Glen Dale Herrington, of Denton, Texas, passed from this life on Sunday, 31 July 2022, at the age of 88. Glen was born in Vivian, LA, on April 13, 1934, to Rev. Arthur Earl Herrington and Nina Eugenia Britt Herrington. His father was a Baptist minister and church builder, which necessitated frequent moves around Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. Glen began high school at North Little Rock High School, where he excelled at various sports including football and baseball. The family moved to Fort Worth, Texas in the spring of 1951, where Glen enrolled at Carter Riverside High School. UIL was alive and well, even then, and he was ineligible to play any sports until baseball season arrived in the spring of his senior year. Glen lettered in baseball at CRHS and, after graduating in 1952, he enrolled at Texas Christian University. At TCU, he joined a bumper crop of freshman baseball talent.

During baseball practice in the spring of 1953, Glen was struck in the head by a batted ball, suffering a skull fracture. Given little chance of ever walking or talking again, he made what many considered at the time a miraculous recovery. Through a long process of recovery and rehabilitation, he re-learned to walk, talk, and write (this time with his left hand). As part of his recovery process, Glen developed a lifelong love for woodworking.

Following a year of extensive rehabilitation, Glen enrolled at Hardin Simmons University, earning a BA degree in History and English in 1956. After graduating from Hardin-Simmons University, he returned to Fort Worth, enrolling in Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and completing a Bachelor of Divinity degree. In October of 1957, Glen met a fellow Master's candidate, Mary Ann Johnson. Their first date was to a revival meeting where the visiting preacher introduced them to the congregation as Mr. and Mrs. Glen Herrington. After a 3-month courtship, Glen proposed to Mary Ann in January of 1958. They were married on November 28, 1958, in Fort Worth.

After continued work at SWBTS, as well as studies in New College of the University of Edinburg, Scotland, the young couple moved to Kingsville, TX where Glen served as Director of the Baptist Student Union at Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M, Kingsville) from 1961 to 1963. While in Kingsville, they welcomed their first child shortly before leaving the United States to serve as missionaries in Southeast Asia.

Glen and Mary Ann returned to Fort Worth in 1972 with a second son in tow. They continued in church work, with Glen serving as pastor of various churches in the DFW metroplex area, including FBC Perrin and FBC Corinth. At the urging of his brother Bill, Glen enrolled at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas) in Denton, Texas, to develop his woodworking skills. Moving to Denton in 1973, Glen spent eight years of studying and teaching in the Industrial Arts Department at North Texas. During those years, he earned both a master's and doctoral degree and the family grew by a third son. A month after receiving his doctoral diploma in 1982, Glen lost Mary Ann to cancer.

Setting aside his aspirations to academic life, Glen remained in Denton with his sons, serving in various pastoral roles, including a chaplaincy at Good Samaritan Village. During those years that Glen became interested in grief counseling, so he enrolled at Texas Women's University, earning yet another graduate degree and opening a private practice. The business grew over a decade and allowed Glen the opportunity to nurture his beloved avocation of learning Chinese.

Glen retired in 2000 but did not conceive of his retirement as a time to slow down. When presented an opportunity to teach English in China, he took yet another leap of faith and moved to southeastern China, teaching first at a small, rural Teacher's College, then at Guangxi University. He embraced the opportunity and developed many lasting friendships.

After several happy years in China, Glen returned to Denton. In 2007, he suffered significant burns to his upper body in a kitchen accident. Faced with yet another life-changing event requiring extended recovery and rehabilitation and impacting his remaining years of life, again he persevered. He again turned his attention to others by becoming a volunteer counselor and advocate for burn victims.

Despite the progressive effects of Parkinson's Disease in his final years, Glen explored interests in the sciences, auditing classes at UNT in mathematics and physics. He was especially interested in Chinese poetry. He maintained relationships with family, friends, and colleagues as best he was able. His life touched so many around the world, and his memory will be long-treasured.

Glen is preceded in death by his wife, Mary Ann Johnson, his parents, Arthur Earl and Nina Eugenia, sisters, Nancy Marie and Jimmilee, and his brother, Bill. Glen is survived by brothers, James and Gene and their families, his three sons, Stewart Clay, Britt, and Earl, and their families, including four grandchildren.

A lifetime of profound encounters with medical professionals motivated Glen to donate his remains to the Willed Body Program at UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. His family believes this may just be his way of, yet again, going back to school! They gratefully suggest, in lieu of flowers, Glen would be well-remembered through a contribution to:

Parkinson's Disease Research https://www.michaeljfox.org/donate ;

or UT Southwestern Medical Center https://engage.utsouthwestern.edu/home ;

or UTSW Willed Body Program

https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/research/programs/willed-body/ ;

or the Charity of your choice.