Buddy Boyce was born and raised in Texarkana. Buddy married Joyce in 1955 and have three children, Elaine, Steve and Carol and six grandchildren. Buddy’s son, Steve, serves as a deacon at Walnut. Buddy was baptized into Christ at Walnut in 1963. At Walnut’s 90th anniversary celebration in October, 2010, Buddy received a plaque for 30 years of service as an elder.

 

His occupation is cattle ranching. Buddy’s areas of responsibility includes “Finders Keepers”, fellowship, and young singles.

Born in Fort Worth and reared in Arlington where he graduated from UTA before going to medical school at UTMB in Galveston prior to residency in Little Rock where he met wooed and married Nan in 1975. Bob Fry has been in Texarkana since changing direction from family medicine to emergency medicine. Bob also serves as the health department official for Bowie County.

 

Bob and Nan have one son, Mark who is married and lives in Huntsville AL. Bob has been serving as an elder since 2000, and a deacon prior to that for 6 years.

 

Bob and Nan enjoy golf and travel. He reads and writes poetry and short stories and works in a piddling way on a couple of novels.

Jim and Sammye have been members at Walnut for over 50 years. Jim is a fourth generation Texarkanian. He and Sammye met while attending The University of Texas at Austin, where he received a degree in business and Sammye received a degree in microbiology. They married while Jim was completing law school and after graduation they moved to Texarkana in 1961. Sammye subsequently received Masters degrees in English and Psychology, and later a Doctorate in Education. She practiced several years as a Marriage and Family Counselor.

 

They have had three children with the oldest, Johanna, a practicing lawyer with her father, passed away in 1993. The second child, Jennifer, married to Darby Doan, both practicing attorneys, are the parents of Katherine Anne and Johanna Claire and members of the Walnut congregation where Darby is a deacon. Jim, Jennifer and Darby all practice in the firm of Haltom and Doan together with other attorneys. The youngest child, Hunter, is a commander in the United States Navy and is married to Brandie, whom he met while going through flight school for the United States Navy in Pensacola, Florida. They are members of the Texarkana A&M University congregation in College Station, TX and are the parents of four children, Shelby, Garrett, Keri and Kiley. Jim has served as an elder for 37 years.

Jerry and Jane have been members at Walnut since 1965. Jerry was baptized into Christ at Walnut in 1949. Jerry graduated from Harding College with a degree in Bible in 1959. He met and married Jane while in college. The next few years saw Jerry joining the US Navy and becoming a jet fighter pilot, stationed at NAS Miramar, CA., while serving on the USS Constellation. After completing his military service in 1965, Jerry, Jane and their son “Boo” moved back to Texarkana and became members at Walnut. Jerry “Boo” Mitchell would grow up to be a successful investigative reporter in Jackson, MS. His work has successfully brought several murderers to justice from the civil rights era. In 1974, Jerry and Jim Haltom were selected as elders. Currently, Jerry’s major areas of work are in evangelism, education, and shepherding.

Jay and Sherry have been members of Walnut for over seven years.  They met and were married while attending Texas A&M University. After graduation they moved to Oklahoma in 1978.  Jay and Sherry spent nine years in Oklahoma where he worked in the Oil and Gas Industry while Sherry worked at the Oklahoma City Stockyards.  Jay served as a Deacon in the Tuttle, Oklahoma Church until they returned to Texas in 1987 with three lovely children. 

 

Jason is their oldest son and he and his wife Tiffany live in Aledo, Texas with their young child Kerrington who is also their first grandchild.  Kasey, their daughter, lives in Houston and is currently working in Chicago, while Josh, their youngest son currently lives and works in Ft. Worth. 

 

Jay is a District Director for Center Point Energy and Sherry is a Veterinary Technician at Wisdom Animal Clinic.  Sherry enjoys animals and has a passion for horses while Jay enjoys fishing and hunting with friends and family.  Jay has served as an elder at Walnut for the past three years.