Dr. Malcolm Stanley Cummings

Malcolm Stanley Cummings was born the third of four children to the late Alwyn Budd and Ruey Marie Cummings on November 6, 1931, in Mt Pleasant, Pennsylvania. On March 9, 2026, at the age of 94, he was called home to our Heavenly Father following a short battle with an infection, peacefully passing in his sleep.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 56 years Elizabeth Rae (“Betty Rae”) Campbell Cummings, his older sister Mary Elizabeth Cummings Whittemore and her husband Howard Whittemore, his older brother Alwyn Buhl Cummings and his wife Lois Tyson Cummings, and his son-in-law Kenneth Ray Greemann. He is survived by his younger brother Robert Bradley Cummings and his wife Loretta, his son David Allen Cummings and daughter-in-law Caren Smith Cummings, his daughter Deborah Cummings Greemann, five grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.

Malcolm, or “Doc” as he was known to so many, grew up in Scottdale, Pennsylvania, graduating from Scottdale High School in 1949. After attending a year at Bethany College on a track scholarship, he transferred to Bob Jones University (BJU) in Greenville, South Carolina, where he met his sweetheart, Betty Rae, and cultivated a passion for teaching and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to a world that so needs to hear the Good News. After graduating, they were married at the Gonic Baptist Church in her hometown of Rochester, New Hampshire, on June 12, 1954. Doc went on to complete graduate studies at BJU and eventually earned a master’s degree in 1956 and a doctorate degree in Christian Education in 1967.

Malcolm and Betty Rae served in Christian ministry for their entire lives together; first on the mission field at the Korean Bible College in Seoul, South Korea, from 1960 to 1970, next at Athens Christian School in Athens, Georgia, which he helped start with his brother Buhl and where he served as a teacher and high school principal from 1970 to 1985, and then at the Georgia Association of Christian Schools, where he served as Executive Director from 1985 to 2007. Malcolm and Betty Rae also served in a variety of capacities at Temple Baptist Church during their years in Athens. After retiring in 2007, they moved from Athens, Georgia, to Mocksville, North Carolina, to live by their daughter and son-in-law and where they were active in the West Haven Baptist Church. After Betty Rae’s passing in 2010, Malcolm moved to Glen Allen, Virginia in 2021, where he lived with his son and daughter-in-law.

At the encouragement of his family, Malcolm wrote and completed his autobiography entitled “It Will Be Worth It All,” published in 2021, that related “A history of my earthly journey … remembering things past and anticipating things yet to come.” He was honored with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” by the BJU Alumni Association at a presentation ceremony in Greenville, South Carolina, in 2023. Until his last days, he truly enjoyed sending daily emails to a carefully cultivated mailing list and corresponding with friends all over the world.

A visitation will be held at the Lord and Stephens Chapel at 4355 Lexington Road in Athens, Georgia from 9:00 to 11:00 am on Saturday, March 14, 2026, followed by a funeral service at 11:00 am. Interment will be at the Evergreen Memorial Park at 3655 Atlanta Highway. All friends, family, and former colleagues and students are welcome. Flowers are appreciated, but not necessary.

Lord & Stephens Funeral Home, East, Athens is entrusted with arrangements. www.lordandstephens.com.