Pastor Walter Ray Jasper, Sr.

Walter Ray Jasper, Sr. was born in Troy, Texas on May 30, 1928 to the late Wesley and Anna Louise Bailey Jasper. Being known and chosen by God before he was formed in the womb, his steps in life was one of divine purpose. He came to the end of his journey on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, after a life of 97 years.

Perhaps Troy was a good place to raise a household, but the family moved to the prominent port city of Galveston by 1930 where his father went from farming to become a dock worker on the wharf. As a child, Walter and the family worshipped at Live Oak Baptist Church, where he was baptized and nurtured in the Christian faith.

Walter’s childhood name among the family and neighborhood was ‘Spike’ most likely as a description of his nature to rise or progress. He attended the Galveston Public Schools and graduated from Central High School in 1946. Thereafter, he served a tour of duty in the US Army. After discharge, his mindset was focused on economic uplift and well-being by working on the wharf as a longshoreman, as a security guard, and in the hospital. He remained increasingly focused, or ‘spiked’ on earning a college degree and enrolled in Texas Southern University (TSU) in Houston in 1950. He remained in Galveston and travelled back and forth daily to class. He majored in sociology with a minor in psychology and graduated in 1956. His life’s work was with the Texas Employment Commission, now the Texas Workforce Commission in La Marque, TX. The agency transferred him to Austin, TX in 1967. He remained with this state commission until retirement in 1986. While in LaMarque, he united with the historic Greater Bell Zion Baptist Church in Texas City.

In following God’s ordered steps with a balance of personal choice and divine guidance, he "found the one whom my soul loves" in Gladys Levonia Birdwell. They were united in holy matrimony on August 18, 1955 in Galveston, TX. This cord of three (Ecclesiastes 4:12) was a life’s journey of sixty-nine years of inseparable love. This union was blessed with a son, Walter R. Jasper, Jr., and daughter, Joselyn Denise Wade.

With the transfer to Austin, the Jaspers joined Nineteenth Street Baptist Church under Rev. M. C. Arnold and later under Rev. M.C. Walker until he heard the Macedonian call to join St. James Baptist Church under the late Rev. E. M. Franklin. At St. James, he became the Minister of Christian Education, served on the Church Council for Christian Education and Planning, Ministerial Advisor for the Youth Department, and Chaplain of the Prison Ministry. He often visited the Travis County Correctional facility in Del Valle.

Rev. Jasper was the pastor of other churches, one in Lincoln, Texas and another in Austin. In a statement by the late Rev. Franklin to, “Work out all that God has worked in” he and a group of people met in council to birth the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church where he served faithfully to the end of his life.

As Pastor, he kept the church involved in local, national, and internationally through the St. John Regular Baptist District Association, the National Baptist Convention of America, Foreign Mission, and the Men’s Winter Institute. In the past, he served as president of the Baptist Ministers’ Union of Austin and Vicinity, and was a frequent teacher of St. James Breakfasts. Rev. Jasper was serious about the Great Commission. In making disciples beyond the walls of Antioch, he and the church went to ‘his Jerusalem’ the Walnut Creek Apartments with a coined phrase ‘church on the ground. ’ This outdoor ministry took place every 4th Sunday.

He was preceded in eternal rest by Gladys, his beloved wife of sixty-nine years on March 7, 2025; his parents Wesley Sr. and Anna Louise Bailey Jasper; siblings: Dorothy Mae Smith, Lula Mae Price, Harold Jasper, Sr., Norma Ray Thomas and Wesley Jasper Jr.

Rev. Jasper’s legacy continues through his children, Walter “Cappy” Jasper Jr. and Joselyn Denise Wade; Grandchildren: Erika Jasper, Natasha Wade, Erik Jasper (Shea McRae), Keadra Benford, Breana Wade and Kristen Jasper. His memory and impact will live on in his great-grandchildren: Cameron Mack, Erik Jasper Jr., Kierra Jasper, Jarius Mattox, Keshon Jasper, Kassadi Jeffries, Christian Mack, Elijah Jasper, Tristen Jasper, Paizley Crittendon, and Micah Fleming. Tru’lixe Williams, a great-great grandchild, will continue his legacy.

His memory remains with siblings Minnie Elmore, Thomasine Harden, and Cecil Jasper; sister-in-law, Mary Byrdwell; a special daughter, Lola Brown, the Antioch congregation, and a host of extended family members and friends.