Marian McElroy

Marian Lorene Armstrong McElroy went to be with the Lord on December 22, 2025, surrounded by her family. Her celebration of life service will be in the Highland Baptist Church Chapel on January 10 at 2:00pm. Visitation will be in the Chapel an hour prior to the service. Stephen McElroy, Janet Ross, and Mark Wible will officiate.

Marian was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to Rev. H. Parr Armstrong and Esther on October 24, 1931. At the age of one, Marian moved with her family to Kansas City, Missouri, where she attended primary school. Her father pastored the Central Christian Church there. They moved to Oklahoma City where Marian attended junior high and high school. Marian went to Texas Christian University and met her future husband, Ted McElroy. They married in 1952 and spent their first year of marriage in Vienna, Austria. Ted was a Fulbright scholar. Marian studied piano and organ at the Academy of Music and played the pump organ at the Methodist Church.

Ted pastored churches in Oklahoma City, OK and Waco, TX, until his death in 1972. He and Marian founded Trinity Church in 1963, and Trinity Christian School in 1968. As a young widow, Marian reared their five children in Waco and lived there until recently. She has 12 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.

Three of the McElroy children served the Lord overseas: Janet and Reuven, Stephen and Cheri, and Gwen and Brandon. They served in South Africa, Russia, Israel, England and India. Marian visited her family in South Africa, Israel and England.

Knowing Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit enabled Marian to raise her children as a young widow. She gave her testimony several times following the death of her husband.

God blessed Marian with a wonderful gift of music. It became evident in her life at the age of five when her family traveled to the Northwest and were detoured by an accident. They stayed as guests in the minister’s home in Bozeman, Montana, where she played a little pump organ and composed her first piece. Back in Kansas City, Marian began taking piano lessons and continued for 12 years.

She started playing hymns in her Sunday School class at the age of 10. In junior high and high school, she played flute in the band. In senior high, she also accompanied the school choir. At TCU, she changed her focus to the organ. Her teacher wanted her to go to Juilliard to major in organ, but Marian’s desire was to marry a preacher and play the organ in a church. Her desire was fulfilled, as she played the organ or piano in the nine churches she attended throughout her life.

Marian played organ for Highland for 30 years, retiring in 2013. She also played for funerals, weddings, graduations, Aglow Retreats, and Christian Family Camps. She played the wedding music for four of her children, and for some of her grandchildren and relatives, totaling 21 family weddings. Marian was the substitute organist at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home from 1976 and full-time from 1990 to about 2016.

Marian was preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Dorothy Davis; and her husband, Ted McElroy. She is survived by her brother, Roger Armstrong; her five children, Sonya and Ed Wilkinson, Janet and Reuven Ross, Dale McElroy, Stephen and Cheri McElroy, and Gwen and Brandon Whatley; her 12 grandchildren and their spouses, Reece and Sarah Wilkinson, Ryan Wilkinson, Starla and Brandon Schwartz, Daniel and Renae Wilkinson, Seleah and Lee McGraw, Brianna and Billy Stout, Jonathan McElroy, Timothy McElroy, Michaela and Josh McMillan, Destiny McElroy, Bethany and Clinton Barrineau, and Josiah and Lobke Whatley; and great-grandchildren, Caleb, Joshua, Elise, Judah, Emily, Micah, Ezra, Camryn, Landon, Carson, Ben, Clara, Alice, Kennedy, Wade, Riley, Willow, Reid, David, Jonathan, and Levi. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

The family wishes to thank Dr. Loden, Dr. Day, and Dr. Borowski for their care of Marian through the years. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be given to your church, to missions, or to the charity of your choice.