Services for Raymond Roy Tharp, 92, of Temple will be at 2pm Saturday, March 4th, 2023 at Scanio-Harper Funeral Home in Temple with the Dr. Tom Henderson officiating. Burial will be in the Bellwood Memorial Park in Temple. Mr. Tharp died Thursday, February 23, 2023.
Raymond was born July 12, 1930, in Rogers, Texas to Raymond Mack Tharp and Bernice Loraine Davis Tharp. He graduated from Rogers High School in 1948 and attended Temple Junior College, then transferred to Howard Payne University where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1954. He married Dixie DeAun Stoneman of Brownfield, Texas on June 4, 1953 in Brownwood, Texas. At Humboldt State University in Arcata, California, he received his California Teacher Certification in 1956. In 1965, he received his Master of Religious Education degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas and in 1970 he received his Master of Science degree in Education from Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
During his educational career, he served as a classroom teacher for 15 years, a public school counselor for 15 years, and as Director of Guidance and Placement at Central Texas College for 7 years. During this time, he also was pastor of several churches. His first pastorate was Fort Seward Baptist Church in Fort Seward, California which he and his wife helped establish. His pastorates in Texas were Dyess Grove Baptist Church, Oenaville Baptist Church, and Nolan Valley Baptist Church in Bell County; First Baptist Church in Eddy, Texas in McLennan County; and Val Verde Baptist Church in Milam County.
He was a member of Memorial Baptist Church, Phi Delta Kappa, Texas Retired Teachers Association, the Sons of the Republic of Texas, and the Sons of the American Revolution. In the summer of 1993, he and his wife were volunteers for the Baptist International Mission Board and taught English in Tartu, Estonia.
He is survived by one daughter, Carla Jean Cleveland of Austin; one son, Gregory Scott Tharp and wife, Fela, of Waco; four grandchildren, Andrea Tharp McLean and husband, Nathan; Danny Cleveland and wife, Sarah; Emily Cleveland, and Lydia Cleveland and husband Matt Kornegay; and three great grandchildren, Felix Cleveland, Eliza Cleveland, and David McLean.
He was preceded in death by his wife, his father Raymond Mack Tharp; his mother, Bernice Loraine Davis Tharp; a brother, Thomas L. Tharp, a sister, Alice Pierce of Knoxville, TN; a sister, Charlene Samson of Ottawa, Canada, and his son-in-law, James E. Cleveland. Memorials may be made to Howard Payne University, Brownwood, Texas or a charity of your choice.
Family visitation will be Friday, March 3, 2023 from 6-8:00pm at the funeral home.
