Kenneth Durwood Emerson

Highland Village ~ Kenneth Durwood Emerson, 83, of Highland Village went to be with his Lord Sunday, August 17, 2014.

Graveside service is 2:00 p.m. Wednesday at Flat Rock Cemetery near Alvord, Texas. A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will also be held at the Lakeland Baptist Church in Lewisville, TX on August 30 ^th at 2:00 p.m.

Kenneth was born February 24, 1931 in Wise County in the community of Audobon.  He was the son of Dom Pedro Emerson and Lena Ann Emerson.  He attended Alvord schools.  Kenneth married Cleta Joyce Boyd on December 12, 1946.

Kenneth attended Midwestern University in Wichita Falls.  He graduated from the Decatur Baptist College, and earned a degree from Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth Texas.

Kenneth took his first full time church in 1956 at First Baptist Church in Byers, Texas, where he served for seven years.  He moved to Eden Hills Baptist Church in Wichita Falls where he served as pastor for six years.  He then served three years as assistant pastor under Dr. Landrum P. Leavel II at First Baptist Church in Wichita Falls. He served as pastor for three years to an English Language church in Walldorf, Germany.   In 1972, while in Germany, he was elected as President of the European Baptist Convention, serving for one year.  Returning to the states, Kenneth served as pastor for 17 years at the Sharon Baptist Church in Wichita Kansas. While in Kansas, Kenneth served on various committees and was elected as Vice-President of the Kansas/Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists, serving for one year. Kenneth also served for 10 years as a trustee to the New Orleans Baptist Seminary.  In 1990, he moved to Arlington Texas to pastor at the University Baptist Church, where he served for 10 years.

Kenneth retired after serving forty –eight years as a pastor in five separate churches.  In retirement, Kenneth and his wife moved to Highland Village and they joined Lakeland Baptist Church of Lewisville, TX.

He is survived by his wife Cleta; 2 sons- Don Emerson and his wife Becky of Wichita Falls, TX and Gary Emerson and his wife, Sandy  of Carrollton TX; 8 grandchildren-Kenneth Faulkner and his wife April,  Jennifer Frost and her husband Luke, Angela Emerson, Kaylee Emerson, Joyia Sifuentes and her husband Anthony, Judson Emerson, Garren Emerson and his wife Mary, and Clarissa Mapes; and 8 great grandchildren – Kendra Faulkner, Julie Faulkner, Grant Faulkner, James Jones, Aaron West, Jakub Emerson, Katelyn Frost and Caleb Frost.

Kenneth is preceded in death by his son, Ronald Lee in 1997.