When the Natchez High School Class of 1954 meets for their 50th reunion this year, Dick Baldwin will not be there. The popular and successful Presbyterian minister, known as a peacemaker, negotiator and communicator, died Dec. 30 of congestive heart failure at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. He was 67.

More than 700 people reportedly attended a memorial service held in his honor in Memphis in early January, a tribute to a man who spent 36 years as a minister at churches in Memphis, Nashville and Manchester, Tenn., and in Austin, Texas, and served the church at large in an important executive role.

Fresh out of Natchez High School in 1954, he headed for Southwestern at Memphis, now Rhodes College, but not before going out to Duncan Park to the old Naval Reserve headquarters &8212; located in the building now housing the golf shop &8212; and signing up for duty when he was only 17. He rose to the rank of captain in the Naval Reserves, serving as a chaplain for more than 40 years.

Robert Richard &8220;Dick&8221; Baldwin was born June 25, 1936, in Natchez, the son of Isabell Rice Rutherford Baldwin and Robert Richard Baldwin.

Cousin Hattie Rutherford of Natchez remembers Dick &8212; and his younger brother, Dr. James Rutherford Baldwin, today an immunologist working with an institutional review board that reviews medical research to ensure the research is ethical and as risk-free as possible. &8220;They always came for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for many years,&8221; Hattie recalls. &8220;We went to their home for Christmas breakfast and many Sunday dinners and other meals.&8221;

His budding spirituality and interest in church matters emerged early in his life. Not only did he serve as a youth leader for his own Natchez church, First Presbyterian, he also became president of the youth of a regional association and treasurer of the youth council on the state level.

Dick spent four years of active duty with the Navy before going on to Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va., where he completed work to enter the ministry. Some years later, in 1974, he earned a doctor of ministry degree in theology and ethics from Vanderbilt Divinity School.

He and his wife, Mary Allie McColgan, had three children and eight grandchildren. His family was his delight in life, his close friends say.

In one of the obituaries appearing shortly after his death, his wife described him as a people person. &8220;He loved to talk to everyone he&8217;d see and engage them in wonderful conversation.&8221;

One of his most recent accomplishments was helping to organize the Ulster Project in Memphis, bringing Catholic and Protestant Irish young people to Memphis to mingle with Memphis students.

&8220;He was a peacemaker and concerned with the overall unity of the church,&8221; his wife said in a write-up published shortly after Dick&8217;s death. &8220;He was a great communicator and negotiator.&8221;

Hattie Rutherford also remembers that he was kind and loving toward his parents, especially as they grew older. &8220;And he served his Lord and his country well for years,&8221; she said. &8220;We were indeed proud to call him one of our own.&8221;

He left Natchez at a young age to go out into the world to find his purpose. Friends, relatives, teachers and church family gave him a strong framework on which to build. Natchez, too, can be proud to call him one of her own.

Joan Gandy

is community editor of The Democrat. She can be reached at 445-3549 or by e-mail

joan.gandy@natchezdemocrat.com

.