Alumni News
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Alumni Updates Fall 2008
1950s
Marshall Borden Thompson (‘50) spends his retirement years co-writing books with his wife Hazel (Vincente-Koomen) Thompson (‘51). They have written about their 15-year experiences sharing the Gospel in Turkey: Hot and Cold Turkey (2002), and their 23 years in Bolivia: High Adventure in Bolivia (2007).
Darrell H. Bolich (‘58) was recently appointed Chaplain of the Baptist Village Retirement Community of Ada, Oklahoma.
1960s
Don L. Smith(‘62) has been serving, since last September, as director of missions for the Jasper County Baptist Association in Mississippi.
1970s
Fred Kerr (‘72) celebrated his 36th year in 2008 as pastor of Greenville Southern Baptist Church in Greenville, California.
John L. Oliver (‘74) and his wife, Diane, are now retired teachers living outside of Nashville, Tennessee. They volunteer with Victory Baptist Church in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee.
James H. Malone (‘76) and his wife, Linda, have been missionaries in Brazil since 2002.
Donald (Don) Barr (‘76) is currently serving as Spiritual Counselor and Bereavement Counselor for Hospice and Palliative Care of Western Colorado in Montrose, Colorado. He and his wife, Robyn, have two daughters, four grandchildren.
Marion Pryfogle (‘79), serving as pastor at Emmanuel Southern Baptist Church of Dos Palos, California for the past six years, recently returned with his wife Pam from their third mission trip to Northern Uganda. They taught more than 125 pastors and their wives The Purpose Driven Church, S.H.A.P.E. and How to Study the Bible.
1980s
Richard (Rik) Danielsen (‘80) was called to be the Director of Evangelism and Missions for the Yavapai Baptist Association in Arizona in January 2008, and appointed by the North American Mission Board in February 2008.
Richard Williams (‘80) has accepted the pastorate of a new church plant, Petra Baptist Fellowship, in Central Point, Oregon.
Tom Holladay (‘81), teaching pastor at Saddleback Church, has just authored The Relationship Principles of Jesus, based on an exhaustive study of what Jesus did and said about relationships.
Christopher (Chris) Crossan (‘82) is serving the Lord with his wife in Central Asia.
Brian Roy Kaiser (‘82) is the new Minister of Worship at FBC, Hesperia, California.
Steven W. DeBernardi (‘82) is a social worker in St. Paul, Minnesota and is now semi-retired. He served as the chaplain for the St. Paul Police Department 1991-2002.
Bob Anders (‘82), GGBTS class president of 1982, lives with his wife, Carol, in Montgomery, Alabama. Bob has retired from the Air Force chaplaincy, the pastorate, and chaplaincy at the VA hospital.
Bobbie Bailey Stifle (‘84) is an Executive Recruiter with her company, Integrity Recruiters. She recruits nationwide for hospital administrative positions, and travels full time in her RV while visiting clients across the country.
Shayne Gilpin (‘85) has been serving at LifeWay Christian Resources since 1993 as Manager of the Accounts Payable Section. He and his wife live in Bon Aqua, Tennessee, and have 3 children and 3 grandchildren.
Sheryl M. Cooper (‘87) returned to the U.S. in June 2006, after living and working in Thailand for six years. She currently lives in Little Rock, where she works for the Arkansas Department of Human Services.
Lisa Jean Vernon (‘88) is Director of Spiritual Care for Hinds Hospice in Fresno, California.
1990s
Robert (Bob) McEachern, Jr. (90) retired in July from the International Mission Board after 35 years. He and his wife, Judy, served 15 years in Korea as IMB missionaries and 20 years on the IMB staff in Richmond, Verginia. Bob is now pastor of Fair Havens Church in Chesterfield, Virginia.
Lee Bradley (‘92) is serving with the International Mission Board in Albania. Currently he serves as director of the Albanian Bible Institute in Durres. ABI is a Christian school that exists to train Albanian pastors, church leaders, church planters and missionaries.
Harvey Martindill (1994, 1996) has been the Pastor of Carson Baptist Church since 1989. He also serves as Manager of Library Services at the Seminary’s Southern California Campus, where his wife, Nancy, also serves as Manager of Operations.
Chloe Ting Sun’s, (‘96) Ph.D.dissertation “The Ethics of Violence in the Story of Aqhat” has recently been published by Gorgias Press. She is currently teaching at Logos Evangelical Seminary in Southern California as assistant professor of Old Testament.
Dewey Squyres (‘97) is currently serving as Director of Church and Pastoral Ministries for Central Coast Baptist Association in California. He is also serving concurrently as Interim Executive Director of Missions for the San Francisco Peninsula Baptist Association.
Quentin P. Kinnison (‘98) recently earned a Doctor of Philosphy from Fuller Seminary. He and wife Cindy (‘01) have relocated to Fresno, California where Quentin will be teaching Contemporary Christian Ministry at Fresno Pacific University.
Erik A. Tisher (‘98) has been serving in the United States Air Force as a chaplain since 2002. He is assigned to Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, serving a year-long a year-long residency in Clinical Pastoral Education. He and his wife Shannon have four children, and live in Universal City, Texas.
2000s
John Draper (‘00) is the new pastor at Paoli Baptist Church in Paoli, Pennsylvania.
Rick Rogers (‘00) is the California/Nevada Stewardship Representative for Moody Bible Institute. Prior to this position, he and his wife Sally served in the Pacific Northwest and planted a church, The Gathering of Soap Lake and Ephrata, Washington.
Brian Pitre (‘00) and Ellen Forry Pitre (‘01) welcomed daughter Mikayla Elise Pitre on August 27, 2008. Both Brian and Ellen serve on staff with Wilcrest Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. Brian is Associate Pastor and Young Adult Minister; Ellen is Young Adult Minister and Family Counselor.
Cynthia (Cindy) Kinnison (‘01) recently completed two years of teaching full-time at Biola University in the Sociology Department.
Susan Hull Meng (‘01) has been living in East Asia for the last six years. Married to Jedidiah Meng for two years, they welcomed the birth of their first child, Jacklyn An-Li in January 2008.
Ben Mathis (‘02) is a Navy Chaplain, serving with the Marines in Okinawa. He is currently deployed to Kuwait.
Matthew (Matt) Berry (‘04) and wife Jackie, who have three daughters, planted a church in Mountain House, California in 2006.
Andre L. Mooney (‘04) is pastoring on Chippewa Reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota and also serving as a USAFR Chaplain at Minot AFB. His wife, Tanya, is the Care Service Program Director at Minot State University-Bottineau.
Leanne Sanders (‘05) married David Miller on May 11, 2008 in Charlottesville, Virginia. David serves in the US Navy and is stationed at the Naval Air Station, Fallon, Nevada.
Alicia Feaster (‘06) practices as a women’s pastoral counselor in Marin County, California, She is also a Bible study teacher for Marin Morning Women’s Bible study and is a Mentor Mom for the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) ministry at Marin Covenant Church in Novato, California.
Nathan Dennis (‘06) accepted an offer from Johns Hopkins University’s History of Art Department to begin work on a Ph.D. in late Roman and early Christian art history. He and wife Valerie are now living in Maryland.
Nathan Funk (‘07) is a pilot (First Officer) for American Eagle Airlines based in Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. His wife, Erin, is an antepartum nurse at Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth.
Joseph Eastman (‘08) has accepted the call to pastor at Highland Baptist Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Charlene Hios (‘08) is working full time at Bridging The Gaps Ministries, located in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In Memoriam
1950 Sam E. Brian
1953 Henry Johnson
1959 Clyde B. Skidmore
1960, 1983 John H. Allen
1961 Milton J. Schmierer
1964, 1972 Stanley N. Millard
1978 Gordon A. Speak
1980 Lillian Dea
1996 Theresa Thompson