The Rev. Harold C. Vaughn died March 6 following heart surgery.

Vaughn was ordained an elder in the North Mississippi Conference in 1960. He served the Methodist Church for 38 years before retiring in 1993. Following his transfer to the Florida Conference in 1965, Vaughn served churches in St. Petersburg, Jacksonville, Orlando, Juno Beach, Tampa, Miami, Brandon and North Lauderdale.

The Rev. Owen C. Driskell died March 13 in Palatka while recovering from a stroke.

Ordained an elder in 1951, Driskell served the Methodist Church for 43 years until his retirement in 1992. He served churches in Marathon, Moore Haven, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Lakeland, Palm Harbor, Tice, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Gulfport, Bunnell, Interlachen, Gainesville and Waldo.

Ruth Thrift, the widow of the Rev. Charles T. Thrift Jr., a United Methodist elder and former president of Florida Southern College, died April 21. Thrift was also the mother of Nell Thrift, the Florida Conference’s archivist.

Margarette Smith, the wife of the Rev. Paul Smith, a retired elder in the Florida Conference and former executive director of the Florida United Methodist Foundation and Development Fund, died April 25 in Lakeland.

Dr. Raymond A. Alley died May 16 in Lakeland. Ordained an elder in 1937, Alley served the Methodist Church for nearly 42 years and retired in 1975. He was appointed superintendent of the Lakeland and Melbourne districts, associate council director, and pastor of churches in Melrose, Trenton-Chiefland, West Palm Beach, Groveland-Mascotte, Pompano, Ft. Pierce, Jacksonville, Ocala and St. Petersburg.

The Rev. Robert C. Boggs died July 5 after a long illness. Boggs was the father or the Rev. Charles Boggs, pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church in Ft. Myers.

Boggs received his license to preach in 1934, was ordained an elder in 1943 and retired from active ministry in 1985. He served as Florida Conference director of youth and pastor of churches in St. Petersburg, Largo, Dunedin, West Palm Beach, Tampa, Jacksonville and Fort Pierce.

Boggs was also a 33-year member of Kiwanis and received a Kiwanis International George F. Hixson Fellowship, the organization’s highest award, in 1996.