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RANGE RIDER | SPRING-SUMMER 2018
WE’LL MISS
Family
D
r. Jesse Conrad Fletcher was born
on April 9, 1931, in San Antonio,
Texas to Jesse N. Fletcher and Ruby
Arnold Fletcher. He graduated fromThomas
Jefferson High School in 1948, where he was
senior class vice-president, managing editor
of the newspaper, a member of the National
Honor Society and played on the golf team.
Dr. Fletcher then attended Texas A&M
University, where he distinguished himself
as a lieutenant colonel in the Corps of
Cadets, an honor student and twice lettered
with the golf team. He was ordained as a
minister by Manor Baptist Church of San
Antonio during his senior year at Texas A&
M University.
Upon graduation, he received a commission
as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army
Reserves. Dr. Fletcher then enrolled at
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary,
where he earned both his masters of divinity
degree and his doctorate of philosophy
degree. His post-graduate work included
terms at the Chaplain’s School at Fort
Slocum, New York, the Institute of Religion
at the Texas Medical Center in Houston and
the University of Richmond.
In 1953, he was introduced to Dorothy
Jordan on a blind date. He proposed after
that single date, and they were married in
February 1954. They were happily married
until her death in 2013.
During his seminary years, Dr. Fletcher
served as the pastor of Wellborn Baptist
Church from 1953-1955, and Kopperl
Baptist Church from 1955-1957.
In 1960, Dr. Fletcher began his career with
the Southern Baptist Convention, working
for the Foreign Mission Board. He occupied
several administrative positions before
his resignation in 1975 as the director of
the mission support division. During this
time, he traveled extensively through many
of the countries where Southern Baptist
missionaries were spreading the gospel. In
1965, Dr. Fletcher started the Journeyman
program; the idea was to give new college
graduates a chance to go and experience
missions around the globe. The Journeyman
program is still one of SBC’s most prominent
programs.
In 1975, Dr. Fletcher began as the senior
pastor of First Baptist Church of Knoxville,
Tennessee. He held that position until 1977
when he accepted the position as the 12th
president of Hardin-Simmons University.
Dr. Fletcher served as president of HSU from
1977 until 1991, as chancellor from 1991 to
2001, and he has been president emeritus
since 2001.
During his fourteen years as president at
Hardin-Simmons, Dr. Fletcher established
and raised the funds to endow schools in
education, theology, and nursing. He also
made significant changes to the campus;
including adding seven new facilities,
making numerous renovations to existing
buildings, significantly increasing faculty
salaries, and quadrupling the university’s
endowment. He also led the institution into
the NCAA’s Division III athletic programs
including football in 1989. During his
years as chancellor and president emeritus,
Fletcher held a professorship in the Logsdon
School of Theology, aided development
efforts, and represented the University in
numerous academic and community roles.
Beyond his work at Hardin-Simmons,
Dr. Fletcher was a key force in organizing
the NCAA Division I Trans America
Athletic Conference (now the Atlantic Sun
Conference). He was also a staple in the
community of Abilene; serving as president
and campaign director of Abilene’s United
Way’s annual campaign, chairman of the
Abilene Chamber of Commerce, founding
director of the Community Foundation of
Abilene, vice chair of the Military Affairs
Committee, twice the interim director of
the Grace Museum, first president of the
Abilene Intercollegiate School of Nursing
and chair of the Abilene Psychiatric Center.
He was honored as Citizen of the Year by the
Chamber of Commerce in 2002.
Dr. Fletcher was also a prolific writer,
publishing eleven books, including
Bill Wallace of China, the official
sesquicentennial history of the SBC, The
Southern Baptist Convention, and his family
and personal biography, Flashes of Light.
In 1997, Dr. Fletcher began painting
landscapes at the studio of celebrated local
artist Evelyn Niblo. His paintings have been
shown in Abilene at the Grace Museum, the
Center for Contemporary Arts, St. John’s
School and American State Bank. His work
has also been exhibited in the Breckenridge
Fine Arts Museum in Breckenridge, Texas.
Many of his vibrant representations of land
are in the hands of corporate and private
collectors.
Dr. Fletcher was preceded in death by his
beloved wife, Dorothy, and two infant
daughters, Angela and Kathy. He is survived
by two children; his son, Scott and his
family of Rockport, Maine, and daughter
Melissa Fletcher Dupree and her family of
Abilene, TX. He is also survived by three
grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Dr. Jesse Fletcher
Hardin-Simmons University
former president
June 14, 2018
"His teaching, his preaching,
his scholarship, his servant
leadership, and his personal
character significantly
shaped this university, this
community, and Baptists
across the globe. We are
all better for having Jesse
Fletcher in our lives."
—Dr. Laura Pogue '87, '91M