Melvin Ray Holt

Melvin Ray Holt was born on July 2, 1934, just before his twin brother, Elvin Roy Holt. They were the youngest of 9 children of Melvin David and Nancy Crow Holt. His family was poor in possessions, but rich in love and in the grace of Jesus Christ. While his family surrounded him with love, his life was marked by tragedy. One brother died before his birth and another before he was 4 months old. In his 10th year, his twin brother, Roy, died after a protracted battle with Encephalitis. By his own account, these were dark years, marked by anger, bitterness, depression, and thoughts of suicide, but also by the gentle love of his family. Then during his High School years in Robeline and Coushatta, Jesus found him, redeemed him, and healed his heart. He was never the same. From that time on, he set out to do whatever God gave him to do. All he could see then, was to follow his Father’s footsteps into the sawmills of the Louisiana lumber industry as he had neither the grades nor the money to go to college. Like countless saints before him, however, God in his providence had different designs. One day his pastor took him for a drive to Shreveport and enrolled him at Centenary College of Louisiana. The rest, as they say, is history. He worked hard and graduated with honors. He married Elizabeth Jones, the hot strawberry blond he first saw walking down the aisle of Caddo Heights Methodist Church, earned a Masters of Divinity from Perkins School of Theology at SMU, pastored churches in TX and LA (he was ordained an elder in the Louisiana Conference of the UMC in 1961), took up guitar and fathered twin boys. In 1965, he followed God’s call to missions work in the Philippines where he served the Aeta people of northern Luzon, preached, mentored young pastors and served the Philippine people in disaster relief. He mastered Tagalog, a language he loved and spoke at every opportunity to the end of his life. He fathered two more sons, followed God’s call back to pastoral ministry in La, raised his 4 sons, became involved in boy scouts, started a troop for handicapped boys in Sulphur, La, was awarded the Bronze Pelican and Silver Beaver for service to scouting, became a grandfather twice, retired from full time ministry, pastored several small churches in central LA, moved to Ohio, followed God’s call into Walk to Emmaus, it’s youth ministry, Chrysalis and Kairos prison ministry , welcomed two more grand children, celebrated 50 years of life with the girl of his dreams and 60 years of pastoral ministry. He did not have “no,” in him, and not knowing how to do something, never stopped him from trying, whether asking that strawberry blonde to a dance without knowing anything about dancing, or accepting a roofing job without knowing anything about roofing, or taking a pastoral appointment to preach in Spanish without knowing Spanish. He was insatiably curious, read voraciously and widely, worked hard, and was willing to learn. He had a gift for languages, a gift for singing, and a love for people that sprung from the well of Jesus’ love. He made instant friends, and was loyal to a fault. He ran the race marked for him with tenacity, grace, and joy. And song; always with song. On Monday, February 10, he slept for the last time, and awoke with his precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Ray was the dear son of the late Melvin D., Sr. and Nancy Crow Holt; the dear father of Melvin, Jr. and wife, Julie, Michael and wife, Cindy, David and wife, Julie, and Charlie; the dear grandfather of Catherine, Carolyn, Drew and Micheal; the dear brother of Donald, Sr. and wife, Elsie, and the late Melvin D., Jr, James, Roy, Jack and wife, Dessie, Tommie and husband, Frank Sylvest, Lola and husband, Lloyd Donaho, and Ledi and husband, Cecil Freeman. He is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. A Memorial service will be held at Friendship Nazarene Church, 68 Friendship Rd, Robeline, LA 71469 at 2PM on Saturday, March 22, 2014. Interment will follow at Lambertown Cemetery, Shamrock Loop, Robeline, LA 71469. Those who wish may make contributions in his name to General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church, for the Philippines, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, New York 10115; Kairos Prison Ministry of Ohio, PO Box 14490, Columbus, OH 43214-0490; The Boy Scouts of America, 2241 Woodland Ave, Cleveland, OH 44115 or The Church of The Saviour, 2537 Lee Rd., Cleveland Hts., OH 44118.