Alvie Ray Jarratt, 75, died Sunday, September 11, 2016, in his residence, surrounded by his wife and other family members.

Funeral services will be held 10:00 a.m. Thursday at the Iowa/Illinois District Bible Missionary Campgrounds, 18120 181st St., Sherrard.  Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday at the Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, 201 4th Ave. E., Milan.  Burial will be in Rock Island Memorial Park Cemetery.  Memorials may be made in care of the Trinity Bible Missionary Church, Milan.

Alvie was born on December 21, 1940, in Half Moon, Arkansas.  He was the fifth son and seventh child born to Alvie and Loyce Jarratt.  He attended Nazarene bible colleges in Nashville, Tennessee, and Bethany, Oklahoma, from 1958-1959.  In the fall of 1960, he enrolled in Bible Missionary Institute in Rock Island, Illinois, and graduated in 1963.  Upon graduation, he married Carol Robinson in Shreveport, Louisiana.

As a member and elder in the Bible Missionary Church, he served in five pastorates from 1963-1981.  His longest pastoral tenure was Trinity Bible Missionary Church in Milan, Illinois, where he labored from 1972-1981.  During this time, he started the Christian day school which is now known as Trinity Christian Academy.

From 1981-1985, he was the District Moderator over the Northeast District of the Bible Missionary Church, and from 1985-1999, he labored as the district leader of the Arkansas District.  He became the General Secretary of the Bible Missionary Church in 1987, faithfully serving until 1999 when he was elected as General Moderator over the entire denomination.  As General Moderator, he and his wife, Carol, made extensive tours of the church's work on foreign fields in many countries.  The integrity and dedication with which he served his church for fifty-three years was a sterling model of New Testament Christianity.

Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Carol Jarratt; 3 sons, Alvie, Jr. (Kay) of Bismarck, North Dakota; Randy (Tangie) of Alum Bank, Pennsylvania; Philip of Monroe, Louisiana; 13 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren, a host of nieces and nephews, 1 sister, Gloria Lemmons, of Edmond, Oklahoma. He is preceded in death by 4 brothers, 2 sisters and a daughter, Lisa.