In 1942, J. Paul McCracken and his brother Bob, along with Joe Armour and Bob McFarland (this writer) were bicycle delivery boys for the Topeka State Journal. Each day, Monday through Saturday, we were among about 15 boys who gathered in a small vacant storefront to get the newspapers for our routes. Boys can think of many non-constructive things to do, and Paul would carry the scars from those adventurous days. When a prankster approached Paul from the back and threw the white canvas paper-route bag over his head, cutting off his vision, Paul ran about blindly and in the process ran his elbow through the large plate-glass front window. About 40 years later we were at Covenant Heights conference and I asked to see his scars and stitch marks. With a look of pity towards me he commented, “Bob, I am so happy to know that you always remember the really important events in my life!”

John Paul McCracken, known as Paul or J. Paul, was born Dec. 27, 1929, in New Castle, Pa., to Paul Delo and Myra Edgar McCracken. He died July 17, 2012, in Pittsburgh, Pa., at age 82.

Paul lived in Rose Point (Pa.) and Topeka (Kan.), graduating from Topeka High School in 1946, from Geneva College in 1951, and from the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 1954. He pastored congregations of the RPCNA in Eastvale (Pa.), Cambridge (Mass.), Westminster (Colo.), and Colorado Springs (Colo.). He was moderator of the RPCNA Synod in 1993.

He married Frances M. “Trut” Gilchrist of Greeley, Colo., in 1953. They were married 59 years. Paul is survived by his wife, Frances, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and three children: Cheryl and husband Bob Hemphill of Laramie, Wyo., Herb and wife Patty of Beaver Falls, Pa., and Jill and husband Keith Mann of Colorado Springs, Colo.; 15 grandchildren; and 8 great-grandchildren. Also, a brother Robert (Mary Lynn) of Columbus, Ind., a sister, Mary and husband Wayne Spear of Gibsonia, Pa.; and a sister-in-law, Mary McCracken, of Orlando, Fla., survive him.

Paul was a good friend and caring counselor to those of all ages. He was an example of the man who was “easy to be entreated.” He was approachable by any, even those who he knew did not entirely agree with him. As we grew and had families of our own, we had many discussions. I could always count on Paul saying to me in regard to my position, “Bob, you may be right.” But of course I seldom was!

I had several opportunities to serve with Paul on boards and committees of the church. The time on the Board of Trustees at Geneva College enhanced my respect for Paul to state his convictions clearly and kindly. I learned how to relate to a board, even when in the position of the minority on important issues.

Since early college days, Paul and I enjoyed quartet singing. I was only a high school kid when our family went to hear the Covichords of 1947. From the humor, barbershop harmony, stirring psalms and messages, I knew I wanted to be like Paul, Don, Ken, Norman and Roy. For over 50 years, as long as Paul could stand physically, we sang in quartets at conference fun nights. It was obvious that, with Paul McCracken, our relationship never varied in love and respect for one another.

Paul and I both were committed to three important causes:

The first was the Lord and the Reformed Presbyterian branch of His Church. Our fathers were seminary classmates, and we both stood on the shoulders of strong mothers and fathers in covenant Christian homes.

The second was a commitment to train men to be godly leaders. I can still find men in the church who were in his congregations or were his summer pastoral interns. They agree that when Paul died, a prince had fallen in Israel.

The third was a commitment to our families. I shared with Paul the gift of two daughters and a son. We both sought to set before our children a plan of daily worship and aimed to work that out in family fun, music, camping trips, athletics and learning about God’s world. Paul’s children say that he encouraged excellence in all pursuits, to God’s glory, but he was never oppressive.

As we look back on Paul’s life and ministry, we cannot miss the esteem and confidence that the RP Synod had in him as he served on the Foreign Mission Board and the Trustees of Geneva College. He was selected as one of seven men in the Synod to prepare the brochure “Why Believe?” He served the presbytery as moderator and young people’s program coordinator. In these and many other ways he demonstrated his servant’s heart.

In my visits to Paul’s bedside in the RP Home, I was always encouraged by his acceptance of his creeping paralysis as God’s sovereign will for his life. As I was leaving his bedside, we had prayer and he remarked, “Bob, if it was not God’s will for me to stay bedfast, He could raise me up and I could walk out that door with you!” Like others who visited him, I wondered how I would respond if in his condition.

As the Bible said about Issachar, so it can be said of J. Paul McCracken—“men of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (1 Chron. 12:32).

—Bob McFarland