VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 04/14/08) - Rev. Dr. Reaves Nahwooks died Saturday, March 29, 2008 after a period of declining health. He was 77. During his long and productive life, Dr. Nahwooks was a soldier, a government worker, a tribal leader and an American Baptist pastor.
Dr. Nahwooks was a second-career minister, having worked for the federal government for many years. After his retirement from the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1986, he and his wife, Clydia, moved to Norman, OK and began ministering at Brown American Baptist Church, also known as the Walters American Indian American Baptist Church. Understanding the need for additional education to enhance their ministry, they sold their house and moved to Rochester, NY to attend Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, where both received M. Div. degrees and Reaves went on to receive his D. Min.
After seminary, Dr. Nahwooks and Mrs. Nahwooksy were ordained by Rainy Mountain Kiowa Indian Baptist Church in a moving two-day celebration. They then moved to Nebraska, where they started two Native American churches. Returning to Oklahoma in the mid-1990s, and built a beautiful house which is in harmony with the environment, honoring their Native American heritage.
One of very few fluent Comanche speakers in the United States, Dr. Nahwooks was very active in tribal life. He was a tribal judge for Comanche Nation ICW, served on the tribal council and was a member of Comanche Cultural and Language Preservation. He also spoke Shoshone fluently, and honored his Kiowa heritage as well.
Funeral services were held on Tuesday, April 1, with a prayer service the previous evening. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that gifts be made to the Reaves Nahwooks Scholarship Fund at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, 1100 South Goodman, Rochester, NY 14620.
Andrew C. Jayne American Baptist Churches USA Mission Resource Development http://www.abc-usa.org/