Introduction:  My dad, Walter Seaton, was a quiet, disciplined man. He was also stubborn and opinionated. But God got hold of him and changed his life. This is his testimony. He's not here to give it himself because he went to be with the Lord in 1982, at the age of 77. Not that he would have given it himself--he was not one to speak up in public--but also he believed that if people couldn't see it in your life, there was no use trying to tell them, anyhow.

A. Dad was born January 26, 1905 in Crane, Missouri, in Stone County, not far from what is now Silver Dollar City. There are still Seatons down there. The Hillbilly Family on the postcards and calendars? My distant cousins! Seriously!!

B. Anyway, back to Dad. He was the youngest of 6 children, 5 boys and a girl. He was born in a tent, because his parents were separated at the time. Grandma Seaton died in 1928 or so, when he was about 23; dad had served as her nurse for several years. Dad's big sister, my Aunt Byrdie, always seemed more like my grandmother than my aunt. She was the best possible example of Ozark hospitality you could find. If you've ever visited "Old Matt's Cabin" near Branson ... that's just like visiting Aunt Byrdie and Uncle Ben.

C. Education

1. Dad went to a little country school, Antioch School in Taney County, Missouri. It was just across Bear Creek from what was then the family farm. We still visit the little Seaton family cemetery near there. Both sets of Dad's grandparents are buried there, and so are his parents.

2. Dad's formal education ended after the 8th grade. I've often wondered how far he would have gone if he'd been able to go to college.

D. Religion -- the Pentecostal revival came to the Ozarks when Dad was about 10. It attracted everyone's attention, and my Grandma Seaton got saved and filled with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. So did many others. But some didn't really dedicate their lives to the Lord and soon fell away, spiritually. As a young teenager, my dad took his eyes off his mother's Godly example, and focused on those who would testify with apparent spirituality on Sunday, then live ungodly lives all week.

E. After his mother died, Dad came to Kansas to work at the Lyons Salt Plant. One of his brothers lived in Hutchinson, and while Dad was visiting Troy, they went to eat in a "beanery" (operated by my other grandmother) and there Dad met Mom. They were married in 1931; Dad was 26, Mom was 18.

1. Mom said she just changed bosses when she got married. Dad ordered her around as he did us children. It was that way until she got saved, about which more later.

Dorothy Seaton, 1943

2. There are 5 of us, 3 boys and 2 girls. Dad set high standards for us. One of his firmest was "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right." He wasn't much for outward appearance either. I'd say something about us being poorer than other people, because they had nicer things than we did, and he'd say something to the effect that "Well, some people wear everything they have on their backs!" I know now that we were fortunate enough to be in pretty good shape because I never even heard of the Depression until they talked about it in a 6th grade history lesson!

F. Dad worked in the vacuum pan division of the Salt Plant in Lyons. When briny water is steamed, eventually salt is all that is left. Salt from the Lyons mine is used on icy roads throughout the midwest each winter.

1. I remember a number of times the educated engineers would call Dad late at night. The machinery had broken down and they couldn't figure out how to fix it. So he'd go out and show them how.

2. He used to tell how he was almost electrocuted. He was working on wiring when someone accidentally threw the switch. The power grabbed him, but he was able to calm the man enough to go release the switch. Another time, he was knocked across the room in a similar situation.

G. Religion -- There were some shallow Christians in Kansas too. They'd come witnessing to him and later he'd see them hiding behind a door, sneaking a smoke. So he was still against "church;" it was for women and kids. But he loved singing the old church songs. We'd sit on the sofa in the evenings and he and Mom would sing "Turn the Radio On," "Amazing Grace," "The Hallelujah Side," "Precious Memories," and "How Beautiful Heaven Must Be." He was hungry for the Lord, but too stubborn to yield.

H. In 1947, we had moved to northern Kansas because Mom and Dad thought they wanted to farm. The corn was rained out twice, then it dried up and blew away. That was the end of that dream. So we moved back to Lyons.  My sister Pat was born while we were "farmers."

I. God knew what He was doing. We moved next door to Mrs. Temple, who belonged to the Assembly of God.

1. Mae began witnessing about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit to Mom, who all along was also searching for a real spiritual experience with God. She wanted more than "head knowledge;" she wanted "heart knowledge." Dad was now working nights, because he had lost his seniority when he resigned.

2. So my timid mother changed churches and began attending the A/G on Sunday mornings, despite Dad's orders to stay away from it. You see, it was all right for her to go to some other church, but he didn't want her around those Pentecostal people. But, according to Mom, when God saved her and filled her with the Holy Spirit, He gave her a backbone. And it taught her hard-headed husband to respect her.

J. Now that Mom was Spirit-filled, she wanted to go to church every chance she got. Well, Dad decided she must have a crush on the preacher, so he would drive us all to church. He would then sit in the car and listen to the singing. When the preaching began, he'd turn on the car radio. His favorite station was XERF in Mexico, where they had gospel singing at 8:00 every evening. But then the radio minister would begin preaching. Since no one was watching, Dad would listen to J. Harold Smith, and got some good Bible teaching, which began to sink in.

July 2001, Acuna, Mexico.  Station XERF is located in Mexico,
just across the border from Del Rio, Texas.

K. Before long, he decided that preachers were OK and he pitched in and helped build the new church The other volunteer builders valued his common sense, because where the architect had failed to leave good instructions, Dad figured out what should be done.

L. Howard and I were married in 1952 and I went off to California for two months. When I returned, I had a new Dad! Mom had noticed some changes in him and one day she had commented that he probably should begin working on not losing his temper now that he had stopped "swearing" and he said, "You don't think I did that by myself, do you?" That was how he told Mom that he had given his heart and life to the Lord.

M. They immediately began having prayer together each evening, and Dad started reading the Bible. Several years ago, Mom and I were going through some old papers, and we found his 1952 account books. Where he had been listing the dollar a week he'd been giving Mom to put in the offering, we found that he immediately began showing 10% of his income as he began tithing.

Dad & Mom, about 1957

N. Soon he too received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, at home, praying with Mom. He still wouldn't testify before the congregation, though.

O. Early on Thanksgiving Day in 1964, when Dad was 59, he lost his right hand in a job-related accident.

1. Bleeding profusely, he could feel himself passing out, so he began singing "Amazing Grace." Immediately, the bleeding stopped, and his strength returned. The men with him were almost in shock and unable to think clearly. So he calmed them down, telling them to call the ambulance and my Mom. When it arrived, he was standing up telling the driver how to back in -- then he rode up front with the driver.

2. Mom met him at the hospital, where they insisted he get on the gurney. As they wheeled him to the operating room, Mom was holding his other hand and they were singing Ira Stanphill's "I Know Who Holds Tomorrow and I Know Who Holds My Hand." The surgery was to clean up the wound. The doctor commented on the fact that he apparently had not bled any because no transfusion was needed. God had restored the lost blood!

3. The entire hospital staff was amazed at Dad's recovery. Most people who lose part of their body go into shock a certain number of hours after the accident. Dad didn't. Most stubs atrophy, so that the prosthesis can't be fitted too soon, but Dad's never did. He kept too active. The day he went home from the hospital he was using a hammer, steadying his left hand with his right stub, bandage and all.

P. Gradually, my Dad changed again. He became more gentle and tender-hearted, less sarcastic and judgmental. So it was all part of God's plan. He and Mom even began singing specials at church, some of those old songs he always loved. I can still see him keeping time by swinging his arm with the hook attached. One of their favorites was "Job's God Is True."

Q. He used to give Howard advice on pastoring. "Don't tell people where to sit in church; just be glad they came." And, "Always sing all the verses of the songs. God gave the song-writers the words, and it's not right to leave any of them out."

R. Dad really never could bring himself to say two things: "I'm sorry" and "I love you."

1. Because he tended to let things build up and then he'd finally lose his temper, there definitely were times he needed to apologize, but we learned to read his actions and knew what he meant. The same was true about showing his love and appreciation for us.

2. In his final years, I decided to become a little more demonstrative and always hugged him when we were leaving to return home. It touched him and I know he appreciated it.

S. He had a pretty good sense of humor. But he would never admit to being surprised or to hearing anything new. If you told him a funny story, he'd laugh and say, "I kicked the slats out of my cradle the first time I heard that."

About 1959

T. But he was best at taking authority over situations, which apparently influenced me, even though I was not aware of it.

1. When we were pastoring in Concordia, Kansas about 25 years ago, one winter I worked as night waitress and cashier in a little café north of town (we were having financial problems). On Saturday nights, the gambling, drinking crowd from the VFW club would come in for a late night breakfast before going home.

2. One night a fight broke out. There was no phone to call the Sheriff's office--it was next door in the gas station. I knew something had to be done. Suddenly (to my own amazement) it was as though my dad clicked on in the back of my head. I slammed my hand on the counter to get everyone's attention and said in an authoritative voice, just like Dad's, "I want it QUIET in here!!!" You could have heard a pin drop. Then I gestured at the two fighting men and said in the same tone, "And you two, SIT DOWN!!" And they did. No more problems!

U. After Dad's accident, he took a disability retirement. Then he became a detective. Technically speaking. The security company for the Salt Plant hired him as night watchman because he knew the plant so well. Eventually, he had to retire again, when Parkinson's disease took its toll.

V. Mom cared for him as long as she could, but finally had to place him in the Lyons Good Samaritan Home. We thought he'd fight it, but he accepted it for Mom's sake.

W. The last time Howard and I saw him, we took Kari and Jason, our two older grandchildren, to see him. As I looked at him, I knew he was suffering because even though he was virtually paralyzed and could hardly speak coherently, his mind was active, and I prayed, Lord, please don't keep him here this way. Four days later, a fast-acting pneumonia took him within an hour. Pat, my sister called me at work and said, "Our dad's gone."

X. At his funeral, we had the congregation sing "Amazing Grace" and "When We All Get to Heaven." We knew he would have liked that.

Conclusion:   I was like all children, I guess. My parents got smarter as I grew up. I know now that Dad taught me to do a good job, to be consistent, to be thrifty. He taught me to think logically and analytically (to stay ahead of him!) But most of all, I'm thankful I got to see God work in his life. God took a hard-headed, opinionated man and made him the kind of Christian that his wife and children, the people he worked with, and the ones he went to church with could look up to with respect and admiration.

Mom and Dad celebrated 50 years of marriage in 1981. We had a nice celebration with them on March 7. All five children and our mates came: Carl & Vernie Seaton; Marge & Howard Marshall; Leon & Roberta Seaton; Norman & Sharon Seaton; and Pat & Gary Crawford. We had a photographer there. Some of the grandchildren came also.

Dad passed away at age 77, in Lyons, Kansas, where he is buried in the Municipal Cemetery. He died April 1, 1982; his funeral was Monday, April 5, at 10:30 a.m. in the Assembly of God Church. Pastor Carl Swink officiated. Pallbearers were Fred Olds, Manuel Sepulveda, H. J. "Slim" Matthias, Dennis Schwerdtfeger, Neal Phillips, and Ted Pyatt. Organist/soloist was Erma Small Prigmore; she sang "Until Then." Congregational songs were "Amazing Grace" and "When We All Get to Heaven." All three songs were among Dad’s favorites.  

In addition to us children, our mates, and our family members, some of the Seaton relatives from Missouri came: Pete & Judy Seaton; Lola Seaton Brown; Alfred Seaton; Homer & Pauline Seaton; and Ray & Lillie Seaton. All were from Uncle Ralph’s family and lived in the Springfield area.