Alumni Obituaries – April 2015
Rev. Dr. Ira Leon Gallaway, (Hon.D.Min. 1970 & Trustee 1971), 91, was born May 24, 1923, near Glen Cove, Texas. He grew up in Coleman County and in July 1941 married Florene Gayle (Sally) Baxter in Friona, Texas. He entered the Army Air Corps in 1941 and went to the University of Texas at Austin in 1945, graduating in 1949 Phi Beta Kappa. He was elected judge in Coleman County in 1951 and answered a call to ministry in the Methodist Church in 1956. He went to Perkins School of Theology at SMU and served congregations at Highland Park, Hutchins, Kirkwood in Irving, and Walnut Hill in Dallas before becoming district superintendent of the Fort Worth East district. In 1971 he went to Nashville, Tennessee, to serve as General Secretary of the Methodist Board of Evangelism. In late 1972, Dr. Gallaway began a 17-year appointment as senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Peoria, Illinois. Dr. Gallaway was a champion for the renewal of scriptural Christianity within the Methodist Church. He served many years as a member and chairman of the Board of Trustees at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. In his final years he lived in the Wesley Village Retirement Community in Wilmore. He is preceded in death by his wife, Sally, his two sons, Jerry and Timothy, and two grandsons, John and Zachary. Ira and Sally are survived by daughter, Cynthia, and son, Craig; twelve grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
Walter Wesley Guyer, (M.Div., 1946), 95, of St. Joseph, MI went to be with his Lord and Savior on Feb. 21, 2015, after a long illness. He was born Dec. 1, 1919 and raised on the family farm in Capron, Ill. After graduation from Poplar Grove High School, he attended Wessington Springs Junior College of Wessington Springs, S.D. He went on to graduate from Seattle Pacific University (B.A.), Asbury Theological Seminary (B.Div.) and Northern Illinois University (M.A. in guidance and counseling). He had a pastoral career in northern Illinois and was an educator for 12 years at Wessington Springs Junior College, followed by a career as a guidance counselor at Illinois Boys School in St. Charles, Ill., and Naperville High School in Naperville, Ill. Upon retirement, he spent his summers at the Guyer family farm on Russellville Road in Capron and winters at the Light and Life Free Methodist Park in Lakeland, Fla. Above all else, Walt Guyer was a farmer. He loved his farm, his family and his Lord. Throughout his adult life, he connected with people by listening, advising and encouraging. His concern for a person’s relationship with Christ prompted him to pray for and encourage one to embrace the faith he consistently practiced. He wanted to make his “life count for Jesus” and influence people to live a godly life. His legacy will live on through the generations. Preceding him in death were his parents, Claude and Ollie (Hermanson) Guyer; his brothers: Albert, Mansel, and Clifford Guyer; and his wife of more than 60 years, Evelyn (Rogers) Guyer. Surviving are his wife Elizabeth (Fenison); sons, Albert Guyer of Capron, and Wesley (Chris) Guyer of Fall City, Wash.; his daughter, Dorothy (David) Terhune of Watervliet; nine grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; seven stepchildren; and 13 step-grandchildren.
Rev. Dr. Joseph Webster Pridgen, (M.Div., 1950) 91, of Honea Path, S.C., (Retired USAF Colonel/Chaplain), widower of Mae Roselyn Craig Pridgen, died Wednesday, August 13, 2014 at Richard Campbell Nursing Home. Born in McKeesport, PA, he was a son of the late Rev. Charles Preston and Sarah Martha Doll Pridgen. He was Pastor Emeritus of Trinity United Methodist Church, Honea Path and a member of SC United Methodist Conference. He graduated from Asbury College and Asbury Theological Seminary and was an avid supporter of the Blood Bank, having given over 65 gallons. He served in the US Army Infantry during WWII, and in the US Air Force as a chaplain in several states, as well as Vietnam, England, and Japan. He is survived by two sons, Joseph Odell Pridgen and wife Becky of Buford, Ga., and Charles Franklin Pridgen and wife Claudia of Rising Fawn, Ga.; three daughters, Martha Stewart Pridgen Winter and husband Rick of Crestview, Fl., Gwendolyn Pridgen Collins Chandler and husband Philip of Rock Hill and Mary Pridgen LaVerne and fiancee Wayne Kirby of Honea Path; twelve grandchildren, Angie Pridgen, Daphne Pridgen, Eric Pridgen, Preston Pridgen, Stephanie Whyte, Kristin Lightfoot, Frank Pridgen, Tiffany Kirby, Richard Collins, Virginia Thornburg, Sarah Day and Brenda Duncan; and thirty three great-grandchildren.
Rev. F. Dale Senseman, (M.Div., 1973), 74, of Hurricane went home to be with the Lord Tuesday March 3, 2015. Born January 13, 1941 in Troy, Ohio he was a son of the late John Franklin and Eva Ruth Senseman. Dale graduated from Tippecanoe High School in Tipp City, Ohio and Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. Rev. Senseman served churches in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio and Kansas. In addition to pastoring, he served the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) in various other capacities. He was a former professor at the Ohio Christian University, the Director of Church Planting for Ohio Ministries, the National Director of Sunday School and Curriculum Development for the Church of God, and a Christian education and music evangelist for camp meetings. Dale was also an avid fisherman and fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes. He is survived by his wife, Janet Senseman; children and their spouses; Mark and Patricia Senseman of Maineville, Ohio, Melissa and Thom Pratt of Scott Depot and Michelle and Anthony Thomas of Kettering, Ohio and grandchildren; Blake Senseman, Hannah Pratt, Mallory Thomas, Paige Senseman, Joshua Pratt, Emily Thomas and Macey Thomas.