Richard H. Seume

Dr. Richard Herman Seume was born in 1915. He accepted Christ as his savior at the age of nine in Omaha, Nebraska. He graduated from Wheaton College in 1937 and received his Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) in 1941. Wheaton College awarded him a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1957.

He married Mary Troutman, his college sweetheart, in 1938, and they had four children: Richard, Mary Ann Cate, Marcia Hanson, and Jennifer Dalch. After Dr. Seume joined the staff at DTS, Mrs. Seume served as the first Assistant to the Dean of Students for Women.

As a student at DTS, Seume served in the music ministry at Ross Avenue Baptist Church. About 1938, Harlin J. Roper invited Seume to become assistant pastor at Scofield Memorial Church. Seume later pastored the Berachah Church in Houston, TX, from 1941- circa 1946; Madison Avenue Baptist Church, Paterson, NJ, circa 1946-1967; Immanuel Baptist Church in Richmond, VA, from 1953-1967, and the Wheaton Bible Church, now located in West Chicago, IL, from 1967-1970. While pastor at Wheaton Bible Church, Seume was diagnosed with kidney failure. He spent the rest of his life on dialysis three evenings a week at his home. He became the first chaplain for Dallas Theological Seminary in 1970.

Seume served on six mission boards: Central American Missions, Africa Inland Mission, North Africa Mission, Christian Mission Incorporated, Regions Beyond Missionary Union, and World Missions. He also served on the DTS Board of Regents and the advisory council of the Virginia Child Evangelism Fellowship.

Seume served as chaplain at DTS until he retired in1985. Richard and Mary Seume moved back to Richmond for their retirement. He died of a heart attack following a car accident in Richmond, VA on March 10, 1986.

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