Haskell Rycroft

Dr. Reverend Haskell Rycroft celebrated his homegoing on March 10th. Haskell was born in Chism, Oklahoma on April 14, 1931 to Leonard and Hazel Rycroft. He is predeceased by his parents and a brother, Garry Dean Rycroft who died in infancy. He is survived by Doris Marie Rycroft of the home and 6 daughters and their spouses:
Jeanne Coffman and husband Pastor Billy Coffman of Gentry, Arkansas
Sheila Villa of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Sharran Taylor and husband Rev. Greg Taylor of Big Spring, Texas
Rebekah Kerwin and husband Kyle Kerwin of Springdale, Arkansas
Robin Wait and husband Matt Wait of Fayetteville, Arkansas
Roxanne Gross and husband Jason Gross of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
along with 9 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, 2 great-great-grandchildren as well as numerous extended family and friends.
   Haskell grew up around the Chism area, graduated from Asher High School and earned a master’s electrician degree. While he was employed as an electrician at Tinker Air Force Base he was drafted by the army and served at Ft. Hood, Texas. Haskell was part of the team that first experimented with unmanned aircraft, an early version of todays drones. While stationed at Ft. Hood he met and married the love of his life, Doris Marie on February 20, 1959. After his discharge they established a home in Lexington, Oklahoma and assumed the pastorate of Revival Center Church later renamed Rays of Life. From that beginning a larger ministry grew in scope and outreach both locally and internationally. One of these early ministry outreaches was a 30-minute Monday through Friday radio broadcast program on KBYE featuring Doris singing and Haskell preaching.
   Haskell was a founding member of Independent Assemblies presently headquartered in Ada, Oklahoma. Over the decades he travelled to and ministered in 32 countries helping to establish a Bible school for ministers in the Philippines and supported innumerable ministry outreaches. He was a prolific author self-publishing over 30 books on foundational Biblical truths. Additionally, he wrote many poems, songs and was an accomplished musician on numerous instruments.
   In his earlier years he loved to be outdoors – camping, fishing and hunting with his hunting buddies when possible. And he had the stories to go along with that! But his life’s passion was proclaiming the good news of God’s love, establishing a solid scriptural foundation to create a lasting legacy. To that purpose he dedicated countless hours of study to this calling. Haskell was a mentor to many, that mighty and tall strong oak tree sheltering others around him with prayer, counsel, wisdom and love. Many words come to mind to describe our beloved father, grandfather, great-grand father and friend – strong, wise, tenacious, stubborn, funny – but above and transcending any of these words is the word love.
   Although his homegoing was abrupt, his family remains confident in God’s will and timing.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Haskell Rycroft, please visit our floral store.