Rev. Milton Baldwin

Rev. Milton Baldwin EARTH -- Funeral services for the Rev. Milton Bascum Baldwin, 89, will be held Tuesday, July 12, 2005, in the First Baptist Church. Burial will be in Springlake Cemetery, Springlake, Texas, by Parsons-Ellis Funeral Home. The Rev. Baldwin was called home to be in the arms of the Lord on Tuesday evening, July 6, 2005. He was born in Paducah, Texas, on Jan. 5, 1916, where he grew up in a farm family that survived the Dust Bowl years and the Great Depression by picking grapes in California. At the early age of 16, the Rev. Baldwin surrendered to preach. In 1934, he enrolled in Wayland Baptist College and later attended Abilene Christian College. While teaching school in Reserve, N.M., he met and married Viola Bethel Childress, a school teacher at neighboring Greens Gap, N.M., on Dec. 16, 1939. After service in the Army Air Corps during World War II, the Rev. Baldwin, as a bi-vocational minister, was employed as post engineer for the Atomic Energy Commission at Sandia Base in Albuquerque, N.M. In 1954, the Rev. Baldwin was graduated from Southwestern Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Three sons enlivened the union of Milton and Viola: Charles Milton who lives in Jackson, Tenn., with his wife Janice Ann; and Roy Everett and James Bryon, both of whom preceded their father in death. After 41 years of marriage, Viola died Dec. 23, 1980. The Rev. Baldwin pastored churches in Lampasas, Grand Prairie, Midlothian, Springlake and Earth from 1952-87. In 1982, the Rev. Baldwin married Flossie Yates, a gentle, generous woman from Virginia, and since 1988, they have made their home in Jackson, Tenn. They have been active members of First Baptist Church where the Rev. Baldwin has taught a Sunday school class for the last several years. The Rev. Baldwin was an avid gardener who derived great joy from giving away the vegetables he grew. The Rev. Baldwin leaves to cherish his memory his wife of 23 years, Flossie; one son, Charles and his wife, Janice; one stepdaughter, Genoa Strickland; five grandchildren, Lisa Renee Galletta and husband, Gary; Darron White and wife, Stacy; Michelle Baldwin, Jimmy White and Craig White; and five great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews and a host of dear friends. The local visitation will be in the Parsons-Ellis Funeral Home in Earth, Texas, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, July 11, 2005. Local arrangements are under the direction of the Parsons-Ellis Funeral Home of Earth. The family has requested that memorials be directed to Union University c/o the Baldwin Memorial Fund, 1050 Union University Drive, Jackson, TN 38305 or to the First Baptist Church, 1627 N. Highland Ave., Jackson, TN 38305.