God in his infinite wisdom called our beloved husband, father, grandfather, friend and faithful missionary, Ross David Fite, from labor to reward.
Ross David Fite was born Jan. 7, 1926, in Sparkman, Ark., in the home to Horace W. Fite and Ada Lemon Fite. He was born again in the fall of 1946 while attending Maddox Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. Ross Fite laid his earthly body aside and went home to be with his Savior on Aug. 3, 2014.
A celebration service will be held in his memory at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Iola Baptist Temple, where he was a member.
Ross Fite grew up in west Texas and graduated high school at the age of 17 in Childress, Texas. He entered the Navy and served our country as a Naval lifeguard, Seaman First Class, on the USS Zuni during World War II. After receiving an honorable discharge from the Navy, he went home to care for his family.
He met his one and only bride, Ila Mae Bivens Fite, while attending church in Fort Worth, where he had received the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. From the time he was saved, he began serving God and never looked back. Having worked on a ranch in California, his life-long dream had been to become a rancher, until shortly after marriage, God began to burden his heart for the ministry. He was called to preach then attended and graduated from the Bible Baptist Seminary of Fort Worth, in 1954. He moved to Fayetteville, Ark., where he started Fayetteville Baptist Church and for seven years served as its pastor, then he answered the call to become a missionary in Latin America. He labored faithfully as a missionary in El Salvador and then in southern Mexico for over 50 years. More than 40 churches and missions and two seminaries are in existence today as a result of his ministry. He also established three radio ministries, one in southern Mexico and two in El Salvador.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Ila Mae Fite; four daughters, Martha and her husband, Lonnie C. Smith, Guadalajara, Mexico, Mary and her husband, Roger R. Collins, Iola, Deborah and her husband, Mike Meredith, Mandurah, Australia, and Rachel and her husband, Mark King, Fort Worth, Texas; 12 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Preceding him in death were his father, Horace Fite; mother, Ada Lemon Fite; brother, H.W. Fite; and sisters Fanny Coyne and Ruth Fite.
Pastor Roger R. Collins of Iola Baptist Temple will officiate. Pastor Cayetano Fuentes, a graduate of the first class of the Bible Baptist Seminary in El Salvador and pastor of Iglesia Biblica Bautista in San Salvador, will bring the sermon. Interment will be at the National Cemetery in Fort Scott.
Memorials are suggested to Iola Baptist Temple and may be left with Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Memorial Chapel of Iola, which is in charge of arrangements. To sign the guest book online or leave a condolence, go to www.iolafuneral.com.
Ross Fite
