Dec. 13, 2002
(This is another "B" Line column, a periodic collection of news items of particular interest to members of the Baylor "B" Association. Contribute news about you or your teammates via e-mail to Lee Harrington (leenelaine@281.com), Dutch Schroeder (Dutch_Schroeder@baylor.edu), Reba Cooper (Reba_Cooper@baylor.edu) or Jack Loftis (Jack.Loftis@chron.com). The mailing address is Baylor "B" Association, P. O. Box 8120, Waco, TX 76714)
Baylor University has lost one of its legends with the unexpected death of Dr. W.J. Wimpee on Dec. 1. The retired administrator, teacher and chaplain emeritus was 84.
A native of Kaufman, Wimpee lettered as an end in football at Baylor in 1937-38-39 and also as a shot-putter on the 1940 BU track-and-field team. Wimpee was a loyal member of the Baylor "B: Association, having served as a director of the organization (then called the Baylor Lettermen's Association) in 1975, 1978, 1989,1990 and 1991. He was vice president of the association in 1976 and its president in 1977.
Reba Cooper, administrative assistant for the "B" Association, recalled that Wimpee was always ready to answer any call from the group for help. "He was always so willing to deliver invocations at any function the "B" Association held," she said. "And he was one of our nearly 200 lifetime members, having made that commitment in 1993."
Wimpee played his football under the tutorage of another Baylor legend, Coach Morley Jennings, whose teams from 1926 to 1940 had an 83-6-6 record.
In 1938 two of Wimpee's teammates, quarterback "Bullet Bill" Patterson and end Sam Boyd, were chosen as All-Americans. The '38 team had a 7-2-1 record, winning its first four game and being ranked 17th in the nation before playing to a 6-6 tie with Texas A&M.
Six straight victories
However, in 1937 Wimpee and his teammates won their first six games and were ranked fourth in the nation when upset 9-6 by the Texas Longhorns in Waco. The team finished with a 7-3 record and tied for fourth place in the Southwest Conference.
Wimpee's final season saw the 1939 Bears also go 7-3 and this time tie for second-place in the SWC.
Gayle West, one of Wimpee's three daughters, said she talked by phone with her father on the eve of his death. "We discussed Baylor's search for a football coach," she said. "I told him who my choice was and he jokingly said he would pass on the information."
Mrs. West said that at the time she did not know her father had been having chest pains. He died the following day in a Waco hospital.
She said one of her father's proudest moments came in 1951 when he and Mrs. Wimpee were sponsors and chaperones for the Golden Wave Band at the Orange Bowl. "He loved everything about Baylor," she said.
According to a Baylor University news release, Wimpee devoted more than 50 years of his life to Baylor. He served in a variety of leadership roles and in the administration of four university presidents before his retirement in 1989.
Statement by Sloan
"Dr. Wimpee was one of the most influential men ever to walk across Baylor's campus," said Baylor President Dr. Robert Sloan. "His name, his very image, are synonymous with Baylor. It will be hard to imagine our campus without his presence."
Dr. Rufus Spain, director of Baylor's Retired Professors and Administrators program and retired professor of history, said, "Dr. Wimpee loved this university. There was never a more loyal supporter of Baylor through the administrations of presidents Pat Neff, W.R. White, Judge Abner McCall, Herbert Reynolds and Robert Sloan,"
Wimpee enrolled at Baylor in 1936 and immediately became a campus leader. In addition to his football and track activities, he served as a class officer all four years of his undergraduate career. In his senior year he was president of the Baylor Chamber of Commerce.
Graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1940, Wimpee entered Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, earning a master's degree in 1943 and a doctorate in theology five years later.
He served as pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dayton from 1943 to 1945, at which time BU President Neff appointed him director of religious activities at Baylor. In 1948, Baylor President White named Wimpee the first chaplain in the university's history.
Assistant to the president
In 1955, he was appointed executive assistant to the president and played a major role in Baylor's expanding programs in international exchange programs, spending 10 months at Hong Kong Baptist University as a teacher and adviser to the administration between 1960-61. Additionally, during his years of service to Baylor, Wimpee worked as a fundraiser, student counselor and professor of religion.
Shortly after his retirement in 1989, Wimpee returned to his alma mater as director of the Baylor Retired Professors and Administrators Program. He served with distinction in that capacity for nearly 10 years, visiting retired professors and administrators in hospital, retirement residences and in their homes. He also prepared a monthly newsletter to keep them in touch with one another and informed about campus activities.
In addition to his Baylor duties, Wimpee served numerous churches as interim pastor and frequently officiated at weddings, funerals and other occasions. A longtime Mason and Rotarian, he also worked through the years with several Waco and Central Texas area community service groups, including the American Cancer Society and the YMCA.
Wimpee is survived by his wife, the former Lillian Wilkins, who he met while a student at Southwestern Seminary; daughter Gayle West and her husband, Judge David West, of Pasadena, Texas; daughter Deborah Stinnett and her husband, Dr. Mitchell Stinnett, of Joplin, Mo.; daughter Dayna Schwartze and her husband, Dr. Mark Schwartze, of Waco; and 10 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
Services for Wimpee held at First Baptist Church in Waco on Dec. 4, with burial following at Oakwood Cemetery.
(The Baylor University Office of Public Relations contributed to this "B" Line column.)
JACK LOFTIS
CO-CHAIRMAN
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
