David Reynolds

David Reynolds, born on May 5, 1934, went home to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on February 21, 2023, at the age of 88. He is preceded in death by his loving wife of 69 years, June Reynolds. He is survived by their three children: Steve (Donna) Reynolds, Terry (Kay) Reynolds, and Rhonda (Tom) Wilcox, his sister Margaret (Ernie) Ritter, ten grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Rev. Paul and Effie Reynolds, as well as 4 sisters Maggie (Art) Little, Peggie (JW) Honea, Jo (JW) Delaney, and Louise (Ed) Baird.

David lived in White Oak, Texas, for the last 65 years. As a contractor, he built numerous homes and commercial buildings, developed residential subdivisions and commercial properties throughout Northeast Texas. He was deeply involved in White Oak civic and school activities always supporting his Roughnecks. His passion was to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ in any way possible, especially by volunteering his God-given construction and leadership talents to build churches and missionary housing in many different states and foreign countries. Who knew that in the early 1970’s, when the small congregation of East Mountain Baptist Church took its first mission trip to Falcon Heights Baptist Church, that people all around the world would be changed because God touched David’s and many others’ hearts for missions?

In 1975, David led his first team of volunteer builders, which included many teenagers, to McConnelsville, Ohio, to build a mission church for the North American Mission Board. He spent almost every summer, and often multiple months, for the next 30 plus years leading volunteer  builders for Christ to places like Ohio, Idaho, Minnesota, Kentucky, Indiana, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, and, of course, Texas. At last count, he had helped build over 125 churches and missionary homes. David always believed in tithing his first fruits, not just money but his time and talents. When asked why he volunteered to build churches in July, he simply  stated that July was the most productive and profitable month for building in Texas due to the sunny weather; therefore, he should give his best to his Lord – the month of July. Building anything requires experience, skill, knowledge, and vision, but David always reminded people that the focus is not on what he did but instead on why he did it. Always clad in his trademark striped carpenter overalls, he would say that people didn’t need to know about David Reynolds; who they needed to know about was Jesus Christ.

While these churches and missionary homes still stand, of greatest   importance were the relationships among the volunteers and church members that developed during these projects. “Share Time” was a  favorite part of the day. Every evening the church family and volunteers gathered to share testimonies, prayer requests, and sing praises to God. David would often be heard singing “The King is  Coming” accompanied on the piano by his “lovely June.” Hard work, sweat, and tears formed strong bonds and close, lasting friendships for David and June.

Friendships were important to David, but he loved his family fiercely and it showed. He could be seen at every event, game, etc. of his children, then later of his grandchildren, and most recently, his great-grandchildren. His time was valuable, but he made sure to always make time to play a game, impart some wisdom, teach a lesson, or even just have a chat with his kids and grandkids. He set the example of a Godly father for his family. He loved them well and taught them about Jesus. He easily could have been the one described by Brian Free with these words:

He was awake before the sun with his Bible opened up

Seeking truth with every single page he turned.

Anyone could see my Daddy lived what he believed

With a gentle heart a passion for Jesus burned……

I want to be that man who loves the Lord with all his heart

just like the Word commands. Who takes a stand and leads

his family as he holds the Father’s hand

I want to be that man!

David will be missed by all who knew him, but Jesus has welcomed him to heaven with open arms as a good and faithful servant. Most of all, David wants you to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior so that you too may have eternal life in heaven.

Visitation: Friday, February 24, 2023, from 6:00-8:00 pm at East Mountain Baptist Church.
Graveside Service: Saturday, February 25, 2023, at 10:00 am at Lakeview Memorial Gardens. A
celebration of life service will be held on Saturday, February 25, 2023, at 1:00 pm at East
Mountain Baptist Church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests you please consider a donation
to East Mountain Baptist Church or Gideons International in honor of David.