Bill Baxter Dial
Bill Baxter Dial died on
Tuesday (Feb. 24, 2009) at Asbury Park in Newton at the age of 85. He was born
in Seline, Texas, on Aug. 26, 1923, to Harry M. Dial and Ethel Hightower Dial.
He served as an aviation instructor, flying B-25's for the Army Air Corps
during World War II. He was a graduate of Southwestern College in Winfield and
Iliff School of Theology in Denver. He married Pearle Snowbarger Dial on March
16, 1945. He entered the ministry in 1948, and served United Methodist churches
in Wellington; Antioch; Kit Carson, Colo.; Manter; Burdett; Kinsley; Pleasant
Valley in Wichita; Ulysses; Garden City; and Dighton. He also served as
district superintendent of the Hays district. He retired from the ministry in
1988, when he moved to their home in Rye, Colo. His wife, Pearle Dial, died on
Nov. 28, 2002.
Survivors include four
children and their spouses, Keith and Joyce Dial of Wichita, Craig and Karen
Dial of Red Bird Mission in Beverly, Ky.; Jolene and William Davis of Athens,
Ga., and Jeanette and Les Kuhns of Topeka. Also surviving are seven
grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be at
10:30 a.m. Saturday at Pleasant Valley United Methodist Church in Wichita.
Private burial service will
be at Brookside Cemetery in Rye.
Memorial contributions may be
sent to Mission and Ministries at Pleasant Valley United Methodist Church,
Asbury Park in Newton, or to the Dial Endowment at Western Kansas Mexican
American Ministries. Contributions may be sent to Broadway Colonial Funeral
Home, 120 E. Broadway, Newton, KS 67114.
Condolences may be left at
www.broadwaycolonialfh.com.