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Dr. David L. Cummins
Dr. David L. Cummins
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David Cummins Obituary
Decatur
Funeral service for Dr. David L. Cummins, 80, of Decatur will be Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009, at 11 a.m. at Calvary Baptist Church, 126 Douglass Road NW, Huntsville, Ala., with Dr. Fred Moritz officiating and Shelton Funeral Home directing.
Burial will be in East Lawrence Memorial Gardens. The family will receive friends Sunday from 7 to 9 p.m. and Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home.
Dr. Cummins, who died Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009, at his residence, was born April 26, 1929, in Detroit, Mich., to William Henry Cummins and Ida Mae Metcalf Cummins. He entered the ministry in 1950 and pastored eight churches in Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Georgia and Wisconsin. He served on the board of Decatur-based Baptist World Mission from 1968 until becoming Deputation Director in 1997. He retired from the mission on May 31, 2009. Dr. Cummins lectured as adjunct professor at several Bible colleges and co-authored three volumes titled This Day in Baptist History. Ambassador Baptist College of Lattimore, N.C., has named a library the David L. Cummins Graduate Studies Library in his honor.
He is survived by his loving wife of 59 years, Mary Lee Ballard Cummins; five daughters, Mary Gearhart of Davison, Mich., Martha Love of Conyers, Ga., Miriam Marriott of Warren, Mich., Michal McIntosh of Livonia, Mich., and Myra Wright of Roscoe, Ill.; one sister, Pauline Rivers; 19 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.
Dr. Cummins’ grandsons will serve as pallbearers.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts be sent to Baptist World Mission, P.O. Box 2149, Decatur, AL 35602-2149, www.baptist worldmission.org.
This obituary was originally published in the Decatur Daily.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Mark Rudaitis
April 12, 2023
One of the best Pastors I knew at Faith Baptist Church in Warren, Mich. I learn so much at his Churchbuilder's Sunday class. I will miss him.
Debbie Rasnake
August 19, 2009
Only eternity will reveal the impact that Bro. Dave made on my life. Not only his sermons but the impression he made on a teenager priviledged to spend time in his home with Michael are with me years later. I rejoice in his promotion while remembering those that loved him most in my prayers.
Charles Dear
August 18, 2009
To Mary and the family, How good it is that we "sorrow not as others which have no hope." We thank the Lord for the ministry of Dr. Cummins and for his humble spirit. He was a great example to younger men in the ministry.
Especially dear to me was his love for Baptist History. I enjoyed a conversation on the subject with him last September, at the PARBC Fall conference, where he was teaching The Relevance of Baptist History. He brought along his third edition of This Day in Baptist History and he was so pleased to get it in print and out to us.
May the Lord be your comforter and strength in the days ahead.
Ron & Barb Allen
August 18, 2009
Dear Mary and Family,
I am so sorry that we could not be with you on this day...Ron is in California with his parents and I do not feel comfortable making the trip by myself. You have been in our thoughts and we pray that God will give each of you strength to be strong on this day. May you be a light to those you meet today as you have been through these many years....
Our thoughts and prayers are with you during this time. We know that your hearts are heavy because of your loss, yet rejoicing because your beloved husband, father (father-in law), grandfather and great-grandfather is with his Heavenly Father, no longer suffering from the physical pain which he had endured these past months.
Ron and I have wonderful memories of Dr. Cummins...beginning back in 1966 when we served at Bethany Baptist (Grand Blanc)...Dr. Cummins was one of the 12 delegates that sat on Ron's ordination committee, October 16, 1967 (I'll never forget that day as it was the day our son Bradley was born!) Dr. Cummins took Ron book shopping in the used book stores of Detroit and gave him a great start with his library. Probably my fondest memories are the two mission conferences he came to while we served in San Francisco....He was a friend of missionaries , encouraged them to stay by their commitments. His "true" missionary illustrations were always such a blessing and I had really looked forward with anticipation to the book he would write with many of those experiences in them.....I guess it was not to be. We pray that you'll be comforted by the Holy Spirit during this time....we know that you have memories that will fill many of those lonely hours and days....may they bring you joy and blessings as you reflect on them.
Because of His Love,
Ron and Barbara Allen
Keepers of the Light Ministries
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Bill Raymond
August 18, 2009
To the Cummins Family:
I thank the Lord for Dr. Cummins' faithful ministry. Indeed, he was a choice servent of the Lord. It was while I was pastoring in Flint, MI, from 1968 to 1974 that I got to know Dr. Cummins. Since then he has been my friend and mentor. I will miss him, but rejoice that he is at home with his Lord. Psalm 116:15
Bill Raymond
Leonard Saunders
August 17, 2009
Dear Cummins Family,
We wanted you to know that you are in our prayers as you go through this difficult time. We are praying that the LORD will comfort and keep you. Dr. Cummins was a blessing to us in many ways.
Leonard & Norma Saunders
Robert & Barbara Peckham
August 17, 2009
You are in our hearts and prayers at this time.
August 17, 2009
Dear Mrs. Cummins & Family:
We share in the sadness of being left behind by Dr. Cummins; but we rejoice at our future Hope of being with him in the presence of our Lord! May God sustain you all and give you His joy. We have been and continue to pray for you! Our love to you all.
The Daniel Pero Family (Ireland)
Don Holmes
August 16, 2009
I am so sorry for your loss. Dr. Cummins was one of my favorite people. He was always so consistent in everything he did. He will be sorely missed.
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