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ACU Remembers: Barbara Bates

Longtime benefactor and former Abilene Christian University trustee Barbara Jo Allan “Barbie” Bates (’61) died Jan. 6, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas, at age 85. A Celebration of Life service will be held Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. at Sunset Memorial Park and Funeral Home, followed by a reception. She was born Dec. 19, 1938, … Continued
Landon Saunders

ACU Remembers: Landon Saunders

Beloved evangelist Dr. Landon Brady Saunders (’23 L.H.D.) of Norwich, Vermont, the namesake of a new academic center at Abilene Christian University, died Nov. 14, 2023, at age 86. A Celebration of Life is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2024, at Light of the World Church of Christ in Dallas.  He was born … Continued

Ray Hansen

ACU Remembers: Ray Hansen

Longtime ACU trustee Ray Victor Hansen (’53), 91, died Oct. 29, 2023, in College Station, Texas.  A funeral service took place there today. A burial service is scheduled for Nov. 7 at 2 p.m. at Abilene’s Texas State Veterans Cemetery (7457 W. Lake Road, Abilene, Texas 79601). [aesop_image img=”https://mllcnzvqahci.i.optimole.com/cb:a79E.7a2e/w:auto/h:auto/q:mauto/f:best/https://acu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Ray-Hansen_optimized.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”40%” align=”right” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”left” … Continued

Ove Johansson

ACU Remembers: Ove Johansson

Ove Claes Johansson (’77), whose collegiate football experience was short but life-changing after he kicked a world-record 69-yard field goal as a senior at Abilene Christian University, died Sept. 30, 2023, in Amarillo, Texas. He was 75. A Celebration of Life service is planned for Thursday, Oct. 12, at 10 a.m. at Central Church of … Continued

John Willis

ACU Remembers: Dr. John Willis

  Moody Coliseum was nearly new in 1971 and half the buildings on today’s Abilene Christian University campus had not been built when Dr. John Thomas Willis (’55) returned to his native Abilene, Texas, with his wife and four school-aged children.  He brought 15 years experience on the faculty at Lipscomb University and a scholarly … Continued

James Segrest

ACU Remembers: James Segrest

  James Lewis Segrest (’59), a Texas high school track and field legend and the last surviving member of world record-setting Abilene Christian University relay teams of the mid-1950s, died Aug. 5, 2023, in Fort Worth, Texas, at age 86. Friends and family remembered him in a memorial service Aug. 12 in Granbury, Texas.  Segrest … Continued

Don Rhoden

ACU Remembers: Don Rhoden

Former longtime ACU trustee Don Clifford Rhoden (’58) died Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, in Tuscola, Texas, at age 87.  A time of visitation will be held Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, at 5 p.m. at Piersall Funeral Directors (733 Butternut St., Abilene, Texas 79602), followed by a time of remembrance at 6 p.m. Rhoden was born … Continued

ACU Remembers: Dr. Ray McGlothlin Jr.

    At his alma mater, Dr. Ray McGlothlin Jr. (’49) was known to call Board of Trustees meetings to order by starting a song instead of rapping a gavel. He loved to sing. Not everyone who knew him knew about the oil company he founded, or the medical software company, or the corporate and … Continued

Ginna Sadler

ACU Remembers: Ginna Sadler

  Virginia “Ginna” Joyce Gufstafson Sadler (’70), professor emeritus of art and design at Abilene Christian University, died March 12, 2023, in Abilene, Texas, at age 74. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. March 25 in the Ministry Activity Center at University Church of Christ (733 E.N. 16th St., Abilene, Texas 79601). … Continued

ACU Remembers: Dr. Marianna Yarbrough Rasco

  Longtime Abilene Christian University professor Dr. Marianna Yarbrough Rasco (’53) died March 10, 2023, in Abilene, Texas, at age 93. A memorial service will be held at University Church of Christ (733 E.N. 16th St., Abilene, Texas 79601) on Wednesday, March 15, at 2 p.m., with burial afterward at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Abilene. … Continued