Retired counseling professor Wynona Elder dies at 89
Wynona Tipton Elder, retired professor of psychology and counseling at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, died March 15. She was 89.
“The Southwestern Seminary community is grateful for Dr. Wynona Elder’s years of service to students and colleagues alike,” said President David S. Dockery. “We offer our prayers and Christian sympathy to her family and friends during this time of loss.”
Born in Lubbock, Texas, on June 26, 1934, as the daughter of a preacher, Elder taught at Southwestern from 1984 to 1998. She held three degrees from what is now known as the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton, including a Bachelor of Science (1956), Master of Education (1967), and Doctor of Education (1976). Additionally, she earned a Master of Arts in Religious Education from Southwestern in 1988.
While serving at Southwestern, Elder was also the director of Walsh Counseling Center.
Before she began teaching at Southwestern, Elder worked as a licensed psychologist in private practice in Carrollton, Texas. Prior to earning her doctorate, Elder worked as a public school teacher and counselor. While she was a student at UNT, she was an adjunct teacher and graduate assistant. She also worked as an instructor in psychology at what is now known as Dallas College Brookhaven campus as well as serving as the program coordinator and therapist in an alcoholism program.
Elder married her husband, Carl, in 1953 and the couple was married for 63 years until his passing in 2016. Carl served as a pastor of churches in Texas, Ohio, and Alaska, before becoming a consultant with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
The Elders were the subject of a December 2012 Fort Worth Star-Telegram news article that recounted their first Christmas together as a couple. The couple drove an 18-foot trailer to Fairbanks, Alaska, to restart First Baptist Church of North Pole.
The couple parented three children, Mona, Carla, and Mark.
Beginning in 2005, Elder served as the Ph.D. supervisor of doctoral students at B.H. Carroll Theological Institute, where she served until 2012.
In addition to her teaching experience in Texas, Elder was a guest professor at the Baptist Theological Seminary in North Brazil and the Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary in Hong Kong.
Elder held memberships in the American Psychological Association, the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, and the American Association of Christian Counselors. She was also a certified family life educator by the National Council on Family Relations and an approved supervisor of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.
Services for Elder will be held March 23 at 11:00 a.m. at Gambrell Street Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.
