Homer Trickett papers (MS.2011.031)

Biographical/Historical note

Rev. Dr. Homer L. Trickett, 95, of Pound Road, an American Baptist Minister, died Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at Kent Hospital in Warwick. He was the beloved husband of the late Margaret M. (Miller) Trickett to whom, at the time of her death in 2005, he had been married for sixty-five years. He was the beloved father of Dr. Paul L. Trickett and his wife Gloria Howard of Providence and the foster parent of Claudette Ross of Easton, MD and Deardra MacDonald of Florida.

Dr. Trickett was born in Preston County, West Virginia, the son of William J. and Emma Mae (Triplett) Trickett. He was the eldest of eleven children. His sisters Nellie Riley and Lucille Metheny and his brothers James, Robert, Ray and Gay Trickett all predeceased him. The remaining members of his family are Grace Bennett of Ridgely, WV, Opal Martin of Kingwood, WV, Evelyn Brown of Laguna Hills, CA and Harry Trickett of Reedsville, WV.

Dr. Trickett attended elementary and secondary schools in Preston County and was Salutatorian of his class at Newbury High School in 1932. He was awarded a full-tuition scholarship in engineering to attend Salem College, Salem, WV. He graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1936 and entered the Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, PA, to prepare for the American Baptist Ministry. He graduated from Crozer Seminary with B.D. Degree in 1939 and with a Masters Degree in 1940. He continued his studies toward a Ph Degree at the University of Pennsylvania and finished all course requirements and examinations but decided not to take the degree. In 1958 Brown University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree.

The American Baptist pastorates served by Dr. Trickett include the Prospect Hill Baptist Church in Prospect Park, PA, 1940-1949; The First Baptist Church of Reading, PA, 1949-1955; The First Baptist Church in America in Providence, RI, 1955-1970; and the First Park Baptist Church, Plainfield, NJ, 1970-1979. Following his retirement as Sr. Pastor of the Plainfield Church, he served as Associate Pastor, part time, of the Arnold Mills United Methodist Church, 1979-1981; as interim minister of the First Baptist Church of Rochester, NY, 1981-1982; of the Emmanuel Baptist Church of Schenectady, NY, 1982-1983; and of the First Baptist Church of Boston, 1983-1984.

During his first pastorate Dr. Trickett served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Crozer Seminary, as a member of the Board of Managers of the American Baptist Historical Society and as a member of the Children's Curriculum Committee of the American Baptist Board of Education and Publication. During his years as pastor of the historic First Baptist Church in America, he served as a member of the New England Theological Study Committee and assisted in preparing papers on Baptist theology and Ecclesiology for National Theological Conferences held at the American Baptist Assembly in Green Lake, WI. Also during his pastorate in Providence, Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave the First Baptist Church in America a half million dollars to be used in restoring the historic meeting house as nearly as possible to its original beauty and durability. During the two years work of restoration the congregation met for worship and all other functions in Sayles Hall on the Brown University campus.

Dr. Trickett has been a member of the Providence Baptist Theological Circle, the second oldest such circle in the United States. A member of the Ministers' Council of the American Baptist Churches and of the Rhode Island American Baptist Ministers' Council. He served on the Board of Managers of the American Baptist Churches of RI and as President of same in 1967. He served also in the official board and several of the committees of the Rhode Island State Council of Churches and as President of that organization in 1968.

In 1961, Dr. Trickett traveled to the Holy Land and spent three months traveling in Europe and the British Isles. In that summer he and his family lived in London, England, and he preached in thirteen British churches as a member of the American Team of Exchange Preachers under the auspices of the National Council and the British Council of Churches. Dr. Trickett has written and published several sermons and articles in magazines and periodicals. He has written two unpublished manuscripts, one on church renewal and the other on Christian initiation.

He was a member of Phillips Memorial Baptist Church, Cranston where he served as Associate Pastor from 1984 – 1997. He was a mason and a member of What Cheer Lodge No. 21, now affiliated with Adelphoi Lodge No. 33, where he served as Master in 1969. He also served as a Right Worshipful District Deputy Grand Master for the Masonic Grand Lodge of Rhode Island.

Citation: Obituary, Carpenter-Jenks Funeral Home and Crematory, West Warwick, RI, 2008. (http://www.carpenterjenks.com/obituary/Homer-L.-Trickett/Cumberland-RI/596798)