Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Dr. John Greer Sr.

Dr. John Thomas Greer Sr., 69, of Arkadelphia, died Wednesday, November 15, 2006, in Arkadelphia.

Dr. Greer was born on Sept. 28, 1937 in Arcadia Louisiana, the son of the late Thomas Jefferson and Mabel D. Greer.

He graduated from Louisiana College with a major in speech and a teaching minor in English. He received a Th.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and later earned his M.A. in English from the University of Evansville. He began his teaching career at Oakland City College in 1968 as a professor in the English Department. He served in this capacity until 1979. After three years as pastor of First Baptist Church of Prescott, Dr. Greer began teaching at Ouachita Baptist University, where he served from 1979 until his death. He was the chair of the English department and occupied the Bennie Sue and Clarence Anthony Professor of Humanities chair. Throughout his lifetime, Dr. Greer was an active member of many local and statewide civic organizations and boards. Having served as interim pastor for numerous churches, Dr. Greer formed many memorable relationships with congregations throughout the state of Arkansas. In the minds of many, however, one of Dr. Greers most enduring legacies will be the ties that he engineered between OBU and China. His travels to China began in 1987, when he served as a designated Foreign Expert to Zhengzhou University for a one-year period. Throughout the subsequent years, he made 18 trips to various cities throughout China to present academic papers, lead conferences, and teach courses.

Survivors include his wife, Angie Boyt Greer; two sons, John Greer Jr. of Little Rock and Kent Greer of Winston-Salem, N.C.; two granddaughters, Haylee and Riley and one brother, Steve Williams of Homer, LA.

Visitation was at Ruggles-Wilcox funeral home in Arkadelphia on Sunday, November 19 from 2-5 p.m.

A memorial service was held at the OBU Jones Performing Arts Center in Arkadelphia on Monday, November 20th at 2 p.m. Burial was conducted in a private ceremony. In Lieu of Flowers memorials may be made to The Tom and Angie Greer Endowment Fund for International Student Scholarships or charity of your choice. To sign online guest register visit www.ruggleswilcox.com.