Christ Community Church Honors the Life of Dorsey Cloud

Moreno Valley’s Christ Community Church came together in celebration of life last Friday, Aug. 9. The congregation celebrated the 105 long years of life lived by a much-loved congregation member, Dorsey Cloud, who passed away Aug. 1. “It was a joyous occasion, but that does not mean there were not tears shed by all of us,” said his surviving daughter-in-law, Connie Cloud. Dorsey lived with Connie, who was married to his son Robert, in her Moreno Valley home for the last decade or so. “But that was because we will miss him. We were celebrating that he was in a better place, somewhere he was ready to be.” Church members gathered to celebrate his life with music, praise and Scripture, and joined together for a feast following the festivities, held at the church grounds last week. Born in Shawnee, Okla. on Dec. 23, 1907, Dorsey was known for his sweet temper, his dedication to his church and his family, and, above all, his love for God. Dorsey moved to California when he was five years old, and graduated from Franklin High School in Eagle Rock. He played with a small baseball team on Sundays, a sport he was quite good at. “A congregation member one day told him, ‘You’re going to either have to choose to serve your God or serve baseball, because that team plays on Sundays,’” Connie chuckled. In the early 1930s, Dorsey graduated from Life Bible College in Los Angeles and traveled around the country as a children’s evangelist, teaching Sunday school and working with youth, noted Christ Community Church Senior Pastor O.J. Philpot. While Cloud also worked in various capacities—as a painter, as a forest ranger, as a certified Wyoming State hunting guide, as a night warden during WWII and retiring from California Edison in 1972 after 30 years of service. His activeness was what he was known best for. “He loved to walk,” Connie said. “I live out in Sunnymead Ranch, which is kind of hilly, and when he first started living with me, he frightened me a little bit, because he was out for three or four hours by himself walking and I couldn’t see him. I fussed with him and told him that he couldn’t be out there all alone, but he just smiled at me and said, ‘I wasn’t out there alone. God was with me.’” His belief that God was with him was what carried him throughout his life, noted Connie, even in tragic times. Dorsey was preceded in death by his mother, who passed when he was 12 years old, by his two sons and by his wife. Dorsey and his wife Hazel were married for 63 years, and the couple had two sons, Robert and Frankie. At just six weeks old, Frankie passed away of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and in 1995, Robert passed away due to colon cancer. One week after Robert’s death, Dorsey lost his wife to a heart attack. “In one week, he lost his whole family,” said Connie. But Dorsey continued on, spending his time exercising and even doing light cabinet repair work. He also enjoyed making corsages and boutonnières for his fellow congregation members who celebrated their birthdays each week, said Pastor Philpot. He was also a bit of a ladies’ man, Connie remembered fondly. “Every Sunday he greeted every single woman and gave them a hug, and he would say to them, ‘Good morning, beautiful,’” Connie recalled. Some Sundays he would find himself in the pulpit, preaching to the congregation, or leading them in praise or final prayers. “He had that pulpit voice. I used to tease him that we only ever heard that strong pulpit voice when he preached,” said Connie. Though he suffered with Alzheimer’s and dementia near the end, it was important to his friends and family members to let him keep the strong independence he exhibited throughout his life, noted Connie. “His fear was being a burden to us, but he was so kind and so dedicated, that it was a privilege to care for him,” she said. Dorsey is survived by his daughter-in-law Connie, three grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.