Archie Monroe Rivers Jr. stepped into heaven on April 25, 2018 to be welcomed by the Lord whom he had served his entire life and to be reunited with his two sons, Roger Lee Rivers and Timothy James Rivers.
He’d been born 89 years earlier on March 10, 1929 to Archie M. and Alice Thompson Rivers. After finishing high school he went on to get a degree in drafting from Tulsa University and then a job at the Prue Oil Company in Kiefer where his father had worked to rear their large family of 11 children. After working there 8 years he was transferred to Ft. Morgan, Colorado.
In 1946-8 he took time off to proudly serve our country in the U.S. Navy as a rear door gunner on a PBY Catalina amphibious aircraft stationed in Alaska.
After leaving the Navy he met and married Ethel Nation in September of 1950, the love of his life and his lifelong companion for 68 years. Their favorite pastime was being with each other, traveling together, and their time with their beloved son Tim during his brief life.
Then he returned to Sapulpa to fulfil the lifelong calling of God upon his life to accept a pastorate at North Heights Baptist Church.
The passion of Archie’s life was to serve the Lord and tell others of His love and forgiveness. He spent his life pastoring local churches, including: North Heights Baptist Church, Sapulpa; Trinity Baptist, Bristow; First Baptist, Cushing; First Baptist, Beggs; Golden Hill Baptist, Tulsa; First Baptist, Spiro; Gregory Baptist, Inola; South Heights Baptist, Sapulpa; Calvary Baptist, Bristow.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Archie Sr. and Alice, his two sons, Roger and Timothy, and brothers Felix Rivers, Raymond Rivers, J.D. Rivers, Carl Rivers, and sisters Minnie Helm, Freda Nation, and Evelyn Clark.
He’s survived by his loving wife, Ethel, and Wilma Mitchell and Marie Gibbs, sisters, both of Sapulpa, and a host of friends, other relatives, and many of his brothers and sisters in Christ.
A family visitation will be held at Smith Funeral Home on Friday, April 27, 2018 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Services will be on Saturday, April 28, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in Sapulpa, OK, with interment following at Green Hill Memorial Garden in Sapulpa.
Services are under the direction of Smith Funeral Home 1208 South Main in Sapulpa.