Clark County’s Valentine Sweethearts: Dan and Elsie Deatrick
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By Emily Bontrager
This year’s first Valentine Sweetheart couple is Dan and Elsie Deatrick. Let’s look back at how this couple first met and how God brought them together.
Dan Deatrick was born on December 15, 1953 in Edina, Missouri. He and his sister were raised in Neeper by their parents, George and Ernestene Deatrick.
In 1971, Dan graduated from the Clark County High School and went to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois for one year.
“I received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hyles- Anderson College, which is a Baptist Bible college,” Dan explained.
Elsie Tate was born on April 5, 1949 in Pfafftown, North Carolina. Her parents were Clyde and Juanita Tate of Forsyth County, North Carolina. Elsie has four siblings.
She graduated from North Forsyth High School in 1967. After high school, Elsie attended a few colleges.
“I went to Wingate and I also went to High Point,” Elsie said.
In 1974, Elsie graduated from Hyles-Anderson College, which is located in Crown Point, Indiana, with a degree in Elementary Education.
The first time Dan and Elsie met was at the Bible college in Indiana.
“I was working for the college and I was collecting money as the new students came in,” Elsie said.
At first, Elsie did not like Dan at all.
“At first, it was like water and oil,” Dan laughed.
At the school, Elsie was also one of the few girl bus captains. Buses would pick up kids to take them to church or classes from Chicago, Illinois to Hammond, Indiana, which was about an hour drive.
Dan would see Elsie lining up the little kids and showing them where they were supposed to go. This made Dan think that Elsie would make a good wife to someone someday.
“The thing I was looking at was a person who lived their beliefs and their Christianity. They weren’t just saying what I wanted to hear, but I could actually see that they lived that way,” Dan said.
“For a guy who wants to raise Godly kids, that’s one of the first things you better look for is a girl that would make a good mother.”
At one point, Dan and Elsie were both engaged to someone else, but they ended their relationships. Since they were both single, Dan’s friend Richard DeHart came up with a plan to set the two up. Richard knew that Dan had been thinking about Elsie, so he found out where she sat in the chapel.
“I checked attendance at the chapel and his friend found out where I sat. His friend went and sat down, and Dan went to sit down by his friend, and I sat down by him,” Elsie explained.
The two started courting in the spring of 1973 and they went on one date together to an amusement park. Back then, Dan was busy working at a factory and taking classes, so the couple’s social life took place at the breakfast and lunch table in the college’s school cafeteria.
“Lots of courting is done in circumstances that are not conducive to intelligent discussion. They are done in circumstances that ought not to happen,” Dan explained.
“I’m not saying we were above that, but it was just the culture that we were in at Bible college.”
Dan knew he wanted Elsie in his life, but he never did officially propose to Elsie.
“When you judge based off of convictions and character, you know pretty quickly whether it is a fit or not,” Dan said.
“At that time, he was going to go to Kirksville to start a church and he said, “I don’t have a pastor’s wife. Would you be interested?’” Elsie recalled.
Elsie was interested and she said yes to Dan’s question and the two decided to get married.
On May 25, 1974 Elsie and Dan were married at the Gospel Light Baptist Church in Walkertown, North Carolina. Pastor Bobby Roberson officiated the wedding.
The wedding was small, in total there were around 50 to 75 people there. Dan’s best man was Bob White and Elsie’s maid of honor was her sister, Carolyn Tate.
After their wedding, the two did not have a honeymoon, but they decided to go scout some territory in St. Louis, Missouri to possibly start a church up in that area.
The two ended up moving into an apartment in Schererville, Indiana and welcomed their first child, while Dan finished his schooling. While in Indiana, Elsie taught for six months at the Hammond Baptist School.
After Dan graduated from college, the family decided to move to St. Louis, Missouri. This is where Dan started the Lifegate Baptist Church and he served as the pastor for eleven years. While in St. Louis, Elsie taught at the Lafayette Christian Academy.
In 1988, the two decided to move back to northeast Missouri and Dan became the pastor at the First Baptist Church of Wayland. For 35 years, Dan served as the pastor at the First Baptist Church of Wayland. He retired in December of 2023.
Elsie home-schooled their children and worked part time for the post office for many years.
Dan, 70, and Elsie, 74, have six children, Levi, Nathan, Stephen, Michael, Naomi, and Daniel. They have 33 grandkids and three great grandkids.
“Levi is now pastoring the church that Dan started in St. Louis. Naomi is a missionary to Aruba and Michael is a missionary in the Solomon Islands,” Elsie said.
“Three of our kids are in construction. Stephen does gutters, Nathan works for Michael Phillips, and Daniel is taking over a business in North Carolina.”
Dan and Elsie are grateful for the life they have had and for their children for listening to them over the years. The two will be celebrating their 50th anniversary in May and love the life they have together.
Our first Valentine Sweetheart couple has some advice for young people getting into relationships. That advice is to look before you leap into a relationship.
Dan and Elsie have two secrets that have helped them with their long-lasting marriage, their secrets are a spirit filled living and learning how to forgive.
“When two sinners marry and have baby sinners, your only hope in human relationships is forgiveness. You have to learn forgiveness,” Dan said.
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