TYLER, Texas--Raymond C. Dick, 81, a Church of God member and a writer of doctrinal essays for The Journal, died in a Tyler hospice Aug. 28. Mr. Dick had learned only a few weeks before he died that he had cancer of the abdomen that had spread to his liver.

Mr. Dick, while a member of the Worldwide Church of God, manned the church's office in Jerusalem in the 1970s. He was responsible for the WCG's arrangement with the nation of Israel and Hebrew University that resulted in the church's and Ambassador College's participation in archaeological excavations in the 1960s and '70s at the southern wall of the Temple Mount.

Mr. Dick, a 1962 AC graduate, also worked for the college as a mailing- and personnel-department manager on the Pasadena, Calif., and Big Sandy, Texas, campuses and as a planner for the WCG's Feast of Tabernacles observances.

His most recent essay for The Journal appeared in the July 31 issue. At the time of his death he was working on another article for this newspaper.

Mr. Dick is survived by his wife, Norma; sons Robert Dick of Vancouver, Wash., Ronald Dick of Lexington, Ky., and Randal Dick of Sunland, Calif.; a sister, Sarah Dorothy Weins of Caldwell, Idaho; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Dick receives mail at P.O. Box 484, Hawkins, Texas 75765, U.S.A.