Eddie L. Dwyer

DWYER, EDDIE Eddie L. Dwyer, 92, a Professor of Religion at Baylor University for 37 years, and a dear friend to countless people, died Tuesday, November 16, 2004 of congestive heart failure, with his wife of 63 years by his side. A memorial service with Dr. Scott Walker officiating will be held at 2pm Thursday, November 18 at First Baptist Church of Waco, for which he cared deeply during his 59 years of membership. Dr. Dwyer will always be remembered as a man of great integrity and honor, a gentleman who cared deeply for his family and friends. Dwyer was a person of deep faith and humility, who was compassionate about human rights. He promoted tolerance, compassion, and acceptance of others through unconditional love, believing people would have richer lives if they approached the world with open minds and hearts. He took stands at times when his were not the popular views. As passionate as he was, he tried not to take himself too seriously, always expressing a sharp sense of humor about life, ever ready with a joke or two; his laughter was contagious. Born in 1912, he grew up in poverty in Chickasha, Oklahoma, with his mother and father, Isephene and John Dwyer, and three others in a two and a half room house without plumbing or electricity. To help support his family, he left high school to pick cotton, but returned to graduate. His life changed when he became a Christian, while attending a revival at the age of 16. The following night, his father also became a Christian and the two attended Bible lessons together. In 1938, he graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University, where he served as student body president. He earned a Masters in Theology degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1942, and A Doctorate in Religion from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1951. In 1939, while visiting a sister Baptist Church in Chickasha, he noticed Velma Irene Rich in the choir, and eventually asked her to sit with him in church. They later married on June 24, 1941, and have been working as a team since. Upon leaving the Seminary, in May 1942, they moved to Fairfax, Oklahoma, to lead a Baptist mission on the Osage Indian Reservation. In 1945, Baylor University President Pat Neff called Eddie to join the Baylor faculty in the Department of Religion. He loved Baylor University dearly, serving from 1945-1982, including tenure as acting chairman of the Religion Department, and considered it a deep privilege to serve with Presidents Abner McCall and Herbert Reynolds, both of whom he highly respected. A person of high integrity, Eddie was a disciplined, progressive Christian professor, who was a responsible interpreter of the Bible. He was seriously concerned with the developing minds of students and their efforts to understand the Bible, challenging them, as well as his family and friends, to look at life and the Bible from different angles. His challenges in the classroom were recognized in gratitude by numerous former students upon his retirement. He was honored by a former student Raymond Tucker, with a plaque and reception in the Baylor Alumni Center. During his last years, he loved his Monday morning coffee and conversation with friends at the Baylor Alumni Center. Eddie and Velma camped and fished during the summer months for over 30 years in Yellowstone National Park, typically spending the day in a boat on Lewis Lake, fishing for Cutthroat and Brown trout, his favorites since they gave a good fight. In their last years in the Park, they served as volunteer rangers, enjoying their many friends made over the years. Dwyer was a skilled carpenter, who crafted beautiful furniture. With his wife, he built a home from the foundation to the kitchen cabinets. If he didn’t know how to do something, he would do it anyway, and he would do it well. He was a person of high integrity and a gentle, peaceful, and intelligent man. Nothing got him down, not even his blindness of the past 12 years. In fact, he grew from it, and in so doing, taught friends the power of a positive attitude. He continues as an inspiration and challenge to all of us. Along with Velma, Eddie is survived by his son, Paul Eddie Dwyer of Washington, D. C.; daughter, Dee Dee Rich Dwyer of Dallas; grandson, Marsh Rich Dwyer of Charlotte, North Carolina; granddaughter, Meredith Rich Dwyer-Lewis and husband, Bryan Lewis of Cape Charles, Virginia; grandson, Taylor Rich Dwyer of Dallas; and niece, Dorothy Doss of Chickasha, Oklahoma. Memorial contributions may be sent to the Eddie L. and Velma Rich Dwyer Endowed Scholarship Fund for Graduate Students in the Department of Religion at Baylor University, established by Dr. David and Marilyn Mueller, the Eddie and Velma Dwyer Community Center in Waco, Texas, or the First Baptist Church of Waco Foundation Fund. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our “Memorial Guestbook” at www.wilkirsonhatchbailey.com. WILKIRSON-HATCH-BAILEY