Mary Lou Humphries
Help us celebrate Mary! Please share your stories and photos, and invite others who remember Mary.
Mary Lou Lookingbill Humphries went to be with the Lord on Friday, June 18th, 2021 in Denton, Texas.
A memorial service celebrating her life will be held at First Baptist Church of Tyler, Texas on Saturday, July 10th at 2:00 PM, with the Rev. Pike Wisner officiating. A private burial will be held on Tuesday, June 29th at the Dallas-Ft. Worth National Cemetery.
Mary was born May 10th, 1933 in Springdale, Arkansas, daughter of James and Theresa Lookingbill. She came to know the Lord at the young age of 8 and became a faithful member of the First Baptist Church of Springdale, Arkansas.
Mary graduated from Springdale High School in Springdale, Arkansas and went on to graduate with honors from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Upon graduation, Mary began her teaching career in Lubbock, Texas. It was in Lubbock where she met the love of her life, James "Jim" Humphries. After three short months of courtship, they married on Christmas Day, 1955 in Springdale, Arkansas. A few years later, Jim and Mary felt the Lord's call to Christian service, and Jim enrolled in Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth. Jim and Mary pastored their first church, in Loco, Oklahoma and several churches thereafter.
In 1966 they answered the call to missions and stepped out in faith and moved with their three young children to Saigon, Vietnam where Jim and Mary served the congregation of the Trinity Baptist Church. Mary sang in the choir, and taught English classes and cooking classes to Vietnamese women. They served on the foreign mission field for eight years before returning to the US in 1973.
Mary and Jim moved to Arlington, Texas and were faithful members of Northside Baptist Church. During this time Mary taught Sunday School and mentored many women in their walk with Christ. In 1978 Jim and Mary were called to pastor First Baptist Church, San Marcos, Texas where they served faithfully for 13 years. While in San Marcos, Mary was active in the Women's Missionary Union and cooked Wednesday suppers for the church members. It has been said that Jim's Wednesday Bible studies were packed because of Mary's cooking!
Mary and Jim retired from FBC, San Marcos in 1991. In 1992 Mary was elected as the WMU president for the state of Texas. She considered this one of her greatest honors because of her desire to share the Gospel of Christ to the world. In May of 2000 they moved to Lindale, Texas and became active in ministry at First Baptist Church of Tyler.
Mary is preceded in death by her husband of 63 years, Jim Humphries; her father, James Clifton Lookingbill and her mother Theresa Lookingbill; brothers, James Lookingbill and Tim Lookingbill. Survivors include: her children Matt Humphries (Stella) of Tyler, Tx, Mark Humphries (Laurie) of Tyler Tx, and Tracy Humphries Miller (Ben) of Denton Texas; her sister, Sarah Schmidt (Lee). Mary is also survived by seven grandchildren: Landry Humphries (Jeanne), Madison Lasse (Jon), Luke Humphries, Timothy Humphries, Jonathan Humphries, Jessica Miller Reibach (Nick) and Jenny Miller Smith (Garrett); and, three beautiful great-granddaughters, Hazel Mae Lasse, Lydia Ruth Lasse and Rachel Katherine Lasse.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Lottie Moon Missions offering. Please make checks payable to FBC, Tyler with a designation of Lottie Moon Missions in the remitter.