Mickey Ruth Fulwiler Burleson, an avid conservationist and supporter of Texas Baptists’ River Ministry who assisted women in the Mexican village of La Caldera by helping market their handmade quilts to buyers in Texas, died July 13. She was 87. She was born to parents Mary Elizabeth “Beth” Sparger and Jarrett “Law” Fulwiler in Belton on March 31, 1937. At an early age, she contracted polio, which paralyzed her right arm. After an extended stay at Providence Hospital in Waco and a lengthy recovery that involved daily exercise, she recovered the use of her right arm. As a person who believed deeply in truth, equity and justice, she valued learning and believed in growth and change through education and advocacy. She earned her undergraduate degree from Baylor University and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Iowa. After completing graduate school, she and Bob Burleson married. Theirs would become a partnership in exploring many of the Earth’s natural places and in caring for the Earth, its creatures and inhabitants. Together, and later with their daughters Clair and Lea, they hiked, backpacked, camped, rafted, canoed and kayaked, bringing others along with them and working to preserve and protect special places as they did. Their efforts were important in securing federal protection of the Rio Grande area, the declaration of the Guadalupe Mountains area as a national park, and the creation of the Big Bend Ranch State Park. They also cared for the Earth’s people, working wholeheartedly along with many other volunteers in River Ministry, a Christian mission to assist people in villages along the Texas-Mexico border. They helped bring dental and medical care to them, assisted with community building projects and fostered an income-producing quilting project—the La Caldera quilts. In the process, they made friendships that lasted a lifetime. She was in awe of God and of God’s creation, and she saw herself as a protective steward of the Earth. She and her husband devoted their lives to protecting and recovering Texas’ native blackland prairies and conserving Texas wildlife. Together, they restored multiple acres of agricultural fields to their original Blackland Prairie state. She served as the chair of the board of trustees of the Nature Conservancy of Texas and on numerous other boards, including the Texas Land Conservancy and Texas Audubon Society, and participated in the Texas Archeological Society and its annual meetings. She was appointed as a commissioner to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission by Gov. Ann Richards, serving a six-year term. In 2017, she was honored as a Conservation Award Hero by the Travis Audubon Society. In 2023, she and her daughters granted a conservation easement of the Burlesons’ restored Blackland Prairie home in Bell County, in partnership with the Native Prairies Association of Texas and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. She was preceded in death by her husband of 47 years, Robert Clair “Bob” Burleson Jr., and by her sister, Susan Elaine (Fulwiler) Foster. She is survived by daughter, Clair Elizabeth Burleson and her husband, James Michael “Mike” Thompson; daughter, Lea Margaret Burleson Buffington and her husband, Thomas Blake Buffington Jr.; grandchildren, Thomas Garrett and Zoe Elizabeth Buffington; and sister, Claudia Clark. Memorials may be made to some of the causes near to her heart and important to her faith, including Heifer International, Doctors Without Borders, the Native Prairies Association of Texas and the Texas Nature Conservancy.

Minette Williams Drumwright Pratt, missions advocate and denominational servant, died June 15. She was 93. She was born Nov. 3, 1930, in Nixon to Tallie Williams and Minnie Musgrave Williams. Shortly thereafter, her family moved to San Antonio where her father was pastor of Northside Baptist Church until he retired. She earned an undergraduate degree in English from Baylor University in 1951. At Baylor, she met and fell in love with Huber L. Drumwright Jr., a young pastor and doctoral student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. They married shortly after her graduation. While he went on to become pastor of churches in Texas and Oklahoma, she led numerous missions action projects, Bible studies, Bible schools and Woman’s Missionary Union groups. The Drumwrights moved to Fort Worth in 1960 for Huber to become a professor of Greek and New Testament at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He later became dean of the School of Theology, and she took on the duties of a dean’s spouse while continuing many of her own pursuits.  Her passion for missions action flourished through a cutting-edge initiative, the Baptist Center at Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth. She designed and led programs for low-income women, battered women, orphans, unwed mothers and women prisoners. She was in great demand as a speaker and served on boards of the Woman’s Missionary Union, Home Mission Board (now North American Mission Board), Baptist General Convention of Texas, Seminary Woman’s Club, Woman’s Club of Fort Worth, Friends of the Fort Worth Library, Lena Pope Children’s Home, Edna Gladney Home and Dorcas House. She attended Southwestern Seminary and later served as president of the Southwestern Seminary Alumni. In 1978, she wrote a seminary extension study guide, Women in the Church. She received the Mrs. J.M. Dawson Award for outstanding contributions to the denomination from the Southern Baptist Convention Ministers’ Wives Conference in 1984. In 1980, the Drumwrights moved to Little Rock, Ark., where he served as executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Arkansas.  After 18 months, Huber died of a sudden heart attack when Minette was 50 years old.  Shortly thereafter, she was asked to join the leadership team of Keith Parks and Bill O’Brien at the Foreign Mission Board in Richmond, Va. She worked at the FMB 13 years and was the inaugural director of international prayer strategies, through which she designed programs to engage churches and individuals in prayer for foreign missions. She launched a prayer line relaying the latest prayer requests of missionaries, and she traveled the world to speak, teach, preach and lead programs on prayer in places such as Moldova, China and Africa.  As she stated, “Although some governments won’t let missionaries in, they can’t keep the effects of prayer out.” She wrote two books—The Life That Prays: Reflections on Prayer as a Strategy and When My Faith Feels Shallow: Pursuing the Depths of God—and a seminary extension study guide, Women in the Church. After retiring, she returned to Fort Worth. She served on the Baylor University board of regents from 1999 to 2008. She fell in love with William (Bill) Pratt, a retired Baptist pastor and psychologist, and they married in 2002. He was a devoted, loving partner to her through her long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease until his death in April of 2024. She is survived by two daughters, Minette (Meme) Drumwright and husband H.W. Perry Jr., and Debra Underwood and husband Max; three grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren; two stepchildren—Martha Pratt Wainwright and husband Larry, and James Pratt and wife Dana; six step-grandchildren; and many step-great-grandchildren. The family requests that donations be made to Baylor University—Drumwright Family Lecture Fund (Honors College), William and Minette Pratt Scholarship Fund (Dianna R. Garland School of Social Work), Louise Herrington School of Nursing—or Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth.

Nancy Layne Russell, longtime Texas Baptist church musician, died May 24 in Lubbock after a two-year battle with cancer. She was 76. She was born Aug. 13, 1947, in Bellmead. After graduating from La Vega High School, she went on to Baylor University, where she graduated in 1969 with a degree in secondary education. She served as the director of curriculum and instruction for Dublin Independent School District and was a beloved high school English and speech teacher at Pecos Barstow Toyah Independent School District and Bellville Independent School District. She served as organist and pianist at multiple churches, including First Baptist Church in Lubbock, First Baptist Church in Stephenville and First Baptist Church in Pecos. For more than two decades, she also was organist for Paisano Baptist Encampment. She found great joy in raising monarch butterflies in her backyard, which was a certified Monarch Waystation, teaching piano to her grandchildren and creating jewelry. She also delighted in serving as a volunteer at Covenant Health, sharing her culinary creations and staying in touch with friends on Facebook. Her daily walks around Miller Park were a cherished routine. She was preceded in death by her parents, Dudley and Lora Lee Layne, and her siblings, Bobbie Layne Alleman and Sara Jo Watkins. She is survived by her husband of 52 years, Roger Russell; sons Sean Russell and Alan Russell; and grandchildren Noah and Lilly Russell. A celebration of life service is scheduled at 11 a.m. on June 1 at First Baptist Church in Lubbock. In lieu of flowers, the family requests gifts to the Joe Arrington Cancer Center.

Raymond Gerald Dunkin, former Texas Baptist pastor and associational director of missions, died May 6 in McKinney. He was 89. He was born to Raymond H. Dunkin and Arlene Osborn Dunkin in Houston on June 19, 1934. He preached his first sermon at age 15 at the Star of Hope Rescue Mission in downtown Houston. After graduating from Milby High School in Houston, he went on to earn his undergraduate degree from Baylor University and a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. While in seminary, he served two churches as pastor: Little Cedar Baptist Church near Antlers, Okla., and Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Ratcliff. He went on to become pastor of Parkview Baptist Church in Lufkin, First Baptist Church in Quitman and Bellmead First Baptist Church of Waco. In August 1988, he was asked to become director of missions for Unity Baptist Association in Lufkin, where he served until his retirement. Highlights of his ministry include his leadership in an evangelistic citywide crusade resulting in hundreds of professions of faith; leading in two mission ventures in Winona, Minn., and Chihuahua City, Mexico; developing a senior adult ministry and criminal restorative ministry; serving on the Human Welfare Coordinating Board for the Baptist General Convention of Texas; and, in association with Texas Partnerships, taking a team to Homebush, Australia, to lead in an evangelistic crusade. Upon his retirement, he became a regional consultant with Texas Partnerships. Throughout his retirement, he conducted numerous revivals, conferences and interim pastorates. He was preceded in death by his wife Gerry Jane, a former president of Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas. He is survived by his daughter, Cindy and her husband Dale Long of McKinney; son Carl and his wife Lynn of Chattanooga, Tenn.; son Chris and his wife Amber, of China Spring; eight grandchildren; 19 great grandchildren; his sisters Carol Hedgepath of Burleson and Nelda Rothermel of Fort Worth; and his brother Ron of Cement, Okla. A funeral service will be held at noon on May 24 at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Chapel in Allen. The service will also be livestreamed at TJMfuneral.com by clicking on https://celebrationoflife.tv/. Memorial donations may be made to Lottie Moon Christmas Offering of the International Mission Board at https://www.imb.org/generosity/lottie-moon-christmas-offering/.

William A. Lawson, longtime Houston pastor and civil rights leader, died May 14. He was 95. He was born on June 28, 1928, to William Lawson Sr. and Clarisse Riggs. They divorced when Lawson was a toddler, and he was adopted by his mother’s second husband, Walter Cade. At that time, he gained three siblings—Walter Cade Jr., Catherine and Joe Williams. In 1955, he moved to Houston with his late wife, Audrey, and a young daughter to serve as director of the Baptist Student Union at Texas Southern University. In 1962, he founded Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, where he served as pastor for 42 years. Upon his retirement in 2004, the congregation named him as pastor emeritus. Beyond the walls of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, Lawson helped change the face of Houston by leading the battle to desegregate the city. He joined the national civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. by setting up a local office of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King remained a close friend. Lawson and the late Rabbi Samuel Karff and the late Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza—dubbed the “Three Amigos”—worked together to tackle many of Houston’s major issues, including homelessness, racism and inequality, and they were instrumental in the creation of a public defender’s office. Lawson was preceded in death by his wife Audrey and son Eric. He is survived by daughters Melanie, Cheryl and Roxanne; two granddaughters; and two great-grandsons. A community service of celebration is scheduled at 6 p.m. on May 23 and a congregational service at 11 a.m. on May 24, both at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston.

Vassar Compton “Skip” Holman of San Antonio, former Texas Baptist minister and missions volunteer, died April 29. He was 73. He was born Aug. 19, 1950 in San Antonio. He was taken to Nixon by his adoptive parents, Florine Goodman Holman and Vassar Compton Holman Jr. He later moved to Pasadena until his mother remarried and the family moved to LaPorte, where he graduated from high school. He attended Houston Baptist University for a short time before transferring to Baylor University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in religion. He married Marilyn Browning on Dec. 21, 1973, in the chapel of Tidwell Bible Building on the Baylor campus. The couple moved to Leominster, Mass., as US-2 missionaries working in church starts. After completing their time as US-2 missionaries, they moved to Nederland, where he became minister of youth and activities at Hillcrest Baptist Church. While serving there, the Holmans adopted their first son, Curtis Compton Holman in 1977. The family then moved to Houston, where Holman served as a staff member of several churches including Jersey Village Baptist, Memorial Baptist and Tallowood Baptist. Holman served 22 years as pastor of First Baptist Church in Boling. While serving in Boling, Holman became active in Texas Baptist Men disaster relief, and the family adopted sons John Gary Holman and Don Yoo. He was involved in community activities such as Lion’s Club and served as a substitute teacher. He also was reunited with his birth mother Peggy Walker Drobinski and her husband Richard Drobinski, and he was blessed to become acquainted with three brothers, Larry, Chuck and Jimmy Drobinski, and three sisters, Suzanne Leritz, Julie Brookman and Sharon Schultz. After suffering a near-fatal automobile accident that left him unable to walk for three years, Holman became the Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator for Wharton County. After retiring from the church in Boling, he worked part-time as the minister of discipleship at Northeast Baptist Church in San Antonio. Holman also handled discipleship resources for Blackaby Ministries including staffing book tables at conferences and providing Bibles and materials for many people through his nonprofit Barnabas Bibles and Books. When his health made it necessary to enter long-term care, he participated in his Sunday school class by phone. This, along with his Baylor football and basketball game watch parties with Marilyn, were the highlight of his last days. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Marilyn Browning Holman; sons Curtis Compton Holman, John Gary Holman and Don Yoo; and two granddaughters, Jasmine and Hannah Holman. Services are scheduled at 10 a.m. on May 18 at Grace Bible Chapel, 18911 Redland Road in San Antonio. Memorial donations may be made to TBM-Texans on Mission disaster relief or Gideons International.

John Marshall Edwards, longtime Texas Baptist pastor, died March 12 on his 85th birthday. He was born in Salisbury, N.C., on March 12, 1939. He responded to God’s call to enter full-time ministry while attending a revival with friends during his senior year at Newton County High School in Covington, Ga., where he graduated in 1957. At Baylor University, he was the president of the Freshman Baptist Student Union Council, president of the Ministerial Alliance, missions chair of the Baptist Student Union Executive Council and member of Student Congress. While a student at Baylor, he also served as pastor of Mountain Baptist Church in Gatesville. He met Doris Dillard in 1958. After their first date during a Latham Springs Baptist Encampment retreat, he told his cabinmates he had just dated the girl he planned to marry. They married Aug. 18, 1960. He graduated from Baylor University in 1961, earning his undergraduate degree with a major in religion and minors in English and history. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1966. While he was in seminary, he was pastor of First Baptist Church in Troy and Meadow Oaks Baptist Church in Temple. After graduating from seminary, he was pastor of Windsor Park Baptist Church in Austin; Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco; First Baptist Church in Columbia, S.C.; First Baptist Church in Conroe; St. Andrews Baptist Church in Columbia, S.C.; and First Baptist Church in Blowing Rock, N.C. During his time in Austin, he founded the Fellowship of Christian Athletes group at Reagan High School and served as chaplain of the school’s football and baseball teams. While serving in Waco, he founded and led the popular “Wholeness of Life” series, a lunchtime Bible study attended by about 400 members of the business and professional community. He continued leading the “Wholeness of Life” series with a weekly attendance of about 1,000 while in Columbia, S.C. He also served interim pastorates at First Baptist Church in San Marcos and First Baptist Church in Kingsland. In 2005, he was named pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church in Blowing Rock. He served as the speaker for the annual mission meetings in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe, Honduras, Guatemala, Indonesia and Kenya. He served on the board of trustees of Baylor University and was chair of the board of trustees at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree by the Baptist College at Charleston, S.C., in 1982. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Doris Dillard Edwards; son Scott and his wife, Mary K; daughter Cindy; five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Roger A. Paynter, former Texas Baptist pastor, died March 6 after complications from a stroke. He was 74. He was born in Ardmore, Okla., to Roger Allen Paynter and Juanita Goss Paynter. He attended Oklahoma State University to play football as a redshirt freshman but transferred to Baylor University. While he was at Baylor, he served as youth minister at Seventh and James Baptist Church in Waco. After graduating from Baylor in 1972, he pursued a Master of Divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and served as a pastoral intern at Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville. He later completed his Doctor of Ministry degree at Texas Christian University’s Brite Divinity School. He was ordained in 1975 and served as associate pastor at The Church at Highland Park in Austin. He went on to be senior pastor at Austin Heights Baptist Church in Nacogdoches, Lake Shore Baptist Church in Waco, Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson, Miss., and First Baptist Church in Austin, retiring in 2014. He most recently led the congregation at First Christian Church in Smithville. Paynter served 12 years as adjunct professor of homiletics at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest and adjunct professor of spirituality for two years. He was also a visiting lecturer in homiletics at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and at International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague, Czech Republic. He was president and founding board member of the first Texas location of the Samaritan Pastoral Counseling Center, providing free and low-cost counseling services—first in Nacogdoches, then in Waco and Austin. He was appointed co-chair of the Racial Reconciliation Task Force by the mayors of Jackson, Miss., and Austin. He created a chapter of Interfaith Hospitality Network in Austin, recruiting and organizing places of worship around the city to provide shelter for the unhoused. He also served on the boards of Baptist Women in Ministry, Seton Cove, Habitat for Humanity, the Baptist House of Studies at Duke, the Baptist Board at TCU, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Alliance of Baptists. He is survived by son Grayson Paynter and his wife Kelly, daughter Mary Kathryn Paynter, two grandchildren, sisters Maita Smith and Laura Lee Graham Flynn, and his former wife of 44 years, Suzii Youngblood Paynter March.

Claude Willis Jacks Jr., former Texas Baptist pastor and associational director of missions, died April 8. He was 98. He was born Nov. 5, 1925, in Belton to Claude and Viola Jacks. He attended Texas A&M University until he was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II. He was assigned to 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, Mindanao, Philippine Islands, and was wounded in June 1945. He returned to action, serving until the end of World War II in the southern islands of Japan in the army of occupation. Jacks was the recipient of a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. After he completed his military service, he surrendered to the gospel ministry and attended the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Baylor University. He married Delma Garner on Aug. 25, 1947. He earned a Master of Divinity degree and a Master of Theology Degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth and was ordained to the ministry in 1948. He was pastor of First Baptist Church in Floresville, First Baptist Church in Cotulla, First Baptist Church Heights in Houston and First Baptist Church in Odem. He served 12 years as director of missions for the Blanco and Coastal Bend Baptist Associations in Beeville, ministering to 125 congregations and being involved in starting 40 churches. After he retired in 1992, he and his wife served as international missions volunteers in Trinidad, West Indies, Philippines, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Belgium, England and China. He was a member of First Baptist Church in Katy. He was preceded in death by his wife of 73 years, Delma Garner Jacks, and a grandson, Kristopher Kervin. He is survived by daughters Claudia Flora and Melanie Hilburn, sons Jeff Jacks and Kevin Jacks, six grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and nine great-great-grandchildren. Family visitation will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on April 15 at the Schmidt Funeral Home Grand Parkway Chapel in Katy. Memorial gifts can be made to the Delma Garner Jacks Scholarship at the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor.

Stewart Morris, one of the founding fathers of what is now Houston Christian University, died March 11. He was 104. He was born Oct. 28, 1919, to William Carloss and Willie Stewart Morris in Houston. He began work as an office boy at age 10, sweeping floors, running errands and tending to other miscellaneous tasks for $5 a week at Stewart Title, a company his extended family founded in 1893. He went on to become longtime president and chairman emeritus of the company, now known as Stewart Information International. Morris earned degrees from the University of Texas and Southern Methodist University Law School. He served as an officer in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. Morris secured the funding for the establishment of Houston Baptist College and was instrumental in its founding. HCU President Robert Sloan said Morris “sustained the university in times of economic distress, and throughout the years has given to every major project in our history.” In addition to endowing several scholarships at the university, Morris and his family gave the lead gift to establish the Joella and Stewart Morris Cultural Arts Center and the Morris Family Center for Law and Liberty at HCU. Morris House, the university president’s home, was named in his honor. The university awarded him its inaugural Founders Medal, along with its Spirit of Excellence Award on two occasions and the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The Joella and Stewart Morris Foundation also received the HCU Legacy Award. Morris was preceded in death by his wife of 70 years, Joella Mitchell Morris, in 2013. He is survived by three children: Carlotta Coffman, Stewart Morris Jr. and Lisa Simon; eight grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. A celebration of life service in his honor is scheduled at 1 p.m. on April 6 at Second Baptist Church in Houston. Memorial gifts can be made to the Morris Family Center for Law and Liberty at HCU. Call 281-649-3222 or mail Houston Christian University Advancement Lockbox, P.O. Box 4897, Dept. 527, Houston, TX 77210.

Roberto S. Campos, longtime Texas Baptist pastor, died Jan. 20 in San Antonio. He was 72. He was born Oct. 9, 1951, to Trinidad and Felicita Campos. In his younger years, he played in youth baseball and basketball leagues. Later, he loved to read, play drums and play golf. He served in the ministry more than 40 years, notably as the longtime pastor of My Redeemer Lives Baptist Church in San Antonio. He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Maria A. Campos; daughter Leah Marie Compian and her husband Ernest; son Robert Michael Campos; five grandchildren; and sisters Olivia Henz, Alicia Cortinas, Celia Gauze, Margie Olivares and Rachel Regalado. Visitation is scheduled beginning at 5 p.m. on Feb. 1 at Funeraria Del Angel Trevino Funeral Home in San Antonio. The funeral service will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 2 in the funeral home chapel.