TENNESCENE: MARCH 18

DEATHS

Rev. Norman A. Arp, of Vonore, died Feb. 26 at home surrounded by his family. He was 92.

Norman served in the U.S. Army and ministered for 56 years. He was the oldest surviving member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Vonore. Norman loved his wife and family, but above all else he loved Jesus, and it was always his goal to lead others to Him.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Faye; great-grandson, Brody; parents, Alfred and Elizabeth Arp; and siblings Bert Arp, Harvey Arp, M.B. Arp, Jack Arp, Anna Mae Shirk, Janie Murr and Alma Strickland.

Rev. Arp was interred at Big Toqua Cemetery. Military honors were provided by V.F.W. Goldstar Post 5156 and American Legion Post 106.

Memorial donations may be made to Big Toqua Cemetery, c/o Roger Underwood, 121 Lackey Lane, Vonore, TN 37885.

Paul Maurice Darden, a lifelong Nashville resident and Korean War veteran, died March 4 at the age of 95.

Born Jan. 29, 1931, in Nashville, Paul was the son of Gilbert Marshall Darden Sr. and Martha Frances Cartwright. He grew up on Arthur Avenue in North Nashville with siblings Gilbert Marshall Darden Jr. and Betty Jean Darden Walker, both of whom he outlived.

Paul served in the U.S. Army from August 1953 to May 1955, with his final assignment in a hospital unit in Verdun, France. Military service was a family tradition: his father served in World War I, his brother Gilbert Jr. in World War II, and cousins including William Allen Darden Jr. and Sgt. Roy Darden Jr., who was killed in Korea in 1950.

A devoted member of First Baptist Church in Nashville, Paul served as a Sunday School teacher. Over his career, he worked at Nashville Electric Service, the Baptist Sunday School Board and the Southern Baptist Convention. He volunteered for 19 years as a reading instructor at Pennington Elementary School and at ARC in Lebanon, and he supported animal welfare and veteran organizations, including Tunnels to Towers.

Dr. Richard Raymond Lloyd Jr. died March 9, 2026, at the age of 97. He was born March 3, 1929, in Fort Edward, N.Y., the son of Rev. Richard Raymond Lloyd Sr. and Edith Evans Lloyd.

Richard began pastoring at age 20 and served five churches over his career. He pastored Caney Fork Baptist Church in Roane County (1948-52) while attending Carson-Newman College and Southern Seminary, then First Baptist Church of Bridgeport, Ill. (1952-58), First Baptist Church of Rockwood (1958-62), Ridgedale Baptist Church in Chattanooga (1962-72) and First Baptist Church of Starkville, Miss. (1972-94).

In retirement, he served as interim pastor in 30 churches across Mississippi, New York and East Tennessee — including First Baptist churches in Oak Ridge and Jefferson City — and internationally at Kowloon International Baptist Church in Hong Kong. He also taught at Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary and Nigerian Baptist Seminary in Ogbomosho, Nigeria. For more than 50 summers, he preached at Lakeside Chapel in Cleverdale, N.Y., on Lake George. He served on the board of the Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home, as president of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board and on the Southern Baptist Convention’s Religious and Ethics Committee and Executive Committee.

He and his wife, Gretta, were married 71 years and were parents to four children: Richard Raymond III, William Evan, Vicky May and Linda Lee.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Ray and Gretta Lloyd Scholarship Fund for Ministerial Students at Carson-Newman University, CNU Advancement Office, P.O. Box 557, Jefferson City, TN 37760.

ANNOUNCEMENTS