Founder, Chairman & CEO of Marketplace Ministries Inc.

Gil A. Stricklin, Sr. of Dallas, Texas, is the Founder and Ministry Ambassador of Marketplace Ministries Inc. with International Headquarters in Plano, Texas.   Marketplace Ministries has provided a Chaplain Employee Care Service to businesses nationally and internationally since 1984. Stricklin has held many positions, secular and religious, giving him a unique understanding of today’s pressure-filled workplace.

A native of rural North Texas, Stricklin was born September 11, 1934.  He worked his way through high school and college in the railroad yards around his hometown of Denison, Texas.  He received a degree in business from Baylor University in 1957 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force through Baylor ROTC.  After active duty in the Air Force, Stricklin returned to Texas to earn a journalism degree from Texas Christian University in 1963.  He served as Religion Editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and also attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, earning Bachelor and Master of Divinity degrees.  He moved to the Army Chaplain Corps in 1973 and served in that capacity for 22 years.

Stricklin retired in 1994 as a Colonel from the U. S. Army Chaplain Corps after 37 years as a commissioned officer.  He graduated from the Strategic Studies Institute, the Army’s highest education, the National Defense University, and the Command and General Staff College.  He spent five years traveling the globe with Dr. Billy Graham, serving as his special assistant, responsible for media relations for the worldwide evangelist.  Stricklin speaks for churches and all types of conventions, school events, and businesses.  

Stricklin married his college sweetheart, Ann March of Fort Worth, on May 23, 1958.  They have two grown sons, Art (Belinda) and Cliff, and four grandchildren.