Marian Longbottom, 1930-2020

Marian Longbottom, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel among Southeast Asian and East Asia Affinity Peoples in Vietnam and Taiwan, died Nov. 1, 2020, at a personal care home in Fort Worth, Texas. She was 90.

Marian was born on Oct. 2, 1930, the only child of the late Marrero and Viola Cross in Waco, Texas. She graduated from Waco High School and received the Bachelor of Arts from Baylor University, Waco.

She met Samuel F. Longbottom Jr. of Avon Park, Florida, a student at Baylor, and they were married on May 26, 1950. After graduating from Baylor, Marian taught school while Sam completed training at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth.

Longbottom wrote when seeking missionary appointment that she had committed to God’s call to full-time service for Him in spring 1946. While at Baylor, she said she felt God calling her to go to a foreign field to tell others of His love. “There has been no doubt in my mind to His call,” she wrote.

The Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board) appointed the Longbottoms as missionaries in December 1954. Their first assignment was to the Territory of Hawaii, where they served for almost seven years. In 1961, after Hawaii had become a state, they transferred to Vietnam, where they ministered until April 1975. Next, they were called to serve in Taiwan until they retired from the International Mission Board in 1990 after 34 years of service.

Many years of ministry followed stateside at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church, Waco, and later, after moving to Magnolia, Texas, at First Baptist Church of Conroe.

Marian was preceded in death by her husband of 66 years, Samuel Longbottom.

She is survived by five sons, Sam, Jim, Dan, Tom and Terry and one daughter, Lynda Kunkel; eleven grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

A graveside service was held Nov. 8, 2020, at Waco Memorial Park.

Memorial donations may be made to the International Mission Board, 3806 Monument Avenue, Richmond, VA 23230, or online at www.imb.org/give or to Columbus Avenue Baptist Church, 1300 Columbus Avenue, Waco, Texas 76701.

Read an obituary here.