The Reverend Curtis Raymon Burroughs, former vice president and academic dean of Bethel College, died in McKenzie, Tennessee, March 3, 2001 after a short illness. He was 87 years old. Surviving are his wife, Elizabeth, of McKenzie; daughter, Judith B. Keith, son-in-law, J. B. Keith, Denton, Texas; two step-grandsons, Micolas and Adam Keith, of Dallas, Texas; a Sister, Lorraine Potter, and brother Bill and Amos, all of Atlanta, Georgia. Two sisters, Ora Mae Ford and Esther Burroughs, preceded him in death.

Funeral services were conducted March 6, at First CPC, McKenzie, Tennessee, with the Reverends Robert Prosser, John David Hall, Stephanie Brown, and Chuck Brown officiating. Burial was in McKenzie.

Rev. Burroughs came from a line of Cumberland Presbyterian ministers. His father was the late Rev. H. J. Burroughs. His uncle, Dr. George W. Burroughs, was President of Bethel College and moderator of the General Assembly. His brother, Ewing Burroughs, was a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, and two brothers, Cortly [sic Cortley] (deceased) and Bill, were pastors in the Presbyterian Church. Elk Presbytery of Tennessee Synod ordained Rev. Burroughs. He served various churches in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Memorials may be sent to the Elizabeth and Raymon Burroughs Scholarship Fund at Bethel College, 325 Cherry St., McKenzie, Tennessee, 38201.
[Source: The Cumberland Presbyterian, April 2001, page 10]

Curtis Raymon Burroughs was born October 11, 1913, at Union, Mississippi, the son of Rev. Hugh J. Burroughs and Ethel Arnold. Raymon and Elizabeth Rives were united in marriage April 30, 1934. They are the parents of a daughter, Judith Burroughs Keith.

Raymon graduated from Lincoln County High School, Fayetteville, Tennessee. He graduated from Bethel College in 1939 with a B.A. degree. He graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Divinity in 1942. He graduated from Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, in 1945 with an M.A. degree.

He became a Christian in 1926 and joined the Dyer Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Dyer, Tennessee. He came under the care of Elk Presbytery in 1933, and was ordained by Elk Presbytery in 1934.

He has served the following churches as pastor:
Champ, Fayetteville, TN, 1934-1935
Brunswick, Brunswick, TN, 1937-1938
Goodlettsville, Goodlettsville, TN, 1941-1942
Bowling Green, Bowling Green, KY, 1943-1945
Pleasant Hill, Humboldt, TN, 1945-1951
Atwood, Atwood, TN, 1951-1956
Trezevant, Trezevant, TN 1956-1965
Oak Hill, Paris, TN 1963-1965

Raymon was elected moderator of the General Assembly in 1967. He has been a commissioner to General Assembly at least four times. He has served as a member of the Board of Foreign Missions and served as a member of the Assembly's Commission on the Ministry. He served as stated clerk of Kentucky Synod and Logan Presbytery. He served on the Board of Trustees of Hopewell Presbytery. He has been a member of Elk, Logan, and Hopewell Presbyteries.

Raymon was professor of Bible and the History of Christianity at Bethel College, 1945-1986. He served as Vice President and interim president at Bethel College.

He was awarded the W. T. Ingram Award for Outstanding Ministry by the Assembly's Commission on the Ministry. He served on the Tennessee Advisory Committee on Teacher Training. He served as a representative on Reelfoot Regional Library and on the Boy Scout committee of McKenzie, Tennessee.

He has been a member of the Rotary Club, the McKenzie Chamber of Commerce, NEA, TEA and REA.
[Source: The Ministers of Cumberland Presbytery, 2002]

PICTURED ABOVE is the "man power" of the Hugh J. Burroughs family, all ministers except one and he is an elder. LEFT TO RIGHT: Rev. Hugh J. Burroughs, father, pastor of the Jasper, Tenn. church; Ewen [sic: Ewing], an elder in the Red Bank church, Chattanooga; Rev. Raymon, dean of Bethel College, McKenzie, Tenn.; Rev. Courtley, [sic: Cortley], pastor of the Pana, Ill., Presbyterian church; Rev. Amos, recent B.D. graduate of the Vanderbilt School of Religion, and pastor of the Petersburg, Tenn., and Coker, Ala., churches; and Rev. William, recent A.B. graduate of Bethel College and pastor of the Ebenezer church, Mason, Tenn.

"We can think of no more potential power for Christ and his cause than this one family," states Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Pylant, Petersburg, Tenn., who made this picture available for use here.
[Source: The Cumberland Presbyterian, June 20, 1950, page 4]

Burroughs Family Information