wfn.org | ABNS - Rev. Clydia Nahwooksy Dies at 76

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 1/20/10)?The Rev. Clydia Nahwooksy, a former
member of the Board of National Ministries and the ABCUSA General
Board, died Dec. 31, 2009, in Indiahoma, Oklahoma. She was 76 years old.

Clydia (a Cherokee) and her husband Reaves (a Comanche Nation member)
worked most of their lives to preserve American Indian tribal culture.
Originally from Oklahoma, they spent 20 years in Washington D.C. as
cultural activists. In the 1970s Clydia was director of the Indian
Awareness Program for the Smithsonian Institution?s Festival of
American Folklife.

In 1986, after the couple had returned to Oklahoma, they both decided
to attend seminary. They enrolled in Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity
School, where each earned a master of divinity degree. Following their
ordinations at the Rainy Mountain Kiowa Indian Baptist Church in
Oklahoma, Reaves and Clydia moved to Nebraska. In addition to
assisting Reaves in his church, Clydia directed an Indian cultural
center in Lincoln.

The couple moved back to Oklahoma in the mid-1990s. Though retired
from work in the secular community, they continued to serve in
ministry for 11 years until their final retirement in 2007. They
served together supporting the ministry of the Lincoln and Omaha
Indian Community Churches, Pete Coffey Mennonite Brethren Church, and
Southwestern Oklahoma Indian Reform Churches. Their final calling was
at Rainy Mountain Kiowa Indian Baptist Church, where they both retired in  2007.

Both Clydia and Reaves were active members of American Baptist
Churches USA. Clydia served two terms as an ?at-large? representative
on the ABCUSA General Board from 1990-1997.

National Ministries? Executive Director Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins
III remembers Clydia?s legacy: ?Clydia Nahwooksy epitomized Jesus?
counsel that his followers be ?wise as serpents and innocent as
doves.? In Clydia?s presence, I always felt that I was engaging a kind
and kindred spirit. She was soft-spoken and had a gentleness about her
that was welcoming and sprinkled with humor.  Concurrently, Rev.
Nahwooksy was incredibly focused and determined to wrestle good from
even the most troubling of circumstances. She was no shrinking violet.
She contributed greatly to National Ministries and our mission of
equipping and networking leaders to excel. We are better because of
her witness among us.?

Survivors include a daughter, Susan Nahwooksy of Indiahoma; a daughter
and son-in-law, Margaret and Jonathan Lovejoy of Lawton, Okla.; and
five grandchildren. A prayer service was held Sunday evening, January
3; funeral services were held Monday, January 4, at the Comanche
Nation Funeral Home in Lawton.

Nahwooksy was preceded in death by her son, Reaves Fred Nahwooksy, and
her husband, the Rev. Dr. Reaves Nahwooksy. Clydia Nahwooksy was laid
to rest next to them.

Condolences may be sent to her family at P.O. Box 477, Cache, OK, 73527.

American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian
denominations today, with 5,500 local congregations comprised of 1.3
million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged
in God?s mission around the world.