ACU Remembers: Sanders, Fletcher, Sorrells, Winkles, Leverett, Malherbe, Fry, Williams, Wilkinson, Jinkerson, Lana Robert Lee“R.L.” Sanders (’44), 89, died Jan. 7, 2013, in San Antonio. He was born April 7, 1923, near Anson, Texas, and served in the Navy during World War II. He earned an M.B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin and worked for Arthur Andersen, later becoming a partner in the company. He taught at Trinity University and volunteered with numerous charitable organizations. R.L. served as an ACU trustee from 1971-86. He is survived by his second wife, Shirley (Mays) Sanders; a sister, Marjorie (Sanders ’50) Bourland; a daughter, Laura (Sanders ’70) Otey; a son, Steve Sanders (’75); two stepsons, Dr. Scott (’78) and John (’90) Mays; a stepdaughter, Sandy (Mays ’80) Hood; five grandchildren; and six step-grandchildren. Dr. Milton Birdwell Fletcher (’47), 88, died March 20, 2013, in Fort Worth. Born March 14, 1925, he grew up in Hamlin. After participating in the Navy V-12 program at Texas Christian University, he was appointed to the U.S. Naval Midshipmen School at Notre Dame University. He was assistant navigator aboard the USS LST 871, eventually serving as the executive officer and commanding officer. He married Billie Gene Hunter on Jan. 29, 1947. Milton worked in Christian higher education administration for 40 years at Rochester (Mich.) College (as business manager, vice president and president) and at ACU (as executive director of public relations and development, and founding executive director of The ACU Foundation). He also served as development officer and vice president for Christian Care Centers, and vice president for planned giving and development at Disability Resources of Abilene. Milton was a deacon for University Church of Christ and elder for Hillcrest Church of Christ in Abilene, and an elder for the Rochester Church of Christ. He was awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degrees by ACU (1980), Pepperdine University (1981) and Lubbock Christian University (1983), and an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Oklahoma Christian University (1984). His first wife, Gene, died in 1984 after a long battle with cancer. He married Evelyn Cox Templeton (’46) on June 25, 1985, and she died Jan. 10, 2013. Survivors include three sons, Eric (’72), Keith (’76) and Paul (’79) Fletcher; a daughter, Phyllis (Fletcher ’82) McNiel; two stepsons, Richard (’73) and Steve (’78) Templeton; two brothers, Harold Fletcher (’45) and W.L. Fletcher III (’55); and a sister, Marylyn (Fletcher ’60) Swaim; five grandchildren; and four step-grandchildren. James Carroll Sorrells (’48), 84, died Nov. 25, 2012. He was born April 9, 1928 and grew up in Waco. He married Helen Stewart (’49) July 2, 1949. Jim had a long career in business and served as an ACU trustee from 1977-97, returning to ACU to earn his master’s degree in marriage and family therapy in the mid-1980s. He is survived by his wife, Helen; two sons, James (’75) and Steve (’84) Sorrells; a daughter, Sharon (Sorrells ’78) Rudloff; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Walter “Dub” Winkles (’48), 88, died Oct. 27, 2012, in Abilene. He was born Oct. 24, 1924, near Slaton and served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He married Fran Moser (’49) Feb. 8, 1947. Dub taught and coached in Abilene, then pursued other business ventures before joining the ACU staff as director of recreation in 1968. He served in that role for 18 years and was recently inducted into the ACU Sports Hall of Fame. Dub is survived by his wife, Fran; two daughters, Sara (Winkles ’75) Bass and Susan (Winkles ’71) Lindsey; a son, Shane Winkles (’79); a brother, Carlton Winkles (’60); five grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. Margie Pistole Leverett (’49), 86, died Jan. 2, 2013, in Abilene. She was born Dec. 6, 1927. and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from ACU. She married Wayman Pistole in 1948; they later adopted two children. Margie was an assistant professor of business and management sciences at ACU from 1967-89. Wayman preceded her in death in 1997, and she married Vernon Ray Leverett in 1998. He preceded her in death in 2003. Margie is survived by a son; a daughter; two brothers;
two granddaughters; and five great-grandchildren. Dr. Abraham J. Malherbe (’54), 82, died Sept. 28, 2012. He was born May 15, 1930, in Pretoria, South Africa, and after graduating from high school spent several years working as a surveyor and then a draftsperson in the Electrical Supply Commission of South Africa. He came to the United States in 1951 to attend ACU, where he earned his bachelor’s degree and married Phyllis Melton (’56) in 1953. From Abilene, Malherbe went to Harvard, where he earned an S.T.B. degree in 1957 and a Th.D. degree in 1963. He also spent a year at the University of Utrecht working on the Corpus Hellenisticum project with W.C. van Unnik (1960-61). He was selected the Harvard Divinity School Commencement Greek Orator in 1957. In the same year, he and Pat Harrell co-founded Restoration Quarterly, a scholarly journal associated with the Churches of Christ. Malherbe returned to ACU to teach New Testament and early Christianity (1963-69), then went back to Harvard as a visiting scholar in 1967-68 and then to Dartmouth College (1969-70). His subsequent move to Yale Divinity School in 1970 helped make YDS one of the international centers of New Testament study and scholarship. He was a prolific writer and editor of other works. Books he authored included Paul and the Thessalonians: The Philosophical Tradition of Pastoral Care; Paul and the Popular Philosophers; and his Anchor Bible Commentary, The Letters to the Thessalonians. The esteem in which he is held as a scholar is evident in two Festschriften: Greeks, Romans, and Christians and Early Christianity and Classical Culture. He was working on a commentary on the Pastorals for Hermeneia when he died. Malherbe’s essays have been collected and will appear next year in two volumes published by Brill. He received Abilene Christian’s Distinguished Alumni Citation in 1994 and was named ACU’s oustanding teacher for the 1966-67 school year. He helped establish the Friends of the ACU Library in 1966, and the Malherbe Library Endowment at ACU. Malherbe was the library’s speaker in March 2011 for its Spring Dinner. In 2005, he was the featured speaker at ACU’s 19th annual Carmichael-Walling Lectures. Among survivors are his wife, Phyllis; daughters Selina (Malherbe) Brooks and Cornelia (Malherbe ’82) Kleman; a son, Abraham J. “Jan” Malherbe; a sister, Lettie Greyling; brothers Claude Malherbe and Chris Malherbe; and three grandchildren. See story on page 78. David M. Fry (’55), 82, died Sept. 23, 2012, in Abilene. He was born Aug. 8, 1930, in Burnett and married Jo Ann “Jodie” Howard (’51) in 1951. He served as president of two banks and was later president of Casa Bonita Restaurants. He also served as an advisor in ACU’s College of Business Administration during the final 10 years of his career. David is survived by his wife, Jodie; three daughters, Diana (Fry ’74) Morrell, Julie (Fry ’79) Dawson and Amy (Fry ’88) Castro; a son, Don Fry (’76); 12 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren. Donald Ray “Big Don” Williams (’59), 75, died Nov. 15, 2012, in Chickasha, Okla. He was born Sept. 22, 1937 in Cyril, Okla., and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees (’74) in Bible from ACU. After serving as associate minister for churches in Oklahoma City and Fort Worth, the Broadway congregation in Lubbock hired him as one of the first youth ministers in Churches of Christ. A respected pioneer and leader in that field, he launched the Youth Ministers’ Seminar in Lubbock in 1969 and spoke at more than 1,000 youth and college rallies, camps and leadership conferences in his career. He served 20 years at Pepperdine University as associate director of church services, including 17 years as an adjunct religion faculty member. In 1991, he received Pepperdine University’s Christian Service Award. His alma mater presented him with a Change the World award during the university’s Centennial in 2006. Williams was coordinator of special outreach projects in ACU’s Office of Admissions from 1992-2002.
Leatrice Joy (Fisher) Watson Wilkinson, 82, died Sept. 30, 2012. She was born April 1, 1930, in Bastrop County and grew up in Kermit and Colorado City. She married James Watson Dec. 22, 1946. He preceded her in death in 1986. Leatrice worked at ACU from 1965-90, including in the president’s, chancellor’s and Lectureship office. She married Dr. Harold Wilkinson, professor emeritus of education, May 1, 1990. He preceded her in death in 2006. She is survived by three daughters, Laura (Watson ’70) Cooper, Gloria (Watson ’71) Daniel and Lynne (Watson ’73) Hall; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Dr. Darryl L. Jinkerson, 54, died Oct. 12, 2012. He was born Jan. 21, 1958, in East St. Louis, Ill., and grew up in O’Fallon, Ill. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Harding University, a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Northeastern Louisiana University and a Ph.D. in applied psychology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He married Cindy Madden Aug. 11, 1979. Darryl worked for Arthur Andersen, LLP, and later served as vice president of Service Companies in Rosedale, Ill. For 10 years, he served as president of the Rockford Christian Camp. Darryl joined the ACU faculty in 2002, serving as associate professor of management in the College of Business Administration. During his first year, he received ACU’s Teacher of the Year award; he later served four years as department chair. Before coming to ACU, he taught as an adjunct professor at Judson College in Elgin, Ill., and North Central College in Naperville. He led the study abroad program for COBA at ACU and accompanied many groups of students on trips to Honduras, China and England, and to Australia in summer 2012. He also traveled to Honduras with Mission Lazarus and Torch Missions, building a house there in his father’s memory. He was an elder of the University Church of Christ. Darryl is survived by his wife, Cindy; three daughters, Whitney (Jinkerson ’07) Olson, Rachel (Jinkerson ’11) Goodman and Amanda (Jinkerson ’13) Carpenter; his mother, LaVerne Jinkerson; two brothers, Richard (’75) and Perry (’82) Jinkerson; a sister, Cheryl Hamm; and a granddaughter. Beth R. (Robnett) Lana, 88, died March 15, 2013, in Abilene. She was born Feb. 17, 1925, in Ryan, Okla. She graduated from Ryan High School and earned a B.A. degree in music education from Southeastern Oklahoma State University and a master’s degree in elementary education from the Univeristy of Oklahoma. She taught first grade in Duncan, Okla., from 1957-74 and was a grade school principal at Fort Worth Christian School from 1974-79. She served as administrative coordinator and academic advisor in the ACU Department of Language and Literature throughout the 1980s and ’90s. In 1946 she married Bert Lana, who was ACU’s security police chief from 1980-89. She was preceded in death by two brothers, Harold Robnett and Don Robnett. Among survivors are her husband; a son, Philip Lana (’72); and many nieces, nephews and cousins. Dr. Angela Laird Brenton, 60, died May 8, 2013, after a three-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was born Jan. 3, 1953, in Duncan, Okla. Her extensive experience in higher education included teaching and administrative roles at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Christian University, the University of Kansas, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, ACU (where she was dean of the Graduate School and associate provost for research and service), Missouri State University, and Pepperdine University. At the time of her death, she had been provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs for less than a year at Western Carolina University. She received many honors, including being named a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International. Among survivors are her husband, W. Keith Brenton; her mother, Harriette Laird; a son, Matt; and a daughter, Laura.
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