Rev. Furman Clark Ford

Rev. Furman Clark Ford, 93, of Midland passed away on Monday, March 25, 2024 (which would have been his father’s 124^th birthday) at his home following a brief illness.  A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, April 6, 2024 at Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home Chapel in Midland, with Rev. Thomas McCracken officiating.

Clark was born on November 3, 1930 in Sweetwater, Texas, the only child of William Furman and Mary Ethel Clark Ford.  He attended elementary and junior high in Sweetwater and graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1948.  During his junior high and high school years, he worked for a local hardware store mixing paint and delivering supplies, and with his father, uncle and cousin at Ford Brothers Roofing.  At age 15 his dad sent him to Roscoe with instructions to take the equipment, hire a crew, tear off a roof and get the new one put on that day; he succeeded and had the equipment back in Sweetwater by 6:00 p.m.  In every spare moment, he “cowboyed” with his ranching friends and rode his horses in the hills around Sweetwater.

In 1947, he and Mattie Belle Tyler met at a band Halloween party.  After graduation he attended Texas Christian University but returned to Sweetwater in December 1949 to work for his father’s roofing company (and be near his sweetheart).  He and Mattie Belle were married in Sweetwater on September 14, 1950.  The Army called him to Camp Chaffee in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1952, where they lived until he was discharged in 1954, when they returned to Sweetwater, and he went to work for U.S. Gypsum.

In 1956 the family moved to Fort Worth with their toddler daughter so Clark could finish his degree in Religion and History at TCU.  He often joked that he received the call to ministry on a hot August day on a roof in Sweetwater.  While in undergraduate school, he served his first pastorate, Midway Christian Church in rural Paris, Texas.  In 1959, he graduated from TCU and received a scholarship to seminary at Vanderbilt University.  In 1960, the family moved to LaCenter, Kentucky where he served the First Christian Church as a student pastor.  In 1962 the now family of four, following the birth of a son in 1961, moved to rural Hopkinsville, Kentucky where he served as pastor of Liberty Christian Church and Rich Christian Church.  First Christian Church in Dawson Springs, Kentucky called him to serve their congregation in 1964.  In 1965 he graduated from Vanderbilt and was ordained at his home church, First Christian in Sweetwater.

By 1969 the family was eager to return to Texas and moved to Pecos where Clark served First Christian Church until 1980.  There he was privileged to have ranching friends who let him work cattle with them.  In 1980, Clark and Mattie Belle moved to Abilene where he served as the first area minister for the Central Area of the Christian Church.  In a few months he realized that he missed serving in the pulpit and in 1981 came to Memorial Christian Church in Midland and retired there in January 1993.

While in Dawson Springs and Pecos, Clark was active in the Rotary Club and other philanthropic organizations.  He was a founding board member of Hospice of Midland and served on the boards of the American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity, and Juliette Fowler Communities.  Memorial Chirstian Church’s food pantry was established during his ministry there.

After retirement, he served several congregations in Texas on an interim basis.  He likened interim ministry to being a grandparent: “You get to love them and spoil them without having to fix all their problems”.

Rev. Ford is survived by Mattie Belle his wife of 73 and ½ years; his children, Debra Svoboda and husband Bill of Granbury and Kenneth Ford and wife Jana of Midland; five grandchildren, Sean Svoboda (Katy) of Woodway, Allison Clark Warner (Jonathan) of Fort Worth, Emily Ford Williams (Weston), Mackenzie Ford Johnson (Chris) and Madison Ford, all of Midland; and six great grandchildren: AnnMarie, Clark and Mary Claire Svoboda, Emma Warner, Clark Johnson, and Mattie Rose Williams. He baptized each of his children and grandchildren and married 4 of his grandchildren.

In his last conversation with his only grandson, he told him “I sure hope Jesus has some tame calves I can rope.”

He was preceded in death by his parents.

The family would like to express their gratitude to Hospice of Midland and all the friends and family who so enriched his life, and theirs.

Arrangements are under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home & Crematory of Midland.  Online condolences may be made at www.npwelch.com.

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