Elmer L'Roy (1919–2016)

He grew up in Durant, Oklahoma. He graduated from Russell High School and attended Oklahoma State University to become a chemical engineer. In 1939, two momentous events happened that changed his life forever. He met Judy Fay Neely and fell in love at first sight, and a mentor asked him to preach a sermon at a little church outside of Durant. He was baptized by W. H. Fike in 1932. He always said he was scared at the prospect so he decided to preach on "Faith." He soon decided to dedicate his life to Christian ministry and he wanted to marry Judy. A preacher of the gospel for the churches of Christ for seventy-five years, Elmer and his wife Judy served local congregations of the Church of Christ in Whitesboro, Texas (1941-1942), Cooper, Texas (1942-1945), DeQueen, Arkansas (1946-1950), Springfield, Missouri (1950-1953), Paris, Texas (1953-1964) (Lamar Avenue), Arlington, Texas (Hillcrest) )1964-1984), and Paris, Texas (1984-2014) (Westwood). He also completed his Bachelor and Master’s degrees at East Texas State University in Commerce, Texas.

While in Arlington, Elmer was actively involved in the founding of the World Bible Translation Center which produced the first English Bible for the Deaf and now has grown to translations in more than twenty languages. He served as Associate Editor of the Gospel Light.