Memorial services celebrating the life and ministry of Miss Myra Estella Gulledge, 86, will be held at 4:00 PM, Sunday, March 13, 2011, at Natchitoches First Baptist Church. Officiating will be Rev. Tommy Rush, Rev. Perry Webb, Rev. Bill Collins, and Rev. Lee Dickson. Visitation will be from 3:00 PM until 5:00 PM, Saturday, March 12, 2011, at Blanchard-St. Denis Funeral Home in Natchitoches. Interment will be Monday, March 14, 2011, at 2:00 PM, at the New Hope Baptist Church Cemetery near Meridian, Mississippi.

Miss Myra was born in Akron, Ohio, September 15, 1924. She moved to Meridian, Mississippi, in 1930. Her parents were Herbert and Lillian Gulledge. She attended Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. She moved to Natchitoches, Louisiana, in 1951 to become the Baptist Student Director at Northwestern State University, and served faithfully for thirty seven years.

She was a veteran of World War II, having served at a Medical Technician until the war was over. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Natchitoches where she served as a Sunday School teacher, and director of Woman’s Missionary Union.

Miss Myra served two terms as a trustee of the Southern Baptist Convention International Mission Board, and was listed in Who’s Who in Religion. At Northwestern she was an honorary member of Blue Key, and was selected to receive the coveted Nth Degree. She was named as BSU Director Emeritus upon her retirement in 1988. She worked tirelessly in ministering to people at the “Love and Care” Mission in Natchitoches. She hosted dozens of International Students in her home, and was a “second mother” to thousands of students who came through the Baptist Student Union at Northwestern during her 37 years there. She was a world traveler and a constant Ambassador of Jesus Christ wherever she went.

Miss Myra expressed time and again her gratitude for thousands of friends across the world, all of whom had enriched her life. It was the desire of her heart that all of us have a life changing and eternal relationship with Jesus Christ, and make our plans now to be with her again in her new home in Heaven. “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”.

Miss Myra suggested that Memorials could be made to the NSU Baptist Collegiate Ministry, P O Box 3384 NSU, Natchitoches, LA 71497, the Legacy Building Fund at First Baptist Church, 508 Second Street, Natchitoches, LA 71457, or to the Acts 1:8 World Missions Fund, District Eight Baptist Convention, P. O. Box 2880, Natchitoches, LA 71457.