December 17, 1948 — August 14, 2026
Mineola, Texas -- Rev. David Leon Renfrow, 77, of Mineola, Texas, died peacefully with family at his bedside in Fort Worth, Texas, on August 14, 2026.
David Leon Renfrow was born December 17, 1948, in Gunnison, CO. David was adopted along with his biological brother, Bob, from Oklahoma Baptist Children's Home in Oklahoma City, OK, in 1955 by Reverend Ralph and Mildred Renfrow of Balko, OK. During childhood, David lived with his family throughout the state of OK, including Balko, Leedey, Fort Cobb, Elk City, Dill City, and Davis, OK. David graduated from high school in rural OK in 1967 and went on to attend Oklahoma Baptist University, earning a Bachelor of Music degree in 1971.
While attending both college and seminary, David actively served part-time in the capacity of music minister at several southern Baptist churches within Oklahoma. After OBU, David attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX. During that
time, David met and quickly fell in love with Betty York in the fall of 1972. They wed at FBC Irving on June 1, 1973.
David received a Master's in Church Music in 1974 from SWBTS and was simultaneously ordained as a minister and offered the position of full-time music minister and visitation director at Ridglea West Baptist Church in Fort Worth that same summer of 1974. David and wife Betty welcomed their first daughter, Kristen Lynette, in December 1975 and stayed in Fort Worth for 3 years.
Following God's call, David and his young family moved to Tampa, Florida, where he accepted the position of music minister at Lake Carroll Baptist Church for 1.5 yrs. During this time, they welcomed their son, Brandon David, in January 1979. That same year, David felt the Lord calling him back to Texas to be full-time minister of church music and education at First Baptist Church of Bonham, TX in the summer of 1979.
In the ensuing years, David and Betty welcomed their youngest daughter, Erin Elizabeth, in January 1981. For next 29 years, David's church music ministry experienced significant growth, and David took on additional roles in administration and senior adult ministry, which he truly loved. Retiring from full-time ministry in 2008, David was beloved by the people he served.
In 2016, he and Betty moved to Mineola, where Betty was born and her parents lived. David lived in East Texas the rest of his life with Betty until a temporary stay in a memory care facility, where he was visited daily by family and cared for until he passed away from complications of Alzheimer's and vascular dementia.
David's interests included music, carpentry, and being in God's creation outdoors with his kids and grandkids. He loved the yearly visits that he and his family made to Glorieta Baptist Conference Center and Red River every summer while his kids were young.
David found great joy in working with his hands, being a farmer's son, and spending time with his whole family. With strong farming ties from his mother's family in the Oklahoma panhandle, David and his family visited every summer for many years. David loved his wife Betty and his children deeply. Throughout his life, David instilled in his children a heritage of faith in the Lord God and saw all three of his children come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ at a young age. His primary life's pursuit was to honor and glorify the Lord in all he did. Out of that pursuit flowed joy, strength, and a gracious spirit that patiently and faithfully served the Lord in the church and in his home his whole life.
David was preceded in death by his son, Brandon Renfrow, and his parents and parents'-in-law, Ralph & Mildred Renfrow and Milford and Claudine York. He is survived by his wife, Betty, of 53 years; his brother Bob (wife, Becky) Renfrow; children Kristen (husband,
Ron) Piwetz and Erin (husband, Michael) Strange, son Brandon's widow, Mandy Renfrow; brother-in-law Larry (wife, Linda) York and sister-in-law Julie (husband, Larry) Zettler. He is survived by 7 grandchildren: Ashley Noelle Piwetz, Hannah Elyse Piwetz, Ellie Claire Piwetz, Ava Reese Renfrow, Emmy Madison Strange, Malachi David Renfrow, and Aiden David Strange.
Memorial gifts may be contributed in David's name to the Cal Farley Boys Ranch (Amarillo), First Baptist, Bonham, and First Baptist Church, Mineola.
A visitation/viewing and funeral service is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, August 19, 2026 at Beaty Funeral Home, Mineola, TX, for immediate/extended family and close/church friends. Burial will be at Cedars Memorial Gardens (Mineola Memorial Cemetery) at 1830 S. Pacific St, in Mineola, TX, near his son Brandon's resting place.
