Servant of God well done, Thy glorious warfare past,
The battle’s fought, the victory’s won, And thou art Crowned at last...
Clarence Crosby Reynolds, Sr., born February 18, 1902, in Knobnoster, Missouri. The second son and third child of Rev. A. L., Sr., and Minnie Belle Reynolds. He attended elementary school in several Missouri towns in which his father pastored. He attended Sumner High School in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended George R. Smith College in Sedalia, Missouri. He received additional college training at Lincoln Universty in Jefferson City, Missouri, Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Ne- braska University, Lincoln, Nebraska.
On June 24, 1922, he married Hazel Beatrice Smith in St. Louis, Missouri. To their union five children were born, Gwendolyn, Clarence, John, Everett, and Virgil. He answered the call to the ministry in 1922, and in August he received his local preacher’s license in Festus, Missouri.
He was ordained an elder by Bishop M. W. Clair, Sr., in 1928. He had served with honor and dignity parishes in Sturgeon, Missouri Curcuit; Lincoln, Missouri; Eldsberry, Missouri Curcuit; Fredericktown-Ironton, Missouri Curcuit; Blackburn, Missouri Curcuit; Greenfield-Mt. Vernon, Missouri Curcuit; Butler, Missouri Curcuit; Columbia, Missouri; Jacksonville, Illinois; Carthage, Missouri; Lincoln, Nebraska (Newman), Omaha, Nebraska (Clair), Kansas City, Kansas (Mason), District Superintendent for St. Louis District, and Kansas City, Missouri (Centennial). He reached the level of 32nd degree in the Masonic Order. He had held a number of conference offices, but at the time of his passing served in the following capacities: Chairman of board of evangelism, member of committee of nine of Missouri area conferences, member of commission on urban work, member of commission on cultivation and promotion, member of commission on ministerial training and qualifications.
He had served during the past year as president of the Greater Kansas City Methodist Ministers Association; as chairman of the commission on by-laws of the Interdenominational Ministers Association. He served actively in the CCSA, NAACP, YMCA, YWCA, and numerous other civic organizations. He was unexcelled as a preacher and pastor, and in great demand. He was a frequent speaker on radio and TV in Kansas City and his other pastorates. He revived the Kansas City Forum.
He leaves to mourn his passing his father, Rev. A. L. Reynolds, a sister, Mrs. Anna Briscoe; a brother, Rev. A. L. Reynolds, Jr.,; wife, Mrs. Hazel Reynolds; daughter, Mrs. Gwendolyn Swepson; sons, Clarence C., Jr., John W., Everett S., and Virgil L. Rey- nolds; eight grandchildren and numerous other relatives; Rev. Raymond and Mrs. Ida M. Dale, sister and brother-in-law; Mrs. Shirley Reynolds, daughter-in-law, Mr. William A. Swepson, son- in-law, and Mrs. Louise Reynolds, sister-in-law.
