Dennis Langley Kissinger

Dennis Langley Kissinger passed from Earth to Heaven on February 5, 2026 at the age of 87. Dennis was born in Charlotte, NC on August 2, 1938, to Floyd and Crystal Kissinger. Dennis moved to St. Petersburg, FL with his parents and older brother Gary in 1947. An excellent athlete, as a kid Dennis would visit the ballparks where major league clubs held spring training. He had fond memories of playing catch with major league players. He loved sports, and exercised consistently into his eighties. Dennis lettered in baseball and basketball at Northeast High School, graduating in 1956. Dennis attended First Baptist Church in St. Pete as a teenager, where he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. After attending St. Pete Junior College, Dennis was accepted to Stetson University on a voice scholarship. He “picked up” tennis while there and made the school’s tennis team. He was an excellent tennis player, and became a certified teaching pro in his forties, sharing his love of the game with many students. He was competitive. His youngest son didn’t take a match from him until a junior in high school, when Dennis was closing in on his fiftieth birthday. Called to fulltime Christian ministry while at Stetson, Dennis graduated in 1960 and headed to The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, taking with him his teenage bride, Peggy. Dennis proposed to Peggy in the educational building at First Baptist Church St. Pete during a revival: a prophetic glimpse of their marriage to come. Immediately after she said yes, he returned to the sanctuary and performed a solo of “It is Well with My Soul”, his favorite hymn for the rest of his life. Peggy Sue Bragg was 19, Dennis 22 when they married August 20, 1960. Having already accepted Jesus, marrying Peggy was without any doubt whatsoever, the greatest decision Dennis made for the rest of his life. Read Proverbs 31:10-31 and you will know what Dennis found in Peggy. Spontaneity was not a trait Dennis possessed. He was a creature of habit, a man of routine, schedules and discipline. He did not embrace change. In spite of this, he followed the call to churches in three states and eleven cities before his final full-time service at First Baptist Church Zephyrhills in Florida where he served for fifteen years as Minister of Music, at first also serving as Minister to Youth, and later Minister to Senior Adults. Apparently, as the nest emptied of children to yank from stability and friendships, moving to new churches and towns lost its charm (Dad would love that line). A wall hanging cross stitched by Peggy read “Bloom Where You are Planted.” She did just that, making a home for her husband and children each time they moved, all while working full-time and submitting herself in service to her God, her church and her husband. Had she not done so, Dennis could not have followed God’s call on his life as he did. They made beautiful friends as he made beautiful music in every church they served. In choir practice and in worship leading songs of praise, Dennis was in his element. He prepared meticulously to teach from God’s Word, lead worship and countless cantatas. Those that he led loved his quick wit and enthusiasm. He loved music! Hymns, gospel, praise and worship, but also classical, blue grass, classic country and the greats of the sixties and seventies. Termites took his vinyl album collection (thank you Florida). In it you would have found Gaither Vocal Band, the Bee Gees, Abba, Jesse Colter, Neil Diamond, Beethoven, Simon and Garfunkel, and on and on. Peggy would tell you a little too much blue grass toward the end. After retirement, Dennis continued to teach Sunday School and lead men’s bible studies in their beloved Hunter Street church home in Alabama where he and Peggy lived for the last twenty years of his life. He loved that church and was blessed beyond measure by the many acts of kindness and generosity from their friends. He would want them to know how much they meant to him, as the family wants them to know how much their love and support of Dennis and Peggy means to them. By God’s grace, Dennis went on before Peggy. He would have told you that himself. He needed her: not just as his body broke down, but through sixty-five years of marriage. He loved everything about her. And she loves him. Their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren honor Dennis by honoring his beloved Peggy. Pre-deceased by his parents, brother, and sweet great grandson, Logan, Dennis is survived by Peggy, daughter Shannon Field (Joe), sons Damon (Lori) and Wes (Natosha), grandchildren Megan Nutt (Lee), Erin Lawrence (Kevin), Conner McFarlin (Shane), Caleb (Heather), Joshua (Danielle), Olivia, Owen, Adeline, Sarah Belle, and Nathan, and great grandchildren Naomi, Philip, Rose, Elsie, Madalynn, Lexie and Lane. Dadaddy, as he was called by his grandchildren and great grandchildren, loved them all, of course. And as much as they all loved him, they know he is now where he is supposed to be, at home with Jesus. A Celebration of Life service will be held in the chapel of Hunter Street Baptist Church in Hoover, AL on February 21 st at 11:00 a.m., preceded by the family receiving friends at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Big Oak Ranch, 6000 Shelley Dr., Springdale, AL 35146 or Frontlines International, Box #2755, Lutz, FL 33548.

Dennis Langley Kissinger

August 2, 1938 - February 5, 2026