Lovic Wesley Ridenhour, 96, of Beaumont, died April 14, 2012 at Sabine Oaks Home in Beaumont, TX.

He was born in Birmingham, AL, on April 11, 1916. After his mother's death when he was eight years old, his maternal grandparents reared him and his three younger siblings. After graduation from Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, he married Jimmie Dauris Johnson in 1938. They were married 73 years. He served in the U. S. Army occupational forces in Japan at the end of World War II from 1945 to 1947. He attended Jacksonville University, Jacksonville, Alabama.

Lovic worked for Thom McAnn and Birmingham Aircraft Modification Center in Birmingham, then Anniston Army Depot, Anniston, Alabama, where he retired in 1975, as an employee relations specialist. He moved to Beaumont in 1996 and has been a resident of Atria Collier Park, Calder Woods, and Sabine Oaks retirement centers for the last seven years.

He is survived by his son, Wes, and his wife, Sandra, of Beaumont, daughter, Ann Garcia, and her husband, Bob, of Fountain Valley, CA, daughter, Jane Jajko, and her husband, Dean, of Riverside, NJ, six grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren.

Lovic was preceded in death by his wife, Dauris, parents, Annie and Lovick Ridenhour, of Birmingham, AL, brothers, Bill, of Spokane, WA, and Norman of Birmingham, AL, sister Annie Claire Hope of Birmingham, and one grandchild, Joey Gregg, of Big Spring, TX.

Mr. Ridenhour's greatest love was to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in teaching, building churches throughout the United States through Southern Baptist Campers On Mission, and serving as a deacon in Southern Baptist churches for most of his life. When he died he was a member of First Baptist Church of Beaumont, where he was active in ministry to the homebound before his recent illnesses.

A gathering of family and friends will be held Wednesday, April 18, 2012 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Claybar Kelley-Watkins Funeral Home with a graveside service to follow at 2:00 p.m. at Haven of Rest Cemetery.