CLYDE, Ohio -- Rev. Dr. Robert Clyde Ridall, 89, of Clyde died at his home on June 23, 2010.
Dr. Ridall was born on a farm in Luzerne City, Pa. on March 9, 1921 to the now deceased Rev. Archie F. and Hazel Mae (Smith) Ridall. He served many years as an evangelist and Methodist pastor and was a professor at Olivet Nazarene College where he taught numerous courses including New Testament Greek and Biblical Archaelogy. He was the author of two chapters in the Beacon Bible Commentary and wrote numerous other scholarly papers. He had visited Jerusalem four times and had taught at the Mount of Olives.
He was received into full membership by the former Central Illinois Conference in 1971 and pastored Paris Trinity and later Redmon UMC, for nine years. He also served as pastor of Peoria Grace UMC for eight years prior to his retirement in 1988.
Dr. Ridall held a Doctor of Theology degree from Concordia University. He earned five other degrees in his lifetime from the following institutions: God's Bible School and College; University of Cincinnati Teacher's College; Asbury Theological Seminary; The Biblical Seminary in New York, New York University; and Fordham University.
On September 23, 1969 he married the former Lynda Joyce Carter and she survives. Also surviving are daughters, Priscilla Ann Ridall, Florida; Eva Marie Ridall; Rachel Dellinger (Tim) Florida; and children by marriage, Patricia Lynn Wadsworth-Elzein (Youssef), Dayton, and Timothy Dean Wadsworth (Jennifer), Clyde; and six grandchildren; along with three sisters, Mary Louise Beaney (William) and Dorothy Ridall, all of Bourbonnais, Illinois, and Carol Jean Gillespie (Sam), Chambersburg, Pa. He also has several surviving nieces and nephews of which he was fond.
Clyde was preceded in death by two brothers, Benjamin Ridall and Archie Ridall, Jr.
Funeral services for Rev. Dr. Robert Clyde Ridall were held June 26, 2010, at the Auxter Funeral Home in Clyde, Ohio. Burial was in McPherson Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, Ky.
Online condolences may be sent to: www.auxterfuneralhomes.com