Obituaries: Riley H. Creel, Sr., 1964, Winn Parish, LA.
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483
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From: July 16, 1964 Winn Parish Enterprise News-American

Last Rites For Riley Creel, Sr., At Union Church

Riley H. Creel, Sr., passed away at 10:35 p.m. July 12, 1964, after a short
illness.

He was a school teacher, farmer and clerk in the post office at Joyce, La.  He
was the son of a country preacher and farmer.  His brother, Ivy G. Creel, was
a Baptist minister until his death.  His sister, Mrs. Fannie Holley, is the
wife of a farmer.

Mr. Creel apparently thought he could best serve God by being a good and
faithful Christian and rearing a Christian family.  Yet neighbors often
thought he would be a minister, too.  He loved his family and his church.  His
example of putting spiritual values and church loyalty first in his life has
been woven into many lives.

Regardless of failing health, Mr. Creel always put church loyalty above
social pleasure.  He was a deacon for half a century and Sunday School
teacher and treasurer for over a decade.  He seemed to be equally at home
while presiding over a deacon's meeting, giving a devotional or making the
church buildings more comfortable.  In spite of his age and long service, he
never got in a rut that would impede his own spiritual growth or hinder his
church.

In his last years of more active service, Mr. Creel championed such newer
methods as deacon rotation, departmental Sunday School, and the forward
program of church finance.  In the early days, he helped collect money for the
pastors' salaries and learned to tithe early in life and continued to practice
spiritual giving throughout the good and lean years of his life.

Mr. Creel always loved his pastors.  They were frequently visitors in his
house and often sought counsel.  These happy associations with the church and
God's ministers in the home surely played their part in preparing two sons and
a daughter for church related vocations.

One of his strongest philosophies was this: "learn to be content in life
whatever it happens to be, learn this well and you will be happier and live
longer."  Like the Apostle Paul, he fought a good fight on this earth, though
he lived his religion between Sundays.  The Lord's Day was always a special
day for him and his family.  Seems he thought God was a little closer to
earth on Sunday.

Perhaps that was why he was always careful to keep his appointment for worship
in God's house each Lord's day.  He was a 32nd degree Mason.

He leaves his wife, two sons, Riley H. Creel, Jr., of Joyce and Capt. Adonis
Creel of Fort Lee, Va.; and one daughter, Mrs. Rose Nell Epperson, of
Baker, La.; one sister, Mrs. Fannie Holley of Sikes, La.; and nine
grandchildren and a number of nieces and nephews.

Funeral services were held Tuesday, July 14, at 10 a.m. at Union Baptist
Church with burial in the church cemetery, with the Rev. Steve Caskey, Rev.
Willie James, and Rev. D. W. McDaniel officiating.

Date of birth was may 9, 1892, Winn Parish.  Died July 12, 1964 at the age of
72 in a Winnfield hospital.