ARKADELPHIA, Ark. (ABP) — Longtime Ouachita Baptist University philosophy professor Raymond Coppenger died Nov. 24 following a bout with pneumonia, according to the Arkadelphia, Ark., school. He turned 100 in September.
Raymond Coppenger
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Coppenger joined the Ouachita faculty in 1954. Serving as chairman of the department, he taught at the university for 20 years until his retirement in 1974.
“I have long known of Dr. Raymond Coppenger,” said Ouachita President Rex Horne, in a school press release. “We are proud to have the legacy of this good man as an important part of Ouachita’s history and legacy.
“On a personal note, I am most proud that I have known him and could call him a friend,” Horne added. “I have been blessed to know Dr. Coppenger’s children and to respect the contributions they have all made. Dr. Coppenger was not only blessed with long life, but fully lived each day of those 100 years.”
Coppenger celebrated his 100th birthday on Sept. 20 with a large gathering of family and friends in Arkadelphia. He received televised birthday greetings from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R), a Ouachita alumnus, who closed his Fox News Channel show, “Huckabee,” that day by noting, “Dr. Coppenger is one of the most brilliant scholars I’ve known, and his Edinburgh-trained intellect was matched by his humble and gracious spirit. As he and his family celebrate his 100 years, I thank him for his investment in my life.”
That same week, Coppenger sang bass in the “10th Annual Final Concert” of the Ouachita Faculty Quartet, a group he helped form in the 1960s. He also saw his doctoral dissertation, written more than 50 years ago, published as a book titled, A Messenger of Grace: A Study of the Life and Thought of Abraham Booth.
Coppenger was born on Sept. 20, 1909, in Tennessee. He earned degrees from Mercer University, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. During his years of ministry, he served as pastor of churches in Tennessee and Virginia, was a Navy chaplain in the Pacific during World War II and served as Baptist Student Union director at Auburn University and the University of Kentucky. Before joining Ouachita’s faculty, he taught philosophy and religion at two Tennessee Baptist schools, Carson-Newman College and Belmont University.
Coppenger was preceded in death in 2000 by Agnes, his wife of 56 years, and in 2007 by his daughter Anne. He is survived by his sister Dorothy; two children, Susan and Mark, who is a pastor and a former president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
The funeral was held Nov. 28 at First Baptist Church of Arkadelphia, where Coppenger was a longtime member.
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