Services to be held for retired Brite professor

Funeral services for Hunter Beckelhymer, an emeritus retired professor of homiletics at the Brite Divinity School, will be at 2 p.m. Friday at South Hills Christian Church, said Mary Nell Kirk, executive assistant to the chancellor.

Beckelhymer died Monday at age 83, said J. Cy Rowell, an emeritus professor of religious education at Brite. Beckelhymer died in his sleeps after suffering from dementia for about 10 years, Rowell said.

“He was a very optimistic person,” Rowell said. “He always had stories to tell.”

Stan Hagadone, director of Brite admissions, said Beckelhymer and his family would always welcome students into their home.

“I remember having Thanksgiving dinner at his house one year when I was unable to go home,” said Hagadone, one of Beckelhymer’s former students. “He made sure I had a place to go that day and I know he did the same for other students.”

Beckelhymer, a former pastor, was very devoted to serving the church, Rowell said.

“He always spoke fondly of being a pastor,” Rowell said. “Even though he was a professor, he never forgot his roots.”

Beckelhymer’s daughter, Chris Seigfried said he loved TCU and supported the athletic teams even when they weren’t winning many games.

“He was a diehard fan,” Seigfried said. “An ardent supporter of TCU athletics.”

Corinne Shaffer, another of Beckelhymer’s three daughters, said that in the 1970s, her father was one of the first professors to use video cameras to help his students learn.

“He videotaped his students preaching to others, so that the preacher could see himself as others would see him,” Shaffer said. “Now it seems like old hat, but he was one of the first to do that.”

Beckelhymer and his wife, Betty, were long-time members of South Hills Christian Church, Rowell said.

Beckelhymer also loved to travel and take pictures of the places he visited, Rowell said.

“He used to have parties after they’d been on a trip and he would make slides and show his pictures,” Rowell said. “Everybody liked to go to his parties and see his pictures.”

The TCU flag was lowered to half staff Tuesday in memory of Beckelhymer, Kirk said.

— Jessica Sanders