Horace Wintzer Ryburn1
b. 1 June 1911, d. 1 March 1993
| Father | Walter Washington Ryburn2 b. 1 Mar 1888, d. 25 Jun 1948 |
| Mother | Antoinette Winzer2 b. abt 1879, d. 22 May 1973 |
| Birth | 1 Jun 1911 | Horace Wintzer Ryburn was born on 1 Jun 1911 in Tennessee.1 |
| Marriage | He married Mary Ethel Turner.3 | |
| Death | 1 Mar 1993 | Horace died on 1 Mar 1993 in Duarte, Los Angeles County, California, at age 81.3,1 |
| Anecdote | On March 28, 2006 Rev. Steve Rembert, pastor of the Erwin Presbyterian Church, wrote the following in the church newsletter: He grew up in a small town in Tennessee called Erwin where he was active in the Presbyterian Church. As about an 11 year old boy, he first became interested in missions when the church called a former missionary to be its pastor. When the boy grew up, he attended seminary, became a minister, and served God for 38 years overseas. That story could be past, present or future. But actually it is based on the true story of Rev. Horace Ryburn. I just came across a box of his possessions and articles about his life. They are on display in the fellowship hall and I commend them to your reading. Rev. R. O. Franklin had served in Siam (Thailand) before he came to pastor here. As a boy in 1922, Horace loved to go visit with him and later went to serve in the same country. As a single young man he began working in Thailand in 1938. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, he was forced to flee Asia. He traveled by bus and by foot and by oxcart through the Burmese jungle, then took a crowded refugee boat to eastern India and on to Bombay by train. From there a British merchant ship took him to Capetown, South Africa. After a long car trip to Johannesburg, he caught a plane to Nigeria via 5 stops in Rhodesia and Congo. A Pan Am "flying boat" (using water as a runway!) took him from Africa to Brazil. Then on to Miami via Trinidad and San Juan. That itinerary sounds like one of those "cheapest ticket available" deals on today's internet! Anyway, after several brushes with death, Horace made it home in a mere 12 weeks in a world at war! But the real amazing thing is that he got married and after the war went back to Thailand with his wife for the next 35 years! During his first 3 years, Horace taught English and Bible to Thai children. During his later 35 years, he served as "field administrator" with oversight of 65 Presbyterian missionaries in Thailand. He also helped to develop 32 new churches. But perhaps his biggest contribution was pushing to get all the churches under the control of national Thai Christian leaders, rather than foreign missionaries. He helped at least 125 Thai young people study in the U.S. and return to be leaders in Thailand. When he retired a Thai elder wrote "Everyone should so live that when present you are loved and trusted, and when absent, you are missed. Dr. Ryburn has so lived."4 |
| Last Edited | 26 Nov 2006 |
Citations
- [S1333] "California Death Index 1940-1997", Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com). Abstract states that Horace Wintzer Ryburn, soc. sec. #103306610, born on 1 Jun 1911 in TN, died 1 March 1933 in Los Angeles Co., CA; mother's maiden name: Wintzer.
- [S1161] Walter W. Ryburn household, 1920 U.S. cens., Unicoi Co., Tennessee, pop. sched., Erwin, ED 188, sheet 17A (114 stamped), dwelling 303, family 352, viewed online at Genealogy.com, Jan. 2005. Enumeration includes: Walter W. Ryburn, 31, marr, b. TN, merchant; Antoinette, wife, 41, marr, b. PA; Horace, son, 8, b. TN; Leon, son, 3 ?/12, b. TN.
- [S915] Roger Ryburn, "Rambling Roots Wm Ryburn work," e-mail to D. Powell, 2 Feb. 2005.
- [S915] Roger Ryburn, "Horace Ryburn," e-mail to D. Powell, 1 Apr. 2006. The documents from which this paper was written were donated to the church by Mary (Turner) Ryburn.