Edgar Clark Copeland was born Aug. 10, 1915, on a farm near Idana, Clay County, Kansas, to Bernard Clark and Margaret Elizabeth (Ewing) Copeland. He died Sept. 25, 2012, having just begun the 98th year of his earthly pilgrimage. The second of six children, he was the eldest son. He joined the Hebron RP Church in 1923 at the age of 8. Clark graduated from Clay County Community High School in 1932. Afterwards, he taught in a one-room country school near Clay Center for 2 years. In the summer of 1934, he attended Colorado State Teachers’ College in Greely and from 1935-1938 attended Sterling College in Sterling, Kan., graduating with a B.A. degree.

From a young age, Clark believed that God was calling him to be a minister of the gospel. In the summer of 1938, at the RP National Conference at Grinnell, Iowa, he and his future wife, Ethyl, publicly committed to serve as missionaries on the island of Cyprus.

From 1938-1941, he served as a missionary teacher at the American Academy in Larnaca, Cyprus. Returning to the States, he attended the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS), receiving a diploma in 1944, and pursued graduate study in education at the University of Pittsburgh. On May 26, 1942, Clark married Ethyl Margaret Dunn at Clay Center, Kan. Their first ministry together was nine months with the Eastvale RP Church in Beaver Falls, Pa. While in Eastvale, their first daughter, Kathryn, was born.

In March 1945, they left Eastvale to go to the mission field in Cyprus, where Clark ministered until 1959. During those years, Clark served as acting headmaster at the American Academy in Larnaca while Dr. W.W. Weir was on furlough in the U.S. and while he was working on his doctoral thesis on education in Cyprus. From 1952-1959 he served as the mission leader for evangelism and training of Cypriot leaders for the Greek church throughout the towns and villages of Cyprus. He also had strong ties and deep friendships with members of the Armenian Evangelical community in Cyprus. Daniel, Carolyn, and James were born in Cyprus during those years of service.

From 1960-62 Rev. Copeland was pastor of the Old Bethel and Bethel congregations of the RP Church in Sparta, Ill. In 1962, Geneva College bestowed on him the honorary degree of doctor of divinity. In that year, he was inaugurated to the chair of biblical languages and literature at RPTS. He also served as professor in the department of missions. While teaching at the seminary, he continued his studies and received the S.T.M. and Th.D. degrees from Concordia Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Mo. He was moderator of the Synod of the RPCNA in 1975.

After his “retirement” at the age of 75, Dr. Copeland served as guest professor of Old Testament studies in the Theological College of the RP Church of Ireland from 1989-1990, and was stated supply of the Trinity RPC in Belfast. Upon his return to the U.S., Clark frequently taught a course at RPTS as well as a summer program at Sangre de Cristo Theological Seminary in Colorado. He taught a semester at the RP Theological Hall in Kobe, Japan.

As a scholar, minister, and missionary, Dr. Copeland served on many boards and committees within and outside the denomination. A founder and charter member of the Covenant Fellowship RP Church in Wilkinsburg, Pa., he served for many years as a ruling elder. He was in frequent demand as a lecturer and conference speaker. Among these were the RP International Conference in Ireland in Aug. 1990 and the family conference of Trinity Christian Community Fellowship in Larnaca, Cyprus, in 2002. In 2008, he returned to Cyprus with all of his children to attend the 100th anniversary celebration of the Larnaca Academy, where he delivered a devotional message.

Clark loved the diversity and beauty of God’s creation. He enjoyed the opportunities that his travels gave him to see many parts of that creation and to get to know many different people. He maintained a lifelong enjoyment of gardening, creating vegetable and flower gardens in every place he lived. He also enjoyed woodworking, building several pieces of furniture, refinishing old furniture and doing home improvement projects.

Dr. Copeland was a resident of the RP Home for 14 years, having moved there with Ethyl in 1998. Ethyl preceded him in death in Mar. 2001. He was active in the life of the Home for most of those 14 years, leading prayer meetings and Sabbath school, and encouraging others through prayer, Bible reading and fellowship. He continued to travel to visit his family, participating in the marriages of several of his grandchildren and baptizing some of his great-grandchildren. To quote from his seminary retirement biography, “those…who sat under his teaching or who served with him in the cause of Christ have been greatly blessed by his engaging Christian character, his contagious sharing of God’s covenant promises and his faithful ministry for his Lord.” He followed Christ’s commandment to “set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity…Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift…” (1 Tim. 4:12-14). “In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching, show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech” (Titus 2:7-8).

He is survived by his four children; 11 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; and two brothers, Wilbur of Shawnee, Kan., and Keith of Kissimmi, Fla. He is buried next to his wife in the Union Dale Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pa.