall Scholarship Fund. She served at First Baptist Church in Waco as a Sunday school teacher and trustee. In 1995, she was recognized by then-Gov. George W. Bush as a “Yellow Rose of Texas.” That also was the year of the death of her second husband. She moved to Dallas in 2003 and joined Park Cities Baptist Church. The McCall family received the initial annual First Families of Baylor Award, and she also received Baylor’s Founders Award for service and dedication to the university. She is survived by her daughters, Linda Letbetter and Nancy Chapman; stepson, Dick McCall; stepdaughters, Bette Miller, Ann Chroman and Kathleen Sigtenhorst; 12 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

Charles Lee Williamson, 87, died Oct. 21 in Dallas. Born while his father was preaching a Sunday morning sermon, he was named for his grandfathers, Charles Williamson and John Lee. He was ordained in 1948 and served Old Independence Baptist Church, Black Jack Baptist Church and Peoria Baptist Church while he was attending college and seminary. Charles Lee Williamson

He later was pastor of Highlands Baptist Church in LaMarque and Magnolia Avenue Baptist Church in Beaumont. In 1961, he became director of missions for Southeast Texas Baptist Association and later served Waco Baptist Association. In 1968, he began serving as missions division director for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, where he remained until his retirement in 1992. In addition to the strategic planning conferences he directed in almost all 112 Baptist associations in Texas, he also reworked Texas Baptists’ church-starting strategy.

After retirement, he formed Creative Church Consultations. In 1993, he trained as an intentional interim pastor and then qualified as an instructor. He served 12 years as a trustee at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he was vice chairman of the board and chair of the executive committee. He served 18 years as trustee of Baptist University of the Américas, twice as chairman and once as interim president. He also served several years as an adjunct professor at Dallas Baptist University, which awarded him an honorary doctorate of Christian education in 2013.

His family was named the Baylor Alumni Association’s family of the year in 1991, and he was named an outstanding alumnus by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Patsy; sons, Mark and John; daughter, Jane Cully; brother, Billy; four grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

Don Orr, 92, died July 5 in Burleson. He was a fighter pilot with the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, flying 203 missions in the China-Burma-India theater. Don OrrHe earned the Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters, the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters and three battle stars. He then attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary before becoming the first music missionary appointed by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Foreign Mission Board. He taught 34 years at the Seminario Bautista Teologico in Cali, Colombia. Retiring in 1984, he continued to serve as a volunteer with the Texas Baptist Men builders and the Singing Men of Texas until age 89. He also participated in the music ministry at First Baptist Church in Burleson. He was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, Violet.

Mary Louise Valentine, 91, died Oct. 9 in Dallas. Her husband, Foy, was executive director of the Southern Baptist Christian Life Commission and, before that, the Texas Christian Life Commission. Mary Louise ValentineShe was a supportive minister’s wife and a faithful member of Immanuel Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn., and later, Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas. She was preceded in death by her husband of 58 years; daughter, Cindy Valentine; brother, Henry. She is survived by her daughters, Jean Valentine, Carol Valentine and Susan Brown; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Larry Walker, 79, died while on a mission trip in Goa, India, Sept. 12. He had been ambassador-at-large for First Baptist Church in Dallas since 1974. A graduate of Baylor University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, his ministry included preaching in revivals and crusades in 127 countries and all 50 U.S. states. Larry WalkerHe also ministered in medical clinics, orphanages, seminaries, and rural and urban churches of all sizes. He was a member of the Conference of Texas Baptist Evangelists, the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists and the Fellowship of Baptist World Ministries. When not traveling, he taught an adult Bible study class, sang in the choir and played the violin at First Baptist Church in Dallas. He was pastor of First Baptist Church in Lewisville and a Long Island, N.Y., church before founding VisionWalk International Ministries. He was preceded in death by his sister, Ruth Morrison. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Carmen; sons, Vic, Van and Kevin; daughter, Devonna Holland; and five grandchildren.

Don Murray, 86, died in Kerrville, Oct. 5. A graduate of Howard Payne College and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he was ordained April 30, 1950. He was pastor of Purvis Baptist Church in Dublin; Don MurrayLakeview Baptist Church in Meadow; First Baptist Church in Meadow; First Baptist Church in Muleshoe; Southern Baptist Church in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; three Colorado churches; and First Baptist Church in Kerrville from 1989 until his retirement in 1995. He was preceded in death by his wife of 58 years, Jeanie; brothers, Walter, T.B., Wiley and Joe Ned; sisters, Anabel Stewart and Nelta Healy; and great-grandson, Cole Williamson. He is survived by his wife, Cheryl; sons, Don Jr. and Charles; brother, Bill; stepsons, Austin and Dallas Luger; four grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.

Micah Farrell, 23, Oct. 12 in Virginia. He was a nuclear specialist in the U.S. Navy. He is survived by his parents Stewart and Keri Farrell. Services are set for Oct. 18 at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church in Goldthwaite.

Tom Brandon, 86, July 25 in Sherman. A graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theologicial Seminary, he served several churches as pastor during more than 60 years of ministry, including Tom BrandonFirst Baptist Church in Sherman, where he served from 1963 until he retired in 1990 and was named pastor emeritus.

He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Dolly; sons, Tom Jr. and Don; daughters, Virginia Stringfellow, Susie Webb and Shari Blodgett; 19 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.