Morton F. Rose died peacefully at The Baptist Home in Ozark, Missouri on March 13, 2023.  He was born in California, the oldest of three sons to Frank, who was once a professional baseball player, and to Edith Louise, a nurse.  He spent his early years in Southern Arkansas and Southeast Texas before moving to Missouri in 1942 where he graduated from Stoutland High School.

Morton managed the Post Exchange at Fort Leonard Wood and enrolled in the Navy where he became an Assistant Chaplain.  In 1946, he met and married Ruby, his wife for 76 years, in Dixon, Missouri.  They gave birth to Kent, their son, in 1948 and Luetta, their daughter, in 1951.  Kent and Luetta each had two children, resulting in four grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and now three great-great-grandchildren.

Morton’s first jobs after the Navy were in one-room elementary schools in Jerome and Dixon, Missouri having been awarded an “emergency teaching certificate” by the superintendent of the county public schools.

He was ordained and served as a bi-vocational pastor in Pulaski County, Missouri and in Agra, Oklahoma and then as a senior pastor in Kentucky and Missouri. Throughout his career, he has served as interim pastor in a total of 27 churches in Tennessee and Missouri.

Dr. Rose has held many other positions as well.  He was thought to be the youngest Baptist Director of Missions in Missouri at age 25 and the oldest Director of Missions at age 66.  He was also awarded the title of Executive Director Emeritus of the Association in Kansas City, Missouri.

After serving as Co-Director of Missions for the Missouri Baptist Convention, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee where he held four positions with the Baptist Sunday School Board, the last being Vice-President.  His program assignments included departments and divisions related to churches, family and students, as well as the management of the Ridgecrest Conference Center in Black Mountain, North Carolina and the Glorieta Retreat Center near Sante Fe, New Mexico.  He supervised the publication of Church literature and Convention Press products as well as managing the Board’s editorial responsibilities.  He also worked with other Convention agencies in the SBC Coordinating Committee and with the Missions Education Council, including serving as Chairman of the committee which developed the Convention’s Bold Mission Thrust for the Rest of the 20^th Century.   He was recognized for his work on language missions with the Mosaic Award from the Home Mission Board.

After retiring from the Sunday School Board, Dr. Rose joined the faculty of Midwestern Seminary where he served for 12 years.   He led two seminars for the Doctor of Ministry degree and was recognized as an Honorary Alumnus.  He also developed a unique, immersive leadership training experience, called Advanced Leadership Labs, for ministers and church staff which were subsequently modified and added as doctoral seminars at Midwestern.  He often said that these Labs were his best experience in his 60-year ministry.

Morton was a prolific writer, and he recorded 3-minute radio messages for seven years which were aired five mornings a week on a radio station in Waynesville, Missouri.  After many “retirements,” he completed his ministry as volunteer Chairman of the non-denominational worship council at a “snowbird” resort in Surprise, Arizona and as Interim Pastor and then as Sunday School Director at the First Baptist Church in Springfield, Missouri.

He attended Oklahoma Baptist University and was awarded an honorary Profile in Excellence there.  He graduated from Missouri State University (then Missouri State College) and held three degrees from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He was made a Kentucky Colonel in 1962, and he received a commendation by the Missouri House of Representatives in 1991 for leading the Blue River-Kansas City Association in cooperation with the Black Baptist Churches in the area.

He participated in sports throughout his life.  He started a two-team “little league” when he was just 11 years old.  He played third base on the high school baseball team when was in the seventh grade, and he lettered in basketball, football and baseball in high school.  After that, he became an avid golfer and played golf well into his 80s.

In sum, he was a Bible-believing, theologically conservative, creative and progressive leader in all areas of Southern Baptist life: a preacher, a writer, a teacher, a counselor, a certified interim pastor and an AMC certified organizational manager.

Services for Morton will be at 11:00 am Saturday, March 18, 2023 at Greenlawn Funeral Home East. Interment will follow at 2:30 pm at Pisgah Cemetery in Dixon, Missouri. Visitation will be from 10:00 to 11:00 am Saturday prior to the service.