Truth Magazine

By James D. Yates

(Editor’s Note: Because of the press of business affairs, brother James D. Yates, an elder of the Fry Road congregation in Houston, Texas where Roy held membership and a close personal friend of Roy’s for thirty-one years, could not write a special article for this Memorial Issue. I have, with his permission, copied and edited for publication from a tape recording the speech brother Yates delivered the evening of April 23, 1985 at a “get together” honoring Roy. This was just a little more than three weeks before Roy’s death. Brother Yates also spoke at Roy’s funeral service, Wednesday May 15. Brother Yates has read and approved the article which follows. JWA).

The service tonight has been long and some of you may be growing tired and sleepy, so I will try to keep my remarks as brief as possible. However, the love I have for this man cannot be put in a thimble. The love he has extended to me, to my family, and to the friends whom I loved over these thirty-one years we have known him so well cannot be briefed.

As an elder in the Lord’s church, I should like to speak first of Roy in his relationship to the elders of the churches with which he has labored. In this respect, he is one of the greatest. There never has been an eldership with which he has been associated that did not benefit by knowing him. He has never usurped their authority nor their responsibilities, but he has always encouraged them and helped them to do their duty. He has always insisted that they keep the Word of Truth before the church and practice what they preached-doing all in the spirit of Truth. He has ever exhorted them to be leaders, to be examples to the flock, to love every minute of their service while extending to them the help necessary to make such possible.

Through the many years of his service as a preacher of the Word, he has received calls almost daily from elders of the churches over this entire land asking him to come and help them with their problems or seeking his advice concerning them. Hardly a day passes, even now, that someone doesn’t call seeking advice concerning a problem in the church.

Many years ago, a faith healer came to Bowling Green, Kentucky, and stirred up much excitement. He boasted that he would meet anybody in debate on the subject of miracles which he professed to perform. Roy was in the area in a meeting. The elders of one of the churches in Bowling Green called Roy and asked him to meet the false teacher. Roy was, of course, not specifically prepared for the debate, but he accepted the responsibility. With less than a week to prepare, he met the so-called “faith healer” before 14,000 people. This was the largest audience Roy ever spoke before face to face. So successfully did Roy meet his opponent that the false teacher closed his meeting and left town with his women associates. A few months ago, I had the privilege of visiting the location where this took place. Elders called and, though not specifically prepared for the encounter, Roy rose to the challenge and did a masterful job in the defense of the truth.

Not many months ago, Roy received a call from the elders of a church in a distant city. One of those elders is present tonight. They said, “Come, help us, we need you!” Roy was in ill health. Sister Cogdill was not well. They had their hands full of their own problems. Yet, they went and spent three months assisting the church in overcoming its difficulties.

Roy has always been ready to answer a call from anyone who needed help as long as he was convinced that truth was at stake. In such situations, he did not seek to impose his will on the basis of his “giant” capabilities, but as one who sought only to see truth prevail. Therefore, he allowed truth to adjust the matter.

Several years ago, the need for a graded series of Bible class literature for use among conservative congregations was called to brother Cogdill’s attention and his help enlisted in getting such in print. Risking a considerable portion of his personal funds and those of his wife, he bought and caused to be reworked and published a sound series of literature already in publication. He also, with the cooperation of others, launched an effort to produce and publish a completely new series by conservative brothers and sisters in Christ. These two excellent sets of literature, “Walking With God” and “Truth In Life,” are currently available to the churches. That they are is largely due to the self-sacrificing spirit and keen foresight of brother Cogdill.

Roy is such a strong man! He is positive in his nature. He does not know the meaning of “negative” when he sees something that needs to be done. He can and does preach negatively against all error that obstructs the truth, but relative to the work of advancing truth, he is preeminently positive. Harry Pickup Jr. tells one of his well-known stories to illustrate Roy’s positive attitude. He and Roy were driving down the highway discussing some Bible topic. Roy was strongly pressing his point of view. Harry asked, “Roy, have you ever been wrong about anything?” Quick as a flash, Roy answered, “No, but if I was, I’d correct it I” Yes, Roy has had to correct some things, but they have been few. There has been little necessity for him to correct many things related to spiritual matters because he has relied from his youth upon the Word. His strength has come from his confidence in and his reliance upon what the Word says. When you rely on it, you don’t have to make many changes, brethren!

Roy has always been a preacher. Harry Pickup, Jr. also tells a story involving Roy and a highway patrolman between Atlanta, Georgia, and Tampa, Florida. A car full of preachers traveling together was stopped for speeding. Roy was the driver and in the heat of a Bible discussion, his foot had grown heavy on the accelerator. Harry Pickup and H.E. Phillips were among those riding in the car. Brother Phillips was much disturbed to be stopped by an officer of the law, but brother Pickup said, “Don’t worry, policemen don’t know how to give Roy a ticket! ” Looking back at Roy and the policeman, brother Phillips observed that Roy was talking to the officer with much vigor and poking him in the chest with his index finger. Brother Phillips became more disturbed envisioning all of them in jail. Harry continued to insist that they had nothing to worry about. Directly, Roy returned, got in the car and drove toward Tampa. Unable to restrain himself, brother Phillips asked, “Roy, what happened back there?”

Roy replied, “Oh, nothing. I found out that he was a member of the church out of duty, so I told him he ought to get right with the Lord, and he’s going back to church and repent next Sunday.”

What a man! And what a wife he has! I cannot say enough about her, nor can he. At this time, when he needs her so desperately, she is there, twenty-four hours of the day. The devotion that she is extending him now defies description.

I was twenty-eight years old when Roy and I became friends. He was forty-seven. When we met, it was love at first sight. I had been a Christian for sixteen years, but it was not until then that I began to really learn the truth. It was then I began to learn what truth and duty were, and what it took to stand for the truth and the reason why: Christ died for it! Roy and I became good friends then and have remained so until this day. We have not always agreed about everything nor have we always even been agreeable, but we have remained friends, forgiving and forgetting, knowing that we could always depend upon each other when the chips were down!

Had Roy Cogdill continued his law practice in Dallas, he no doubt would be today a very wealthy man, but because he is first and foremost a gospel preacher, he gave it up to preach the truth. If there ever was a motto that perfectly describes Roy Cogdill it is: Buy the truth, and sell it not. There is no telling how many times he has said to me, “James, whatever the price you must pay, buy the truth, then guard it, cherish it, love it, and keep it; do not sell it for any price.”

Roy, there are so many instances in our lives to illustrate what you have meant to me, my lovely wife, and our daughters that space will not permit my mentioning them. You are the dearest friend that we could have. You have been an outstanding influence on our lives. We are indebted to you beyond our ability to repay. Not only are we indebted to you with reference to spiritual matters, but also in other less important matters. Your advice has been sought and successfully used time and again. Even our financial success in life has been attained in a great measure as a result of your counsel.

We feel deeply privileged to have known you through these many years. We consider you a giant whose life has blessed thousands, whose sacrifices to serve the Lord have been tremendous, and whose devotion from earliest youth to the principle of “buying the truth and selling it not” has been the source of your inspiration to us all. You are our most beloved friend and brother and we love you now and have loved you for all the thirty-one years we have known you.

Confident that the most important influence in your life, next to Christ, was your deceased mother, Mildred and I secured from sister Cogdill a small, full-length snapshot of your mother. We have had it enlarged and framed and we present it to you with all our love on your seventy-eighth birthday. May the Lord bless you and keep you in the hollow of His hand is our prayer.

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 14, pp. 428-429
July 18, 1985

By James R. Cope

(Editor’s Note: When we called brother Cope relative to writing something for this Memorial Special, he suggested that we might publish his personal letter to brother Cogdill on the occasion of brother Cogdill’s 78th birthday, April 24, 1985.)

My dear Roy,

On this, your 78th birthday, also the birth date of our oldest daughter, Connie Cope Benson, Georgia Deane and I join your multitude of friends in wishing you a very joyous occasion.

As I reflect upon my more than forty year’s association with you, several things particularly come to mind:

1. Our first face-to-face acquaintance was in the early 1940’s. You were in a series of meetings with W.E. Brightwell and the Waverly-Belmont church in Nashville. I was teaching at David Lipscomb College and preaching for the Belmont church. I came to hear you several times, and this began the relationship which has continued uninterrupted till this day. Avidly I took notes as you preached and I still have several of them.

2. To some degree you were responsible for my meeting the girl of my dreams. It was you who recommended me for my first Texas meeting Preston Road in Dallas — where I met the beautiful and dedicated Georgia Deane Combs, June 4, 1944.

3. In the intervening years we have met many times in various places and our paths have crossed many times. The only meeting in which I ever preached where you were living and laboring was Nacogdoches, Texas, in early March, 1960. Even though I had been preaching 25 years, I still recall how inadequate I felt in each lesson because you were in the audience. I understood well that you wanted me to do well and that I was there because you had asked the brethren to invite me, yet I was on “needles and pins” and felt like a Little Leaguer pitching to Babe Ruth. Nevertheless, you were there “rooting” for me and encouraging the brethren to attend every service. (I suppose the elders felt I gave general satisfaction for they never invited me back!) It was also in March 3 (Wednesday night) of this same week that your beloved Lorraine became so seriously ill that only a few days later she was moved first to Tyler and then to Houston for diagnosis and operations which led to her demise back home in June of the same year. About five weeks after Lorraine’s passing, I closed a meeting on Sunday night at Pruitt and Lobit in Baytown. I was to begin a meeting in Blytheville, Arkansas the night following. As I now recall you were to begin a meeting somewhere north of there either the same night or shortly thereafter and asked me to ride with you. Never shall I forget those hours together! Each of us would drive to rest the other. We would laugh awhile and cry awhile. I picked your mind for all mine would hold. I never felt closer to you in my life except the other time which I shall mention presently.

4. Our next relatively close association was the Florida College term of 1969-70 when you drove daily from Orlando to teach our young men preparing to preach. Never I think, did you ever give more of your physical self for such a long period as you did in this 200-mile daily drive. I was so involved in administrative affairs that we spent precious few hours together. It was much the same with Homer Hailey. After we had administrative offices over the Chatlos Library, there was only a wall between Homer and me, yet we hardly saw each other except to say “hello” as we would pass going and coming in and out of our offices. That’s just getting “too busy”!

5. Then came your move back to Houston and in 1972 our trip to Bible lands. It was indeed pleasurable yet, again, there was little time for personal visitation.

6. Except for our long ride through Texas and Arkansas, no event do I now or shall I ever remember more pleasantly and profitably than that of this last December 6 or 7 when Dee Bowman, Harold Fite, and I visited with you in your home-the same day that hard-headed you would have it no other way than you foot the bill for our delightful lunch! What a day that was! I felt that we were wearing you to a frazzle. I was torn between my selfish desire to hear every word your weak voice spoke and my judgment that said we were unduly imposing upon your willingness to feed us spiritually as well as keep us laughing at your humorous stories.

And when we separated that day! Oh, my brother, I can still feel the warmth of the gentle but strong embrace of our parting moments. Somehow I was conscious of a similar scene, at the home of C.R. Nichol in Clifton, Texas, when he and C.E. Wooldridge held each other and wept as these two white-headed saints, long-time preaching and debating companions, bade each other goodbye-probably for their last time.

Even though I would like to see you again before either of us meets the Lord, his angels, and all who have loved and labored in his kingdom and for his Cause, no memory of you and what you have meant to the gospel of our Savior and to me personally can ever erase from my awareness that in those few moments I was holding in my arms the physical body of a man who was a giant in his day; your life hams blessed thousands through pen and preachment for two-thirds of a century, and your commitment to “preach the word” and your firmness of resolution to be faithful at all costs has helped otherwise weary soldiers to keep their armor on and the battle going.

I love you, Roy Cogdill!

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 14, pp. 429-430
July 18, 1985

By Harold Fite

I first became aware of Roy E. Cogdill during my high school days in Dallas, Texas. At that time he was with the Preston Road congregation of that city.

In my teen years I had several opportunities to hear him preach, and through the years he preached in meetings where I did local work. In those years, it never entered my mind that someday we would be members of the same congregation with the roles reversed: I would be doing the preaching, and he the listening.

My relationship with brother Cogdill as a co-worker and fellow-member of the Fry Road church of Christ was a brief one. His health and bodily strength declined rapidly during !he three and one-half years we worked together. He was in and out of the hospital several times. He was a sick man, yet he managed to teach two classes a week and preach when I was away.

Here was a man who had traveled the length and breadth of this land preaching God’s Word; he was recognized as one of the great preachers of our time; he had received over the years the adulation of admiring and appreciative brethren. Now, for the most part, he was regulated to the pew. The once strong voice was now weakened by age and illness. Words which at one time flowed eerily and freely, were not always there when needed. Forced by circumstances, he had to watch another standing in the pulpit where he once stood, listening to another preach that gospel he had preached with clarity and vigor for over sixty years.

One might think that he might be a bitter, mean-tempered, crotchety old man who vented his hurt, anger, and frustration on the one who “took his place.” But not so!

Brother Cogdill was supportive and encouraging. The last words he said to me were words “pressing his appreciation for the sermon I had preached that Sunday morning on the subject of prayer. I reminded him of the first sermon he preached. It too was on the subject of prayer, and was delivered in Hobart, Oklahoma, in 1922. The outline was displayed during the tribute we gave him on 23 April of this year. We concluded that it was still a good outline after sixty-three years.

Knowing Roy’s strong will, his outspokenness and intimidating presence, preachers warned me about moving to Fry Road. They thought I was making a mistake. They said, “You will have trouble with him.” I knew what they were talking about and did not take the warnings lightly. I appreciated then, and do now, their concern for me.

I phoned brother Cogdill and told him the elders had invited me to work with the brethren at Fry Road and asked him if he had any doubts about our working together. He replied, “Not a bit. I hope you come.” I told him it would not be easy for him to listen to me after what he had been and done, but that he would have to be patient. He said, “Come on, and I will try to stay out of your way.”

I know it wasn’t easy for him, but he handled it as gracefully as any man I know. He understood my work. He was interested in what I was doing. He didn’t want to make it difficult for me;

We did not always agree, and if he thought it necessary to express his view on the subject he would do so at an appropriate time, but always in a positive way, never abusive, never referring to me by name. I respected him, and I believe he respected me. I respected his right to preach his convictions, and he respected my right to do the same. Differences did not affect our friendship because we both knew that friendship is a responsibility, not an opportunity.

When he became physically incapable of filling his meeting appointment with the Expressway church in Louisville, Kentucky, he recommended me to the Expressway elders and suggested I fill his- appointment. The elders graciously consented, enabling me to preach in a city where I had not preached, and to become acquainted with the wonderful brethren who compose that congregation.

Brother Cogdill had a sense of humor, and maintained it throughout his illness. At times we “picked” at one another in good fun, but I don’t believe I ever had the last word. But I kept trying.

I enjoyed our visits together, and profited as I listened to him talk about persons, places, and events which compose a part of our history of the past sixty years.

Our relationship was a good one. He was my friend, and “life has no blessing like a prudent friend.” I appreciate the attitude he had toward me and my work. His interest and encouragement have made these three and one-half years at Fry Road “a piece of cake.”

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 14, p. 427
July 18, 1985

By Hoyt H. Houchen

On Monday morning, May 13, 1 received a telephone call from Texas to tell me that brother Roy Cogdill had passed away the night before (Sunday evening, May 12, at about 11:30).

My first acquaintance with Roy E. Cogdill goes back many years, to the time that I was about nine years of age, possibly 1928. Since that time we have had a close association through the years. We have worked together in several gospel meetings, but we somewhat grew apart in the last few years because of the span of miles between us.

The first recollection of brother Cogdill in my early boyhood years was most impressive. I can well remember my first glimpse of him. He was to preach in a gospel meeting at Alhambra, California. He and his wife (Lorraine) had driven out from Texas in a green Ford coupe, possibly a model A. My parents and I drove to Alhambra that Sunday morning to attend the meeting (I believe it was a tent meeting). In the Bible class sat this young couple, a blond hair young visiting preacher with his attractive and dignified looking wife. I heard his clear, booming voice for the first time as he made some comments about the church at Corinth.

From my earliest impression, Roy Cogdill continued to have a great influence upon me. He was a source of encouragement to me as a boy preacher in southern California and in my preaching years in other places in the years to follow. He was a pillar of strength, firm in his convictions and never hesitated to express them. No one ever had to guess where he stood on any issue. He loved the truth and preached it with force, conviction and simplicity. He was an outstanding speaker, and in my opinion, when he was in his prime he was without a peer in the pulpit.

My wife (Doris) and I had many pleasant associations with Roy and Lorraine Cogdill through the years. We had the privilege of living in the same city that they did on two occasions, both cities in Texas (San Antonio and Lufkin). We took pleasant automobile trips together, and we remember with joy when on a beautiful day we would stop at a roadside park to eat a picnic lunch. Lorraine always wanted me to drive, not that I am such a great driver, but I guess she thought that anybody’s driving was safer than his.

We shared some of the tensions during Lorraine’s illness in the Houston Medical Center. The Cogdills were living in Nacogdoches and we in Lufkin during that time. She departed from this life on Thursday morning, June 23, 1960. Had she lived until July 21st, she and her devoted husband would have celebrated their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. The funeral was conducted in the church building at Mound and Starr (Nacogdoches), James W. Adams, Fanning Yater Tant, and this writer participating. Her frail and worn body was laid to rest in the cemetery at Lufkin, Texas. Brother Cogdill later wrote:

The grief we feel when our loved ones depart to be with the Lord is but selfish. We shrink back from the loneliness and void their going leaves in our lives and know our tremendous loss in the lack of their presence to strengthen and encourage and help us as they have through all of these years of the past. But we strengthen our hearts and mend our spirits, even dry away our tears, in the knowledge that they are as much alive as they have ever been and in the transition are infinitely better for they are free from differing and the heartaches of this life and know only the happiness and bliss of those who have “died in the Lord”(The Gospel Guardian, August 11, 1960, p. 10).

Roy Cogdill had known the Faulkner family who were members of the old Tenth and Francis church in Oklahoma City. Nita Faulkner also lost her companion by death, thus Roy and Nita were later united in marriage. They shared many happy years together, as well as burdens and sorrow due to Roy’s illness in the last few years. Nita was a faithful and beloved wife. Roy once said to us that he did not know how he was so fortunate as to have two such wonderful wives. Nita has two children: Pam and John. Our oldest son, Ron, was with Pam in Florida College in 1962, and he also served as best man at her wedding. Later, Roy and Nita adopted a little boy, Philip, now a grown man.

Roy E. Cogdill not only preached with power, but also employed his pen to express his convictions in defense of the truth. He had occasions to stand upon the polemic platform and “contend earnestly for the faith.” In December 1946, he met D.N. Jackson (Baptist) in Lufkin, Texas. Four propositions were debated, and the speeches were recorded and published in book form. Brother Cogdill, using several charts, did a commendable job in devastating Baptist arguments and defending the truth.

Through the bitter and hard fought controversy on issues confronting the church, Roy Cogdill was prominent on the fieldof battle. In those years his pen was active in the pages of The Gospel Guardian, and his voice was heard in pulpits all over the nation. He was relentless in his opposition to unscriptural practices. There is no question that faithful congregations today are standing for and practicing the truth because of the work done by such men as Roy E. Cogdill.

Agreement was reached in 1957 for Roy E. Cogdill and Guy N. Woods to debate the issues of churches supporting benevolent homes and the Herald of Truth nationwide radio broadcast, also being supported by churches. The discussion was held in the Philips High School auditorium, Birmingham, Alabama (November 19-23, 1957). There were four speeches delivered each night for six nights, each being thirty minutes in length. The speeches were recorded on tape and transcribed. Numerous charts were used in the discussion. Brethren from all over the nation attended the debate, many of us travelling in inclement weather. Many of us believe that brother Cogdill’s opening speech on authority was masterful, and dealt a devastating blow at the very outset to the unscriptural practices being defended by brother Woods. The debate was on a high plane and a definite contribution was made to a study of the issues which divide us. James W. Adams moderated for brother Cogdill and Thomas B. Warren was the moderator for brother Woods. The debate was published in a book (The Cogdill-Woods Debate) and is still available.

We rejoice that an “Appreciation Get Together” was arranged for brother Cogdill in Houston, Tuesday evening, April 23, 1985 on the eve of his seventy-eighth birthday. The occasion was a dutch treat dinner at Luby’s Cafeteria. The tribute was appropriate, as so many of us have benefitted from the fruits of brother Cogdill’s labors for so many years. We regret that he was in poor health the last few years that he was upon this earth. Consequently, must of his preaching was curtailed and especially his gospel meeting work. We extend our thanks to thoughtful brethren who provided the special appreciation night for brother Cogdill, and we are also thankful that he was able to be so honored only a few days before his death. He was moved emotionally by the kind remembrances extended to him by so many. Letters and cards, from even those of us not able to attend, were all bound in a single volume and presented to him on the evening of the get together. He cherished it. Indeed, honor (tribute) was given to one whom it was due (Rom. 13:7).

Roy E. Cogdill was an outstanding and effective preacher of the gospel. Never can we fully appreciate all of his contributions to the cause of truth. He will be missed, but his influence will continue to live. He will ever be regarded by faithful brethren who lived during his lifetime, and by those who read the history of the Lord’s church in his generation as a great defender of the faith.

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 14, pp. 422-423
July 18, 1985