Glen was a year ahead of me in the ThM program at DTS if I recall correctly. I graduated in 1979 and I think he graduated in 1978. In my second year, my wife and I bought a house for $1 through the Homestead Urban Renewal Program. Our house was in one of the worst slums of Oak Cliff, which is the southern half of the city of Dallas. The house had asbestos siding and thousands of roaches that we could never get rid of. It was in a very dangerous neighborhood. We were required to bring it up to city code within six months, live in it for 18 months, and own it for at least three years. (We ended up living in it for three and one half years.) There was a lot to do to fix it up! It had no heater, no air conditioner, and only one bath (no shower). The floors shifted in elevation by as much as 12" from one end to the other. And that’s where Glen came in.
He was already a friend at seminary;; since both of us loved the Greek New Testament we formed a common bond, and took several classes together. When we started fixing up the house one of the first things we needed to do was repair the foundation. Glen told me that he and a friend could do it for a very reasonable price. The house was pier & beam, so the foundation repair required crawling under the house and putting in cedar wedges between the piers and beams. Glen and a friend (whose name I have forgotten [no doubt this was Ron Newton]) repaired the foundation for a few hundred dollars! That was ridiculously cheap and yet they did a fine job.

We kept in touch over the years. About 15 or 20 years ago, after Pati and I had four children (all boys: Noah, Ben, Andy, and Zack), we drove to California for Christmas break. We stopped in Albuquerque to visit Glen and Joy. I think we may have even stayed in their home. Glen asked me to teach his Greek class the evening we got there. It was meeting in his home and had about five or six students. They had been well trained by Glen and were very interested in the Greek New Testament. Later that evening, Glen showed me his library. In it
was a large collection of Greek grammars. I thought I was the only geek who collected such things! His library was quite impressive. At the time he told me that he was putting into his will that I would get the grammars. What an incredible honor! Several years later, he had changed his will and was giving these books to, I believe, a third-­world seminary. This was the right thing to do. My wife would agree, saying that the last thing I needed was more books!
Last school year (2013–14), Glen was a missionary in residence at DTS. He audited my course on Advanced Greek Grammar in the spring. He was in class nearly every time we met. He came to class always joyful and eager to learn, yet he would often email me with arguments for a different position than I took in class. He had a very sharp mind and had thought through a number of issues about Koine Greek syntax. At one point he told me that high on his bucket list (perhaps even #1 on the list) would be the opportunity to teach just one
class at Dallas Seminary, especially a class on Greek grammar. As it turned out, I needed to be out of town one week and I asked Glen to take the class for me. The students said he did an absolutely outstanding job! No wonder there, of course. He was humorous, engaging, knowledgeable, and interesting. When I got word from Linda Liu (who had also been in that same class) that Glen had died, I remembered this ‘bucket list’ wish of his. Who would have thought that he would go at such a young age? I am so glad for the forty years of friendship I
have had with him. As C. S. Lewis once remarked, when a friend dies—even if we hadn’t been in contact with each other for some time or very often over the years—a piece of our heart dies, too. We sense the loss and are more impoverished because of it. Life is made up of relationships, and there is sorrow in this life even as we rejoice with our departed loved one for his gain (Philippians 1.21). Glen Riddle is a man I will miss dearly. I look forward to the day that I will see him again.

Daniel B. Wallace
Professor of New Testament Studies
Dallas Theological Seminary