Portrait of John Floyd. IMB Photo
John David Floyd, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in the Philippines and Germany, died Nov. 18, 2025. He was 91.
John was born Sept. 28, 1934, in Lockesburg, Arkansas, to the late W.C. Floyd and Thadine Trammell. He graduated from Hot Springs (Arkansas) High School, and received the Bachelor of Arts from Ouachita Baptist College, Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and the Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas.
He married Helen Nutt on June 3, 1955. In January 1957, he reported for active duty at Fort Benning, Georgia. From there, they moved to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for the remainder of his service with the Army. In 1959, John and Helen moved to Fort Worth for seminary. He pastored several churches in Texas over the next few years.
While seeking missionary appointment John wrote, “For several years I had been aware that God was dealing with me about mission work. I had an awareness that a major part of my ministry would likely be spent on the mission field.” In 1963, at an invitation extended by Foreign Mission Board executive Dr. Baker James Cauthen at a district convention, John and Helen publicly committed to the full will of Christ regarding missions in their lives.
In 1965, the Foreign (now International) Mission Board appointed John and Helen missionaries to the Philippines, where they served for many years. John then served as a missiology professor and administrative vice president at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. Later, he served IMB as the area director for Eastern Europe located in Germany, as well as chairman of the IMB Board of Trustees.
John was preceded in death by his first wife of 54 years, Helen Nutt Floyd.
He is survived by his wife, Shirley G Floyd; his two children and their spouses; his four granddaughters and their spouses; and six great-grandchildren.
A funeral service was held Nov. 21 at Forest Hill Funeral Home and Memorial Park East in Memphis, Tennessee.
Read an obituary here.