Thomas Edward Ratcliff             m

September 12, 1932 – June 4, 2019

Thomas Edward Ratcliff passed away at the age of 86 at Willis Knighton Pierremont Hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana.

He was born in Spurger, Texas to Cecil Christopher and Bertha Edna Ratcliff. Upon graduation from Spurger High School, he moved to Huntsville, TX where he attended Sam Houston State Teachers College and earned his B.B.A. in Business Administration. There, he met Josie, the love of his life, and they married on August 24, 1952. Tom was employed as a bookkeeper for Standard Oil from 1952-1957. Feeling the call to ministry, they moved to Fort Worth, Texas where he earned a Bachelor's of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He pastored Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church in Woodbine, TX until they moved to Glenwood, Washington to begin a new church there. He was bi-vocational and taught business and typing in a high school in Glenwood.

Brother Tom and Mrs. Josie, as they were affectionately known, felt God leading them into foreign mission work and were appointed as missionaries in 1965 by the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. They spent a year in San Jose, Costa Rica in language school before moving to the Dominican Republic where he pastored Iglesia Bautista Central, Iglesia Bautista de Ozama, and began a new church at Mata Hambre in Santo Domingo. He also served as the business manager for the Dominican Mission Board. Following a year of furlough in Marshall, TX, they moved to Karnack, TX to pastor the First Baptist Church. In 1975 they moved to Beeville, TX to serve as the Area Director of Missions for the Blanco-Coastal Bend Associations, and then moved to West Palm Beach, FL where he served as the Director of Missions for the Palm Lake Baptist Association. Tom became the Director of the Missions Department for the Missouri Baptist Convention in 1988 which moved them to Jefferson City, MO. He retired in 2000 and moved to Marshall, TX. Tom never liked the term "retire," and subsequently accepted a call to pastor Pope City Baptist Church in Woodlawn, TX for 13 additional years. He then spent another 2 years at Cave Springs Baptist Church in Marshall, TX before health problems caused him to finally retire.

He is survived by his wife Josie Slaughter Ratcliff; daughters and sons-in-law Suzanne and Mark Wiley of Murfreesboro, AR, and Patty and Donny Lee of Shreveport, LA; his brother and sister-in-law Jimmy Lee and Ruth Ratcliff of Alvin, TX; grandchildren and their spouses Steven and Marianne Wiley of San Augustine, FL, Thomas and Lauren Wiley of Benton, AR, Luke and Britney Lee of Shreveport, LA, Melody and Matthew Rogers of Gulfport, MS; great-grandchildren Emma Wiley, Noah Wiley, Ledger Wiley, Olivia Wiley, and Bridger Lee.

He is preceded in death by his father and mother Cecil and Bertha Ratcliff; brothers Joseph Escar (J.E.) Ratcliff, Herschel Lawayne Ratcliff, William Wayne (Billy) Ratcliff, Lewis Jefferson (Jeff) Ratcliff, and Curtis Lynn (C.L.) Ratcliff.

Tom Ratcliff was passionate about two things: supporting and encouraging young ministerial students and mission work around the world. Because of this, the family requests that donations be made to East Texas Baptist University in memory of Thomas Edward Ratcliff for scholarships to students preparing for Christian ministry or to The Mandate at themandate.com.

A visitation will be held for Thomas Edward Ratcliff on Thursday, June 6 ^, 2019 from 5-7 P.M. at Downs Funeral Home in Marshall, TX. There will be a celebration of life on Friday, June 7, 2019 at 2:00 P.M. with interment to follow at Andrews Cemetery in Karnack, TX. Officiating the service will be Pastor Craig Evers from Pope City Baptist Church, assisted by Randy Babin of the Soda Lake Baptist Association. Honoring Tom as pallbearers are Max Berry, Marvin Cawood, Luke Lee, Thomas Wiley, Matthew Rogers, and Jon Bass.