Martha E. Cothen
Martha E. (Bettye) Cothen died of Parkinson’s disease Jan. 10 in Miami. She was 83.
A native of Chattanooga, Tenn., she was the wife of Grady C. Cothen, former president of the Baptist Sunday School Board (now LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention). They were married 63 years.
She was a former member of the board of trustees of Golden Gate Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif.
In addition to her husband, Cothen is survived by two daughters, a son, nine grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
Lloyd Jack Gray
Lloyd Jack Gray, professor of missions emeritus at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, died Jan. 7 in Texas. He was 89.
Gray enrolled in Southwestern Seminary in 1938 and continued to serve as pastor of churches in Oklahoma while he studied for his master’s degree.
He courted Elsie Carr by mail, whom he later married, and traveled by train nearly 400 miles between Oklahoma and Texas each weekend. Gray received his master of theology degree in 1942.
Gray was preceded in death by his wife in 2002. He is survived by two daughters and a granddaughter.
J. Roger Skelton
J. Roger Skelton, professor of religious education at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, died in Nashville Dec. 29. He was 87.
A member of the California seminary’s faculty from 1967 until retiring in 1983, Skelton was a pioneer in bringing new church growth philosophies to the seminary.
Leading the faculty to emphasize growing churches through a healthy Sunday School program, Skelton was the first to teach classes on church growth at the seminary.
Before coming to Golden Gate, Skelton served as a denominational leader at the Baptist Sunday School Board (now LifeWay Christian Resources) and as a minister of education for churches in California, Texas and Arkansas.
Skelton is survived by his two children and was preceded in death by his wife, Bessie.
William C. Strickland
William C. (Bill) Strickland, one of the five original faculty members of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., died Dec. 21.
Strickland, 87, spent 15 years teaching at Southeastern, from the seminary’s founding in 1951 until 1966. He joined the faculty having received both a B.D. and Th.D. degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
Strickland served under the first Southeastern president, Sydnor Stealey, as well as his successor, Olin Binkley, before departing to become professor and chairman of the department of philosophy and religion at Appalachian State University in 1966, where he worked until his retirement.
He is survived by his wife, Jean Strickland, two children and two grandchildren.
James R. Staples
James R. Staples, former Arizona Southern Baptist leader and retired president of California Baptist University, died Jan. 3 in Dallas, two days before his 85th birthday.
Staples served two stints (1960–1962, 1970) as editor of the Baptist Beacon, newsjournal of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention. (The Beacon was succeeded by Portraits magazine in 1997.)
Between stints with the Baptist Beacon, Staples was executive vice president of Grand Canyon College (now University).
He returned to higher education in 1970 as the third president of California Baptist College (now University), a post he held until he retired in 1984.
He was preceded in death by a son. He is survived by his wife, Elaine, daughter, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren. (BP)
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