Reggie McClendon

Reggie McClendon, 83, of Waxhaw, North Carolina, went to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, early Thursday morning, December 6, 2012, at home, surrounded by his loving wife, LaVerne, and family. Reginald Hubert (Reggie) McClendon was born at home July 17, 1929 in Mountain Peak, Texas. His parents were William Preston McClendon and Rita Marie McBrayer McClendon. Reggie had a brother, William Eugene (Gene), who was seven years older. Reggie lived in Ellis County, Texas, until 1942 when he and his parents moved to Yuma, Arizona. He attended and graduated from Yuma Union High School in 1947. He worked for Safeway grocery during high school and until he joined the U.S. Navy September 28, 1948. He attended fleet sonar school in San Diego and was assigned to the USS Carmick DMS-33, where he served for thirteen months during the Korean conflict (in both Korea and Japan) as a sonarman. He was a 2nd Class Petty Officer when his tour of duty ended July 15, 1952. He then returned to live and work in Yuma. In 1953 Reggie surrendered to the Lord's call to prepare for ministry. He attended Arizona Bible Institute from 1953 to 1956 and married LaVerne Brumley on July 2, 1954, at Valley Baptist Church in Yuma, where they had met a number of years before. Seeing a way to use his Navy electronic training on the mission field, Reggie and LaVerne went to the Summer Institute of Linguistics at Norman, Oklahoma, in the summer of 1956. Reggie applied and was accepted by Wycliffe Bible Translators as an electronic technician. Reggie and LaVerne's first daughter, Winona Marie, was born on August 3, 1956, while they were at SIL. Reggie, LaVerne, and Winnie went to Wycliffe's jungle training camp in southern Mexico in January 1957 and were subsequently assigned to the field of Peru. They arrived in Peru in January 1958. They attended language school and then moved to Yarinacocha, WBT's center in the jungle of Peru. Later that year they were reassigned to the country of Ecuador, where their second daughter, Cheri Ann, was born in Shell Mera on December 15, 1958. Their third daughter, Bethany Alma, was born in Quito, Ecuador on April 4, 1961. They served in Ecuador until they were assigned to help in the setting up of the WBT Center in Colombia in October 1963. At Lomalinda, Reggie served as head of the radio department, base coordinator, associate director, and executive committee chairman. He built his own house, helped in the construction of the radio tower and lab, and did many other jobs until July 1975. Reggie became pastor of the Evangelical Free Church of Salt Lake City in July 1975 and served there until July 1985. He was instrumental in starting a Christian school in Salt Lake City, was a chaplain for the police department and some of the hospitals in the city, and was involved with the ministerial associations in Salt Lake City. In July 1985 Reggie accepted a call to become pastor of the First Evangelical Free Church in Austin, Texas, where he served until December of 1989. On January 1, 1990, he became pastor of the Portland Avenue Evangelical Free Church in Tacoma, Washington. He served there until his retirement on October 15, 1995. Reggie earned his BA degree in Bible from Arizona Bible College in 1963 and his MA in Divinity from Trinity Theological Seminary in 1982. Reggie and LaVerne moved from Tacoma to Waxhaw, North Carolina in October 1995. Reggie became the preaching elder for the Cornerstone Bible Church on December 1, 1996 on a part-time basis, preaching his last sermon there August 12, 2012. He began volunteering at the WBT/JAARS Center in 1997, designing solar power systems for missionaries serving in areas that lack reliable electric power. -

Service Information

Tuesday, December 11th, 2012 2:00pm, JAARS Center

Details:

Service Extra Info The service will be held in the auditorium in the Townsend Building

Interment Details

Private