Obituaries: Lottie Copeland, Bong Hee Han and Albert Warner Wicks

Lottie Copeland, who served with her husband more than a decade through Texas Baptist Men Builders, died Oct. 20 in McAllen. She was 90. She was born April 13, 1926, in Bay City. She attended Lon Morris Junior College in Jacksonville and Southwestern College in Georgetown. She married George Neil Copeland June 29, 1947. From 1947 to 1961, they lived in Bay City, where she worked as a physical education teacher and girls’ coach. She and her family later lived about eight years in El Campo before moving to McAllen, where she taught at McAllen High School and was a Sunday school teacher and involved in Woman’s Missionary Union at Calvary Baptist Church. From 1992 to 2002, the Copelands served with the TBM Builders, helping construct 101 churches. She was preceded in death by her brother, Charles Wilbur Boyd. She is survived by her husband; their three children, Jonathan Copeland of Sauk Rapids, Minn., and his wife, Carol,  Jennifer Hart of Mission and her husband, Johnny, and Claude Copeland of McAllen, and his wife, Laura; seven grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and her siblings, Crawford Frank Boyd and Francis Hull.

Bong Hee Han, a longtime Korean Texas Baptist leader, died Oct. 23 in Tyler. He was 62. He was born Nov. 3, 1953, in Korea to Sang Sae Han and Chong Sook Choi Han, and he attended school in Korea. Following his undergraduate studies in Korea, he moved to Texas to pursue a graduate degree from Baylor University. He served in East Texas more than 20 years as senior pastor at the Korean Baptist churches in Tyler and Nacogdoches. He is survived by his wife, Han Im Song of Tyler; children, Samuel Han of Tyler; Lois Han of Tyler, John Han of Tyler; father, Sang Sae Han of Korea; and siblings, Ik Hee Han and Jae Hee Han of Korea and Kwon Hee Han of Chicago.

Albert Warner Wicks, a former member of the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ State Missions Commission, died Oct. 24 in McAllen. He was 88. He was born Dec. 22, 1927, in Mission to Albert and Maude Wicks. He served in the U. S. Navy during World War II and graduated from Baylor University. He was president of the construction company that built part of Interstate 10 from Houston to San Antonio, along with the first runways at what is now Houston Intercontinental Airport. He was an executive and owner of several restaurants and most recently worked as an insurance agent. He was ordained as a deacon at Conway Avenue Baptist Church in Mission, and he later served as a deacon at Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston, Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth and Calvary Baptist Church in McAllen. He also taught Sunday school in each of the churches where he was a member. In addition to serving on the State Missions Commission, he also was on the board of Drug Prevention Resources. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Dorothy Cox Wicks of McAllen; a son, Bert Wicks of The Colony and his wife, Denise; a daughter, JoBeth Rickard of Houston; four grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and his siblings, Robert Wicks of Mission and JoMae London of Corpus Christi.