Marlin, Harold Deane
9/15/1951
June 1, 1889 - September 15, 1951 |
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| My first acquaintance with Brother Marlin was made on a fishing trip to Lake Bistineau. We didn’t catch many fish, but I made an acquaintance that was destined to grow into warm friendship and admiration. A newspaper reporter looking at Brother Marlin’s collection of fresh water and salt-water tackle said, “Rev. Marlin, what kind of fishing do you like?” The answer, “Just fishing.” Brother Marlin was a fisher of men. One evening two visitation teams called on a family at the same time. The man of the house was a fisherman. The whole family joined Brother Marlin’s church and became some of its leading members and best workers. Harold Deane Marlin was born in White County, Illinois, June 1, 1880. His father was James Hamilton Marlin and his mother was Emmieretta Ward. When he was 18 years of age, his family moved to a farm in Missouri. When he was about 21 years of age, he married Esther Parks. To this union were born eight children, one of whom died in infancy. After the death of his wife, Mr. Marlin married Pearl Louise Chesire. To this union came a lovely little redheaded girl, Tennie Louise Marlin. Brother Marlin is survived by his wife, six daughters, two sons, and twelve grandchildren, a very fine and devoted family. Brother Marlin was a man with a variety of talents. Before entering the ministry he had been a bookkeeper, teacher, superintendent of country schools, and an electrical contractor. These talents served him well in the ministry as he became a teacher and a builder for the Kingdom of God, building during his ministry ten churches and parsonages. “I fought entering the ministry for ten years,” Brother Marlin once said. “For ten years I knew that I should be a minister. But I wanted to make money, and I found that I could easily make money.” At the death of his third child at the age of only a few weeks, his tie with Heaven became stronger and he could no longer hold out against the call of his Lord. At the age of 30, he went to college to study for the ministry. He received his B. A. at Central College, Missouri, and later entered as a student minister, received his B. S. at State Teachers College, Kirkville, Missouri. Rev. Marlin was ordained Deacon in 1918 and Elder in 1919 in the Missouri Conference. He has served his church in the active ministry thirty-five years and seven months. He has served churches in Missouri, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, and Louisiana. In Louisiana, the charges axe Hammond, Rayne, and Simpson in Lake Charles, where he retired in June, 1951. He was called to his eternal reward September 15, 1951, after 71 years, S months and 14 days of a very active life. A mighty tree has fallen in the forest. For a time its space must be vacant and it will be greatly missed. The bookkeeper, teacher, engineer, builder, minister is applying his hands to mightier tasks now. He made mare money in the few months after his retirement than in any year of his ministry. But his riches axe not measured in gold.. He has gone to the place where this material is used to pave streets, where it can be trodden under foot. He has spent his life gathering the eternal riches, and his hands are not empty. The mother of the Gracchi one day was asked by a friend, “Where are your jewels?” Showing her small twin boys, she replied, “These are my jewels.” No wonder her sons became great leaders in Rome’s golden age. Brother Marlin’s riches, too, lie in his family, his loved ones, and his “sons in the ministry.” Many look to him as the bringer of light and the turner of their footsteps in the Eternal Way. Brother Marlin was a worker until the very last. As a seller of “The Book of Life,” he served his Lord until the end. Exhausted and perspiring, he lay down on his couch, uttering his last words to his wife, “I can’t do things like I used to do.” A man of great physique, an athlete, a man among men, but a sensitive person with great depth of soul and strong feeling for his fellow man. His overworked body could not keep pace with his strong spirit. But now he is with those who “Shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.” |
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| Source: Journal of the Louisiana Conference of the Methodist Church, Pages 163-164, 1952 by Ted T. Howes. | |
