Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Longtime LV minister, civic leader Tudor dies at 94

The Rev. Glenn Tudor, longtime pastor of First Christian Church and a Las Vegas resident of 47 years, died Friday at 94.

Tudor, who spearheaded an early ecumenical movement prompting Southern Nevada churches and synagogues to work together on projects, was active in many civic organizations.

"He saw his job as larger than the ministry to the church," his daughter, Judy Ford, said. "He significantly participated in social and ecumenical work."

"He was such a sweet man," former Southwest Gas CEO Bill Laub said. "He was a people person."

Laub got to know Tudor after he watched Ford, become a senior vice president of Southwest Gas.

Laub stayed close to the minister over the years as Tudor lost his eyesight to cataracts, but the pastor never forgot hymns, Laub said.

"He loved hymns. A great-great grandson would start singing an old hymn and Glen would sing along," Laub said.

Born in Morgan County, Ind., on a farm near Indianapolis July 1, 1908, Tudor came to Las Vegas in 1956.

Tudor applied three times to become an Army chaplain in World War II, but was turned down because the military deemed him physically unfit to serve.

"But he was determined," Ford said.

He then joined the Red Cross and was a field director in England for more than a year during the war, she said.

In Las Vegas Tudor became minister at a tiny First Christian Church at 10th Street and Bonneville Avenue in downtown Las Vegas. The church and the minister's house still stand today and are used as government offices.

Tudor, along with former Gov. Paul Laxalt, developed more than 2 acres of the new church's 5 acres at 101 S. Rancho Drive into a softball field and baseball diamond, starting one of Southern Nevada's first Little League teams, Ford said.

"Governor Laxalt came to the opening of many baseball seasons there," she said.

Perhaps one of Tudor's greatest accomplishments, according to Ford, was re-organizing the Interfaith Ministerial Alliance.

Tudor managed to conduct a religious census in Southern Nevada, bringing Protestant, Roman Catholic, Mormon and Jewish congregations together.

"He had great joy that he could get all the faiths working together," Ford said. "It was typical of his view of how the world should work."

One of his proudest moments came when Tudor was asked to walk with the rabbi of a Las Vegas synagogue during High Holy Days, Ford said. "Dad came home and told us that he felt so honored," she said.

Tudor retired from his ministry in 1973.

In addition to his ministry, Tudor was active with the 49er Lions Club, was on the YMCA board, the Southern Nevada Area Interagency Council on Alcoholism, the Council of Churches, was dean of the Cooperative School of Religious Education, was on the board of the National Conference of Christians and Jews and was on the board of the Boulder Dam Council of Boy Scouts.

In addition to Judy Ford, Tudor is survived by a son, Glendon, of Claremont, Calif. Tudor's wife, Dorothy "Dott" Tudor, died in 1986.

A memorial service is scheduled for 7 p.m. on July 1 at the First Christian Church, the Rev. David Jarman said.

Jarman and his wife, the Rev. Ginger Jarman, are co-pastors of the church and have been there since February.

"He's left a great legacy in this community; it's a great loss," Jarman said.

Graveside services are scheduled at 10 a.m. Saturday at Paradise Memorial Gardens on Eastern Avenue. Bunker Brothers Mortuary is handling arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Glen Tudor Memorial at First Christian Church.

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