VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 1/20/10)—The Rev. Clydia Nahwooksy, a former member of the Board of National Ministries and the ABCUSA General Board, died Dec. 31, 2009, in Indiahoma, Oklahoma. She was 76 years old.
Clydia (a Cherokee) and her husband Reaves (a Comanche Nation member) worked most of their lives to preserve American Indian tribal culture. Originally from Oklahoma, they spent 20 years in Washington D.C. as cultural activists. In the 1970s Clydia was director of the Indian Awareness Program for the Smithsonian Institution’s Festival of American Folklife.
In 1986, after the couple had returned to Oklahoma, they both decided to attend seminary. They enrolled in Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, where each earned a master of divinity degree. Following their ordinations at the Rainy Mountain Kiowa Indian Baptist Church in Oklahoma, Reaves and Clydia moved to Nebraska. In addition to assisting Reaves in his church, Clydia directed an Indian cultural center in Lincoln.
The couple moved back to Oklahoma in the mid-1990s. Though retired from work in the secular community, they continued to serve in ministry for 11 years until their final retirement in 2007. They served together supporting the ministry of the Lincoln and Omaha Indian Community Churches, Pete Coffey Mennonite Brethren Church, and Southwestern Oklahoma Indian Reform Churches. Their final calling was at Rainy Mountain Kiowa Indian Baptist Church, where they both retired in 2007.
Both Clydia and Reaves were active members of American Baptist Churches USA. Clydia served two terms as an “at-large” representative on the ABCUSA General Board from 1990-1997.
National Ministries’ Executive Director Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III remembers Clydia’s legacy: “Clydia Nahwooksy epitomized Jesus’ counsel that his followers be ‘wise as serpents and innocent as doves.’ In Clydia’s presence, I always felt that I was engaging a kind and kindred spirit. She was soft-spoken and had a gentleness about her that was welcoming and sprinkled with humor. Concurrently, Rev. Nahwooksy was incredibly focused and determined to wrestle good from even the most troubling of circumstances. She was no shrinking violet. She contributed greatly to National Ministries and our mission of equipping and networking leaders to excel. We are better because of her witness among us.”
Survivors include a daughter, Susan Nahwooksy of Indiahoma; a daughter and son-in-law, Margaret and Jonathan Lovejoy of Lawton, Okla.; and five grandchildren. A prayer service was held Sunday evening, January 3; funeral services were held Monday, January 4, at the Comanche Nation Funeral Home in Lawton.
Nahwooksy was preceded in death by her son, Reaves Fred Nahwooksy, and her husband, the Rev. Dr. Reaves Nahwooksy. Clydia Nahwooksy was laid to rest next to them.
Condolences may be sent to her family at P.O. Box 477, Cache, OK, 73527.
American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with 5,500 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.