The Rev. Francis H. Pascoe, who has served churches in the Coaldale area for the past 53 years, announced yesterday he will retire from the ministry at the end of March.

Rev. Pascoe is presently serving as pastor of the First Congregational Church, Coaldale.

He settled in the Seek area in 1910 and became active in the work of Primitive Methodist Church. From 1912-13, he was pastor of the First Congregational Church while also working as a miner.

He attended theological school in Philadelphia and worked with the Wyoming Association of Congregational Churches, which ordained him as a minister on May 19, 1915.