Reverend Earl Bigelow's Obituary
After 97 years of living, loving, and serving others, Rev. Earl Bigelow of San Diego, CA, died peacefully Tuesday, Oct. 27, surrounded by his family. Earl was born in Derby, Kansas, on July 23, 1918, son of Warren and Lavena Bigelow. He graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University in 1944 with a B.A. Degree. He began his first pastorate at Emanuel Baptist Church in Norman, OK, while attending OBU. After being impressed with church needs in California he moved his family there in 1946, attended the Golden Gate Baptist Seminary for three years and pastored multiple churches before his retirement. He continued working with local churches completing over 70 years of service to others. Loving to fish, he established a fishing ministry where he and his wife, Ruby, prepared, cooked, and served hundreds of pounds of fish to churches, recovery programs, homeless, elderly, and others in need. In his last years Earl also helped raise funds for building a new sanctuary for the Centro Shalom Church in Tijuana, Mexico.Earl is survived by his wife of 72 years, Ruby, their four daughters Sharon, Karen, Cynthia, and Patricia, their grandchildren Steve, Natalie, Matt, McKenna, Austin, and Morgan, and great grandchildren Sean, Sammy, Elizabeth, Will, Maizy, and Mack. Also surviving is Earl’s sister, Onie.The family wishes to thank the minister of Earl’s most recent church home, Carl Whitlock, for his continued support of our family. Services will be held at First Baptist Church of Pacific Beach Saturday, October 31st at 11:00 AM.
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