Cecil E. Carder Sr.

Cecil E. Carder, Sr. Cecil E. Carder, Sr., age 86, entered into rest December 29, 2010 at Elm Terrace Gardens, Lansdale, Pa. He was preceded in death by his wife of 59 years, Dorothy Hawkins Carder.

Born in Culpeper County, Cecil was the son of the late Bernard Amiss Carder and Jessie Mae Carder. Cecil was a veteran of World War II, serving in the China-Burma-India Theater as part of the Army Air Forces, where he reached the rank of Staff Sergeant.

Following his discharge from the military, Cecil completed high school in Culpeper in 1946, and attended Bluefield College, and the Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia, receiving his BA degree in 1950. In that same year he married his wife, Dorothy, and was also ordained as a minister by Culpeper Baptist Church. As a member of the first class to graduate from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary at Wake Forest, NC, he completed his BD in 1954. He continued his studies at Cornell University and Ohio State University.

Cecil and Dorothy were commissioned as American Baptist Missionaries in 1954, and assigned to Thailand. They arrived in Thailand in 1955, and in 1957, they established the Sahsart Suksa School in Namlat, Thailand. The school, which began in a one room building with 57 students, was the first school established specifically for children from Thailand's tribal minorities. With a student body or more than 2,300 in kindergarten through 12th grade, a staff of 75 teachers and 23 workers, Sahasart Suksa now includes children from indigent families representing 11 different tribal groups.

In 1963, Cecil and Dorothy moved to Bangkok, where he served as Field Secretary for the American Baptist Mission in Thailand. During his tenure, American Baptists were joined by Australian and Swedish Baptists in the cooperative effort that became the Thailand Baptist Missionary Fellowship. Cecil and Dorothy also served in support of The Maitrichit Chinese Baptist Church, the first Chinese baptist church in the world, as well Sacred Light Baptist Church in Thonburi. In 1980, following his return to the United States, Cecil became Area Secretary of the American Baptist Board of International Ministries for Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, China and Hong Kong. He also served as coordinator for the ABC World Relief Committee.

Following his retirement from ABC/USA in 1990, Cecil and Dorothy remained active in their local church, most recently as a member of First Baptist Church of Lansdale, Pa., where he retained his commitment to the Karen people of Southeast Asia.

Surviving Cecil are three children, Jonita Evelyn Carder of Philadelphia, Pa., Cecil Carder, Jr. and his wife, Sunni, of Cypress, Texas and Jeanette Meyers and her husband Wren of Occoquan, Va.; four grandchildren, Jeffrey and Robert Carder of Cypress, Texas and Claire and Tess Meyers of Occoquan, Va.; two brothers, Russell Carder of Culpeper, Va. and Harold Carder of Sun City Center, Fla. Cecil was preceded in death by his brothers Silas, Wallace, Melvin, and his sister, Elizabeth.

A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 2 p.m. at Culpeper Baptist Church, 318 S. Main St., Culpeper with the Rev. John S. Farrar officiating. Interment will follow in Fairview Cemetery. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.

There will be a memorial service in Lansdale, PA in early January.

In lieu of flowers, donations honoring Cecil's life and work may be sent to International Ministries, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482 USA with the designation for the Sahasart Suksa school in Chiang Rai province, Thailand. An online guestbook and tribute wall is available at www.foundandsons.com. Found and Sons Funeral Chapel of Culpeper is handling the arrangements.



This obituary was originally published in the Culpeper StarExponent.