Vernon G. Elgin

LAKEWOOD, Wash. ? The Rev. Dr. Vernon G. Elgin died Monday, Feb. 1, 2016, in Seattle, Washington.

A memorial service was held at 2 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 20, at the Little Church on the Prairie, at 6310 Motor Avenue S.W. in Lakewood, Washington (ZIP code 98499). Donations may be made to The Little Church on the Prairie?s Memorial and Endowment Fund (for mission and outreach).

Dr. Elgin was born in 1927 in Elderton, Pennsylvania, the son of Glenn and Marie Elgin. He met his wife, Marjorie, while at Pittsburgh Seminary, and the couple were married for nearly 60 years. She preceded him in death.

He was sworn into the Army Air Corps at the beginning of World War II and served in the Air Force in Mississippi and Illinois. After the war he attended the Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary, and later achieved a Ph.D. in theology at the New School of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He began his pastoral ministry in Cadiz, Ohio. His wife held a master?s degree in Christian education and was an invaluable partner to him throughout his ministry. He pastored churches in Ohio, Kansas, and Iowa, before becoming the senior pastor at LCOP, where he served for 18 years. There, he had a profound impact on the church as well as in the community of Lakewood, serving on various community service organizations. After serving at LCOP he was employed by the broader Presbyterian Church in New York as well as Washington state, and began a ministry as an interim pastor that took him to Federal Way and Sumner in Washington, as well as such diverse locations as Puerto Rico, New Zealand, and Bali, Indonesia. Later he became a missionary and theological professor in Bogota, Colombia, and Malawi, Africa. He published four books. The first book, published in 2010, was Obituary Theology; and he pre-wrote his own obituary, titled an ?Autobituary,? as part of the first book.

Surviving are two sons, Mark, and Paul; two daughters-in-law, Lynn, and Elizabeth; and six grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Marjorie; and thee siblings, Janice Kathleen, Ray Leland, and Mary Florence.