Portrait of Fred Spann. IMB Photo
James Frederick Spann, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in Brazil, died April 11, 2026. He was 92.
Fred was born July 19, 1933, in Levy, Arkansas, to the late Lenzie Sylvanius and Sammie Alice McDonald Spann. He graduated from North Little Rock (Arkansas) High School and received the Bachelor of Arts from Ouachita Baptist College, Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and the Master of Religious Education and the Master of Church Music from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas.
After high school, he entered college with the objective of becoming a naval engineer and studied mechanical engineering on a Naval Reserve Officer’s Training Corps scholarship. In the summer of 1952, as part of his naval training, he took a cruise on the USS Missouri. While seeking missionary appointment Fred wrote, “It was on this trip to Europe that several events took place which … culminated in my decision that God had called me years ago to a missionary vocation and that I should be preparing for that task.” In the fall of 1952, Fred entered Ouachita Baptist College to begin missionary preparation. During this period, he also served in youth and music ministry for several churches.
He married Bettye Clay Brawner on Feb. 24, 1956. After graduation, they moved to Mansfield, Texas, where Fred served as the minister of music and education at the First Baptist Church and attended seminary. In January of 1960, after completion of residence work toward his degrees, Fred was called as minister of music and education at the First Baptist Church of Mexico, Missouri.
In 1962, the International Mission Board appointed Fred and Bettye missionaries to Brazil. Fred served as a professor at the Brazil Baptist Theological Seminary in North Brazil teaching music courses, including voice, harmony, conducting, composition and theory, and arrangement. He led choral groups and managed large choir productions that traveled all over Brazil including for the 1969 Campaign of the Americas, and later to the U.S. He helped develop the music building constructed at the seminary mid-1960s. Fred also served as pastor to several churches during their time in Brazil.
Fred was preceded in death by his wife of 67 years, Bettye Clay Spann.
He is survived by his children, James F. Spann Jr. of Washington, D.C., Edward Clay Spann (Patricia) of Colt, Arkansas; Grady Brawner Spann (Josefina) of Farmington, Arkansas; Suzanne Davia Brown (Kenneth Earl) of Greenbriar, Arkansas; 14 grandchildren; and a number of great-grandchildren.
A funeral service was held April 14 at Kernodle Funeral Home in Wynne, Arkansas, with burial in Loughridge Cemetery, Colt.
Read an obituary here.