PASTOR, 96, STEPS DOWN

There might have been 90 years' difference in their ages, but the Rev. S.S. Borum and Jalana Jo Johnson share much more -- faith in God.

Borum, 96, is a retired Baptist minister who baptized Johnson, 6, recently at Iona Baptist Church. Borum was serving as the interim minister at the time. The baptism was his last official duty as the church's pastor before the Rev. Dan Pate arrived to serve the congregation.

Johnson is the granddaughter of Jo Leadbetter, the woman who frequently drives Borum to his hospital visits and ministerial duties.

Borum began his ministry in 1926 when he was licensed. He was ordained Aug. 12, 1928, by the First Baptist Church of Marion, Ill.

Borum attended Southwestern Baptist Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, from 1940-43. During his 74-year career, he has served as pastor of churches in Salem, Anna, Crab Orchard and West Frankfort, Ill. He also was pastor of churches in Perryville, Cape Girardeau and Elvins, Mo.

Although he is retired, Borum stays active in the ministry by preaching at area churches for vacationing or absent pastors and serves as an interim minister. He also is a regular visitor to St. Francis Medical Center and Southeast Missouri Hospital and leads a monthly program at the Lutheran Home.

He and his wife, Beulah, were married Sept. 9, 1933. She died Aug. 7, 1995. The couple had three sons.