Henry Bock

Henry Bock, Jr. of Saco, Maine, entered into the presence of his Lord on Tuesday, October 1 at Seal Rock Health Care. Henry was born in Newark, NJ on October 25, 1924, the son of Henry Bock, Sr. and Margaret C. (Drews) Bock. Henry trusted Christ as his Savior on July 4, 1937 and began attending a church with a missions-hearted pastor. He graduated from high school in Springfield, NJ, and attended Newark College of Engineering before being drafted into the 11th Airborne Division on February 25, 1943. Henry served in the Reconnaissance section as a Corporal, and after training in the US and New Guinea he went to the Philippines theater where he received the Purple Heart and Silver Star medals for action in Luzon. He was separated from the military on April 23, 1945. Henry graduated from Gordon College of Theology and Missions in 1950 and from Columbia International University Graduate School in 1953; he also studied at the Summer Institute of Linguistics, a parallel organization with Wycliffe Bible Translators. He married Marjorie E. Holmes in 1950 and together they spent 15 years, from 1954 to 1969, as missionaries in Dutch New Guinea (presently West Papua, Indonesia) with The Evangelical Alliance Mission. They were in a pioneering ministry situation doing language reduction, translating portions of the New Testament, conducting literacy classes, a limited amount of medical work, and planting the church among the Sougb tribal people. From 1970 to 1989 Henry pastored three Baptist churches: Somersworth, NH; West Buxton, ME; and Kittery Point, ME. Following retirement Henry was called to interim in 11 churches in York County from 1990 to 2005. Henry and Marjorie celebrated 57 years of marriage before her death in 2007. Henry's sister, Margaret, was a missionary in Chile, South America for 50 years. There will be no visiting hours. A memorial service will be held at Shapleigh First Baptist Church at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 5, with burial to follow at Pine Grove Cemetery in South Waterboro. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent to T.E.A.M. - USA, PO Box 1986, Grapevine, TX 76099-1986. Specify Account No. 580200 for Sougb ministry.Arrangements are under the direction of Black Funeral Homes and Cremation Service, Sanford-Springvale.To leave a message of condolence, please click on the condolences tab to the left.