Obituary: Karl Bozeman

Karl Bozeman of Garland, longtime minister and denominational worker, died Jan. 5 in Garland. He was 96.

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Karl Bozeman of Garland, longtime minister and denominational worker, died Jan. 5 in Garland. He was 96. He was born Dec. 18, 1926, to Jesse and Lillie Bozeman in a small farmhouse in Longstreet, La., about 35 miles south of Shreveport. After he graduated from high school at age 17, he moved to Lufkin, where he worked the next 17 years for a foundry and machine company as a warehouse supervisor, interrupted only by two years of service in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1945. He and Joreen Hayes married Aug. 18, 1951, in the parlor of First Baptist Church in Lufkin. In 1957, he was asked to teach at Glorieta Baptist Conference Center in New Mexico. As a result of that experience, he began to feel God’s call to full-time Christian vocational service. He had a heart for children, especially preschoolers. So, at age 31, he began preparing to serve God through early childhood education. While continuing to work full time and spending as much time as possible with his family, he earned an undergraduate degree from North Texas State University, a Master of Religious Education degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Master of Education degree from the University of Texas at Tyler. After serving as part-time educational director for Denman Avenue Baptist Church in Lufkin, he became director of elementary and kindergarten ministry at First Baptist Church Walnut Hill in Dallas. He went on to serve as director of preschool and children’s ministry at Northrich Baptist Church in Richardson before joining the staff of the Baptist General Convention of Texas as consultant for preschool and children in the Sunday School Department. After Tropical Storm Amelia hit in the summer of 1978, he was given an additional assignment as coordinator of temporary emergency child care for the BGCT. He designed, equipped and furnished the first temporary emergency child care trailer. Over the next 24 years, he assisted with 23 disasters, ministering to families and their children. The Southern Baptist Convention’s Brotherhood Commission published his guide to developing an emergency child care system to help others provide free child care in the aftermath of major disasters. His final full-time ministry position was as director of Royal Ambassadors and editor of Crusader/Royal Ambassador materials with the Brotherhood Commission in Memphis, Tenn. He retired as the national SBC Royal Ambassador director in 1992. In retirement, he served as Brotherhood director and director of senior adult Sunday school at Mimosa Lane Baptist Church in Garland. In his final years, he was a member of South Garland Baptist Church, where a memorial service is scheduled at 2 p.m. on Jan. 13. He was preceded in death by his wife, Joreen Hayes Bozeman; brothers Conway Bozeman, C.R. Bozeman and Melvin Bozeman; and sisters Merva Sinclair, Margaret Helton and YV Bozeman. He is survived by daughter Karen Gray and husband Gary; daughter Brenda Hass and husband Artie; five grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren. Memorial gifts can be made to Texas Baptist Men Disaster Relief.


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