The Rev. Loy Barks

The Rev. Loy L. Barks, age 98, of Jackson passed away Saturday, Jan. 18, 2003, at the Jackson Manor Nursing Home.

Friends may call today from 4 to 8 p.m. at McCombs Funeral Home in Jackson. Funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the funeral home with the Rev. David Pringle and the Rev. Mike Huffman officiating. Burial will be in Russell Heights Cemetery.

The family requests that expressions of sympathy take the form of contributions to Southeast Hospice.

The Rev. Barks was born Oct. 15, 1904, in Sedgewickville, Mo., son of the late Henry and Sarah Hahs Barks. He and Jettie M. Gartung were married Oct. 1, 1927. She passed away Sept. 22, 1998.

Loving survivors include his son and daughter-in-law, Bob and Claueda Barks of Jackson; four sisters, Freda Martin, Effie Riehn, Gladys Bollinger and Hazel Henson, all of Jackson; two grandchildren, Robin Anderson and husband Mike of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., and Robert Barks and wife Renee' of Oak Ridge; five great-grandchildren, Angie, Heather and Michael Anderson and Tony and Ashley Barks; and one great-great-grandson, Tyler Anderson.

In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by an infant brother and an infant sister.

The Rev. Barks and Jettie also farmed south of Jackson until moving to Jackson Manor in 1996. He also previously served on the board of directors of MFA Oil Company.

In 1939, Rev. Barks established the live radio broadcast, "The Bible Baptist Fellowship," which aired at 9 a.m. every Sunday originally on KFVS and ended in 1994 on KUGT radio station in Jackson.

He was ordained a Baptist minister on March 27, 1946, at Calvary Baptist Church in the old Tabernacle on South Georgia Street. He then accepted a call to pastor Messler Baptist Church in Bell City, Mo., where he pastored until 1951 when he returned to Calvary Baptist.

During his 44-year tenure at Calvary, he actively led the congregation in supporting missionaries in Argentina, Old Mexico, Lebanon, Formosa, as well as the Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Mo., which prepared missionaries for their call to the ministry.

He served as president of the Missouri/Arkansas Baptist Bible Fellowship Association. His pastorate concluded in 1995 when failing health forced his retirement.