Lipscomb legend Dennis ‘Dean’ Loyd dies at 87

The man known to generations of Lipscomb University students as “Dean Loyd” died Sunday at age 87.

Dennis Loyd served as a teacher, professor and administrator for more than five decades at the Nashville, Tenn., university and its neighboring K-12 school, both associated with Churches of Christ. From the time he was a college student, Loyd preached for Churches of Christ across Middle Tennessee. For 23 years he served as an elder of the Granny White Church of Christ, now the Church of Christ in Green Hills.

Dennis Loyd, right, visits with David England, former news bureau director for Lipscomb University, and Jimmy McCollum, communications professor, during a celebration of 100 years of student journalism at Lipscomb in 2023.

From 1996 until earlier this year, he served as associate editor of Gospel Advocate publications.

Visitation is scheduled for noon to 2 p.m. Thursday, May 30, followed by a memorial service at 2 p.m. at the Church of Christ in Green Hills, 3805 Granny White Pike, Nashville, TN 37204.

Loyd taught in the high school at Lipscomb Academy from 1959 to 1968 before he moved to the university, where he served as chair of the English department and as dean of students. Lipscomb students knew Loyd as a strict-yet-compassionate disciplinarian who also had a sincere love for literature and the arts. He coordinated the spring Singarama musicals at Lipscomb and appeared in student productions including “Arsenic and Old Lace” and “The Man Who Came to Dinner.” University officials named Loyd a Lipscomb Legend in 2005 and he received the Mustang Alumni Award from Lipscomb Academy in 2023.

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Filed under: Christian education Granny White Green Hills Lipscomb Academy Lipscomb University National Obituaries Top Stories