Memorials

Roger Loyd (1946-2022)

Roger Loyd was born in 1946, in Lubbock, Texas. He spent his first ten years on the farm, first in Texas, then in New Mexico. Thereafter, he grew up in “small-town America” of the Texas Panhandle. His childhood was filled with outdoor play and competition with his three brothers, and neighborhood friends.

Roger was an ordained clergy in the United Methodist Church, a devoted Divinity School librarian, choir member, teacher, mentor, and friend. Roger received his B.A. in English from McMurry University in 1968, his Master of Theology (now M. Div.) from Southern Methodist University, Perkins School of Theology, in 1971, and his Master of Library Science from the University of North Texas in 1982.

He served as a United Methodist pastor at Forest Hill United Methodist Church in Amarillo and Christ United Methodist Church in Levelland, Texas, and as campus minister at the Wesley Foundation at Texas Tech. In 1980, he became a theological librarian in Dallas, serving as Associate Director of the Bridwell Library at Southern Methodist University, Perkins School of Theology, from 1980-1992, and as Librarian and Director of the Duke Divinity School Library from 1992 until his retirement in 2012. He provided counsel and caring mentorship to numerous theological librarians through the American Theological Library Association (Atla). He also once livened up the Atla meeting in Dallas by bringing a live armadillo. In retirement, he served as Chair of the Theological Book Network Board, helping to bring educational resources to seminaries across the world, including a 2014 trip to Ghana.

Roger was an active member of Duke Memorial UMC for 30 years. He was a passionate advocate for justice and missions, serving on the missions’ team and as coordinator for Families Moving Forward, where he worked tirelessly to support families experiencing homelessness in Durham. In addition, he provided sermon support to his pastors, chaired the History committee, and led the digitization of the church historical records.

He treasured leading backpacking trips and hiking in the mountains of New Mexico and Colorado, spending summers at Ceta Canyon Methodist Camp, and playing guitar while singing with friends and family around a campfire.  
A long, tall Texan, Roger enjoyed planting a garden, eating a lot of peaches, and going to Duke football. He was equally comfortable playing basketball in the backyard as he was in the world of academia and theological librarianship.

Mary Ellen Scott (1926-2022)

Mary Ellen Scott was born in Hutchinson, Kansas in 1926. She graduated with honors from Sterling College in 1947, where she was a champion debater, homecoming queen, president of the student body, and majored in piano. 

Upon graduation, she married Harold Scott, a recent graduate of Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary and Sterling College alumnus, moving with him to his first congregation in Richmond, Kansas, where she was able to work as a piano teacher and focused on the job of raising a family of three sons. The family subsequently moved to Des Moines, Iowa, and Santa Ana, California, as Harold was called to new congregations, and finally to Pittsburgh in 1958, where he joined the faculty of Pittsburgh-Xenia Seminary (now Pittsburgh Theological Seminary). In the late 1960s, she earned a degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh. She then joined the staff of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary library, where she was supervisor of cataloging for many years, and briefly served as the library’s interim director.

After her retirement, she worked on a voluntary basis as the library’s archivist. One of her most important accomplishments there was the organization and documentation of the records of the United Presbyterian Church of North America, a branch of the Presbyterian family dating back to the 17th century that had created Pittsburgh-Xenia seminary and merged into the much larger Presbyterian Church. She was esteemed as a deeply believing Christian who was also accepting of the variety of human paths in this world. She faithfully served in the spiritual and community life of the churches where Harold was pastor. Her kind and gentle disposition earned her the love of all who knew her.

Lily May Williams (1952-2020)

Lilly May Williams died on Nov. 22, 2020, in Stevensville, Michigan. She was 68 years old. She was born in Jamaica, on February 25, 1952.

Her professional career included being an accountant at West Indies College and as chief accountant at Andrews Memorial Hospital. She also served as chief accountant, then assistant treasurer for a combined tenure of 15 years for the West Indies Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. 

In 1993, she accompanied her husband, Oswald, to Berrien Springs, Michigan, where he was a student at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary. Lilly continued denominational service at Andrews University in 1994 as a bookkeeper/accountant in the James White Library. In 1996, following the untimely death of her husband, Lilly comb ned single parenting with graduate education and successfully completed her Master’s degree in accounting at LaSalle University, two years later. In 2002, Lilly began her 18 years of service at Adventist Frontier Missions, where she interfaced with donors and missionaries in the field. She later rejoined the James White Library at Andrews University where she worked as a periodical associate for the past 11 years.

Lilly enjoyed gardening, especially growing flowers, cooking and watching cooking shows, and all good things Jamaican. She had a close relationship with God and never lost faith as she walked through the various valleys of life and death. Lilly is survived by two sons: Oswald and Matthew; two sisters an a brother.