Obituary: Ray Rust

Ray P. Rust, former Baptist college president and denominational executive, died Feb. 2 in Richardson. He was 92.

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Ray P. Rust, former Baptist college president and denominational executive, died Feb. 2 in Richardson. He was 92. Rust was born Aug. 8, 1925, to H.H. and Clara Taylor Rust, and grew up in Summer Grove, La. He was ordained to the ministry at age 18. In 1946, he married Joy Lucille Stagg. Rust earned bachelor’s degrees from Louisiana College in Pineville, La., and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and he later received doctoral degrees from Louisiana College and Furman University in Greenville, S.C. He was pastor of churches in Louisiana and Mississippi before joining the administration at at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, where he held multiple roles including executive assistant to the president, acting president and executive vice president. He went on to become president of Anderson College in Anderson, S.C., and then executive secretary-treasurer of the General Board of the South Carolina Baptist Convention until retirement in 1992. After retirement, he served as an interim pastor, including at First Baptist Church in Blue Ridge. He was preceded in death by his wife, Joy; son, Lawrence Henry Rust; and brother, Charles Vernon Rust. He is survived by his daughter, Jory Rust Watson; brother, John M. Rust; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.


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