Royce Lee Measures, a Texas Baptist pastor and chaplain emeritus of the Pasadena Police Department, died July 29 of COVID-19. He was 85. He was born in Odessa on June 27, 1935, to William “Bill” Henry and Clara Cordelia (Crowe) Measures. At age 15, he devoted his life to full-time vocational Christian service. After he graduated from Midland High School, he attended Wayland Baptist College where he met his wife Hilda Christine “Chris” Rice. They married on Dec. 27, 1955, in Cockrell Hill. At Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, he earned Bachelor of Divinity, Master of Theology and Doctor of Theology degrees. He was pastor of Golden Acres Baptist Church in Pasadena from 1986 to 2007. Previously, he served Baptist churches in Perley, Cumby, Wolfe City, Princeton, Kemp and Kerens. For more than 30 years, he was volunteer chaplain for the Pasadena Police Department. He taught religion at San Jacinto Community College and was involved with Union Baptist Association and the Texas Baptist Historical Society. In retirement, he continued to serve as an interim pastor at several Houston-area churches, including Uvalde Baptist Church in Houston, and South Main Baptist Church and Market Street Baptist Church, both in Pasadena. He was preceded in death by his son Mark Carter Measures and his brother Lenard Measures. He is survived by his wife of 63 years Chris Measures; daughter Lydia and husband David Ramirez; grandson James Royce Measures; and brother Leon Measures of Livingston.
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