Dr. Raymond L. Muncy, a distinguished professor of history at Harding University and former chairman of its history department, died Wednesday night, January 6, 1994, at the age of 65. Although he had recently undergone open heart surgery, the relation of his death to that surgery is unknown.

At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife, Eloise; hree children, Zachary Muncy of Searcy, Marcus Muncy of Clarksville, AR, and David Muncy of Sherwood, AR. He was preceded in death by one daughter, Kandace Muncy. He was buried in Oaklawn Cemetery in Searcy, AR. Ray Muncy was selected by Harding students as a distinguished teacher three times. He had been a history professor at the university since 1964 and had served as chairman of the department from 1965 until 1993.

He had served as the first teacher in the university's international studies program in Florence, Italy, when the program started in 1981.

He was the author of three books, "Sex and Marriage in Utopian Communities: Nineteenth-Century America" (which has been reprinted and also translated into Japanese), "Searcy, Arkansas: A Frontier Town Grows Up With America", "Filling the Ancient Measure", and authored many journal articles and chapters in other books. His book on Searcy received the National Award of Merit in 1977 from the National Association of State and Local Histories. His vita includes a long list of honors, awards and memberships in organizations.

A native of Belle, West Virginia, Ray received his master's degree from Indiana University and his doctorate from the University of Mississippi at Oxford.

Ray was a member of the Searcy Kiwanis Club, serving on its executive board. He served as an elder of the College Church of Christ from 1971 until the time of his death and preached regularly at Pineview Church of Christ at Clay from 1968 until the time of his death. He served the Arkansas Association of College History Teachers as spresident, vice president, secretary, and treasurer.

Article from THE BISON, Searcy, AR, January 28, 1994
Student reflects on Dr. Muncy's influence
by Roger Clayton

Precious few individuals are capable of teaching by example so hat they deserve the title of mentor. Those noble souls who possess that inward spark which leads others to strive to be like them are certainly rare and blessed. Sadly, Harding is now without onewho had a tremendous influence on the kingdom of heaven, while striving to enlighten others about he power of ideas and the nature of truth.

In thinking of a renaissance man like Dr. Raymond Muncy, the prospect of describing him in very few lines seems extremely imposing. When Chancellor Clifton Ganus Jr. describes Dr. Muncy as being "an amazing human who most certainly was rare and treasured", it appears that the task of discussing his life in a manner that would do him justice is rather impossible. However, as a tribute to a mentor, I hope to provide a sort of remembrance of Dr. Muncy. I would also love to inform those who did not know him about the type of a Christian husband, father, scholar, teacher, preacher and well-versed man of God that he was.

Certainly all of thes roles cannot be discussed herein, although they deserve a far more extensive treatment. He did so many things with passion and commitment that it would be a truly herculean task to cover all that he did. Instead, I want to paint a bit of a portrait of him from the point of view of a student whom he was kind enough to treat as a friend. I was really nothing more than a lowly pupil working with a great master, but his way was to make those around him feel like friends.

Dr. Muncy was originally from West Virginia, born into a coal-mining family. He worked very hard when he was young and often would shar e with me the lessons of not having had very much, but of learning the value of hard work. One of the lessons that he learned from being exposed to the coal mines was that he ought to get an education that would allow him to stretch his mind rather than spend his days going about the same task in a hole in the ground. He went to Freed-Hardeman College and eventually finished his graduate studies at Indiana University. He spoke fondly of Indiana and loved to assign me readings from his old college professors. He had a profound respect for the education that his teachers had shared with him.

After preaching, working and learning in Indiana, Dr. Muncy traveled south to share his knowledge and wisdom at Harding. He was brought to Harding to teach in the history department and was quickly appointed head of the department. He served in this capacity from 1965 until 1993. It was here that he encouraged so many to understand the ideas of men who are striving to become more insightful concerning the human experience.

Regardless of what else is said about this great man, one point must be driven home. He helped people search and come to know their Creator. He believed in his students and exposed them to a realm of ideas that they had never known before, teaching them to realize that the human experience should be full of fascination and curiosity. He would often describe the wonder of ideas and how people must think and act passionately in their lives in order to truly be human. Not only did he challenge people to think, to use the "uniquely human" (as he would say) part of themselves, but the would show them how they could think, work and reason.

His classes, as well as personal discussions, were constantly filled with something new that he wanted to share with his students. He inspired his students to think so that thay, too, could see the magnificent relevance of history and philosophy to their lives. He convinced me that in order to be the most effective worker for God's kingdom, I must understand the ideas of the past and the present and how they so poignantly apply to the reality of God. Whether it was literature, history, theology or Calvin and Hobbes, ( I really did give him a book of Calvin and Hobbes once, and he read it. Totally!), Dr. Muncy was always reading and keeping his mind fresh.

Dr. Larry Long, as well as many others who knew him, talks about how Dr. Muncy would so frequently approach him and inquire as to what he had been reading. Dr. Muncy always had a desire to know and understand, and he wanted his friends and students to share that desire. I do not think Dr. Muncy every lived a boring day. He was constantly pursuring some fresh idea or undertaking some new project that would be of help to some else.

Dr. Muncy knew how to get through to peole to enable them to find that "devine spark" that sets them apart in God's creation. He had a kind of gentleness that made those who had every right to shudder in his presence feel perfectly at home. His knowledge, and more importantly, his wisdom concerning history and the ideas that shaped it, will forever live in the hearts and minds of those tho whom he showed such amazing love in his role of teacher and mentor. He was a truly outstanding man of God who will be greatly missed and remembered.

May the spirit of free inquiry and love for ideas thrive, as the students of Harding go out into the world to labor in the great kingdom of God that Dr. Muncy, our truly great teacher, so powerfully stood for.