Portrait of Donald Highfill. IMB Photo
Donald Bryan Highfill, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Brazil, died Nov. 19, 2025, in Waco, Texas. He was 81.
Donald was born Jan. 21, 1944, in Heavener, Oklahoma, to the late William Herman Highfill and Rosemary Kemmerer Highfill. He graduated from Hugo (Oklahoma) High School, and received the Bachelor of Arts from Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee, and the Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas.
He married Erma Hawkins on May 29, 1965. From 1966 to 1969, Donald was a student at Southwestern seminary and worked part time. Donald and Erma spent a summer in Oregon and Washington as summer missionaries. During his last year in seminary, he was assistant pastor at Forreston (Texas) Baptist Church working in music and with youth. In June 1969, he became pastor of Crestview Baptist Church near Sandy, Oregon. He also taught school at Butte Creek School in Mt. Angel, Oregon, and driver education at Sandy Union High School.
While seeking missionary appointment, Donald recalled he first began to sense God’s call to ministry when he was 13. In 1964, he spent a summer in Ghana. He wrote, “The experiences leading to the summer in Ghana and the events there had a real impact on me. A few months before I went to Ghana I had begun to reconsider my call to missions. … My feeling after having spent a summer on a foreign mission field was that I would be ready to go if and when God would want me there.” In June 1973, he felt anew that God was calling him to foreign mission service.
In 1973, the International Mission Board appointed Donald and Erma missionaries to Brazil where they served for 33 years. Their primary focus was church planting and leadership development.
Donald was preceded in death by his wife of 51 years, Erma Hawkins Highfill.
He is survived by his children, Robert Highfill of Dallas, Texas; Rebecca Bastos (Moyses) of Fate, Texas; Bryan Highfill of Waco, Texas; and Brenda Highfill of Waco, Texas; and several grandchildren.
A funeral service was held Nov. 26 at Western Heights Baptist Church in Waco, with burial in Rosemound Cemetery, Waco.
Donations in his memory may be made to the Lottie Moon Offering, IMB, 3806 Monument Avenue, Richmond, VA 23230, or online at Generosity Resource Center – IMB Generosity.
Read an obituary here.