
Portrait of Carl Glenn Lee. IMB Photo
Carl Lee, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Indonesia, died July 30, 2023, in Fort Worth, Texas. He was 88.
Carl was born Aug. 9, 1934, in Maverick, Texas, to the late J. L. Lee and Thelma Whittley Lee. He graduated from Hobbs (New Mexico) High School and received the Bachelor of Science from Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene, Texas, and the Bachelor of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth.
Carl met Twila Turner, and they were married on March 29, 1954. Around the time of their marriage, Carl began to feel impressed with the call to special service, intending to serve in missions either at home or abroad. Carl spent the next several years completing his education and pastoring.
While seeking appointment, Carl wrote, “On the Sunday of Aug. 21, 1966, during the Foreign Missions Conference, Dr. Baker James Cauthen preached the Lord’s message to our hearts. When the appeal was given my wife and I agreed that the Lord had led us to the conference and even to that service for the purpose of revealing his will to us. His will for us, we knew, was to serve him in a foreign land.”
In 1967, the Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board) appointed Carl and Twila missionaries to Indonesia, where they served in evangelism and church planting, taught conversational English classes and pastored churches. Writing home from the field during Christmas of 1968, Carl shared about a funeral he witnessed during a visit to a rural village and wrote, “We must hasten with the gospel.” They retired after 31 years of missionary service.
He is survived by Twila, his wife of 69 years; a daughter, Julie; three sons: Jason, Jeffry and Jonathon; 14 grandchildren; and 15 great grandchildren.