Clyde Richard Elder, a 61-year-old resident of St. Joseph, died on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015 at the Kansas City Hospice Center.
Farewell services will be held at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015 at the McCarthy Baptist Church in St. Joseph. Burial will be at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015 at the Highland Cemetery in Winfield, KS.
A family visitation will be from 6 to 8 o’clock tonight (Monday, Oct. 19, 2015) at the Meierhoffer Funeral Home & Crematory in St. Joseph.
Rev. Elder was born on Jan. 1, 1954 in Carthage, the son of John William Sr. and Bette Jean Ellis Elder, who preceded him in death. He was a graduate of Winfield High School, Southwest Baptist College (now University), the Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Luther Rice Seminary with a doctor of ministry degree.
Rev. Elder had served as the director of missions for the St. Joseph Baptist Association since 1996. He was a devoted member of McCarthy Baptist Church and served churches throughout Missouri and Kansas, including the First Baptist Church in Trenton.
He actively served the Missouri Baptist Convention as a consultant and member of numerous committees. One of his greatest honors was to serve as a trustee for Southwest Baptist University.
He was married on Jan. 10, 1976 to his childhood sweetheart, Muriel Ann Houghton, who survives the home.
He is also survived by two daughters, Andrea (Dallas) Denison of Ft. Gibson, OK and Jessica (Shawn) Agnew of St. Joseph; a son, Nathaniel (Diane) Elder of Wentzville; four grandchildren, Ashton and Everly Elder and Jackson and Abigail Denison; two brothers, John (Cheryl) Elder Jr. and Charles (Anne) Elder; a sister, Jana Elder; two uncles, Bill Elder and Bill Schellhorn; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.
Memorials are suggested to Grand Oaks Baptist Assembly, 9463 MO-190, Chillicothe, MO 64601.