To request a copy of this photo for your own personal use, please contact our state coordinator. If you are not a family member or the original photographer — please refrain from copying or distributing this photo to other websites.
Thank you for visiting the Arkansas Gravestone Photo Project. On this site you can upload gravestone photos, locate ancestors and perform genealogy research. If you have a relative buried in Arkansas, we encourage you to upload a digital image using our Submit a Photo page. Contributing to this genealogy archive helps family historians and genealogy researchers locate their relatives and complete their family tree.
Submitted: 9/28/23 • Approved: 9/28/23 • Last Updated: 10/1/23 • R1504471-G1504471-S3
Thomas
October 26, 1927 - February 14, 2011
Rev. Thomas M. McClain, age 83, finished his courageous battle with Alzheimers Disease at home in the loving arms of his wife of 60 years, and family, on February 14, 2011.
The son of Ted and Hazel McClain, he was born on October 26, 1927 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, moving shortly thereafter to Ft. Smith, Arkansas, graduating from Ft. Smith High School in 1945.
He worked for the United States Geological Survey Department, helping with the study of the streams and rivers in this region, ultimately resulting in the development of the dams and lakes on which he eventually spent enjoyable time with friends and family. He was called to the ministry and was a graduate of Ouachita Baptist College, Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He married Mary Lowder McClain in Ft. Smith on December 24, 1950. He was the pastor of Spradling Ave. Baptist Church, then enrolled in Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas, completing his Master of Divinity degree. He pastored at Valley View Baptist Church in Farmer's Branch, Texas, then First Baptist Church, Rosenberg Texas before moving his family to Springfield, Missouri in 1967. He pastored at Glendale Baptist Church 1967 - 1992, then retired but served as interim pastor for many area congregations until 2007, while also a member of Second Baptist Church.
He is survived by his loving wife Mary; son, Thomas D. McClain; and daughter, Karen-McClain-Smith and their families, all of Springfield; and brother Jerry McClain of Tulsa, Oklahoma; sisters, Barbara Orme, Ft. Smith, Arkansas, and Gloria Cochran, Little Rock, Arkansas, and their families.
Funeral Services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Friday, February 18, 2011 in Glendale Baptist Church, Springfield,Missouri. Graveside service and burial will follow that afternoon in Ft. Smith, Arkansas in Roselawn Cemetery. Visitation will be held Thursday, February 17, 2011, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., in Greenlawn Funeral Home East in Springfield.
Mary
March 12, 1928 - May 25, 2017
Daughter of Vernon and Sylvia Mildred Tenney Lowder
Photo courtesy of Frances Allen Titsworth
Contributed on 9/28/23 by Billsully060
Email This Contributor
Suggest a Correction
Record #: 1504471