FRISCO, Texas (ABP) — Dellanna West O'Brien, who led the Southern Baptist Woman's Missionary Union through some of its most trying times, died Sept. 7 at age 75.
She suffered what WMU officials described as “a massive cerebral bleed” Sept. 4 after falling and hitting her head at her home in Frisco, north of Dallas. She died three days later with her husband, Bill, and their three children at her side.
O'Brien served as executive director of the Southern Baptist Convention women's auxiliary for a decade before retiring in 1999. WMU had been challenged by many of the conservatives who took control of the SBC during that period.
Dellanna O'Brien
“Dellanna led Woman's Missionary Union through difficult times, and she faced opposition and personal difficulties head-on and successfully,” said Carolyn Weatherford Crumpler, who preceded O'Brien as WMU head.
Crumpler noted that O'Brien continued to lead the organization after suffering a stroke in 1998. She described O'Brien as a “true friend, wife, mother, missionary, educator, mentor, leader and over-comer.”
During O'Brien's tenure, WMU developed several new programs, including Christian Women's Job Corps, to assist women with economic and other challenges. The WMU Foundation also was formed, and WMU opened its first development office, under O'Brien. The agency combined its Baptist Women and Baptist Young Women organizations to form Women on Mission.
O'Brien also led WMU to assume responsibility for Pure Water, Pure Love — a ministry that provides water filters and purification systems to missionaries.
“She had the ability to anticipate the future and its consequences and was willing to take risks for what she believed to be right,” said June Whitlow, who served as WMU's associate executive under O'Brien. “Dellanna made a positive difference in the lives of people around the world.”
O'Brien was the author or co-author of several books, including Timeless Virtues: Lessons in Character for Women and Choosing a Future for U.S. Missions.
Born July 20, 1933, in Wichita Falls, Texas, O'Brien earned her bachelor's degree from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, in 1953 and worked as an elementary school teacher until 1963. She and her family served as SBC Foreign (now International) Mission Board missionaries in Indonesia for the next nine years.
Upon returning to the United States — where she and her husband eventually moved to Richmond when he became a top administrator for the IMB — O'Brien pursued graduate studies and received a master's degree in education from Texas Christian University in 1972 and a doctorate in education from Virginia Tech in 1983.
She also holds honorary degrees from the University of Richmond, Hardin-Simmons University and Judson College in Alabama.
Prior to her post at WMU, she served as president of the International Family and Children's Educational Services, a non-profit organization she founded to provide educational-testing services for missionary kids.
She also was lower school headmaster at the Collegiate School, a private college preparatory school in Richmond. She and her husband were members of Second Baptist Church in Richmond.
In addition to her husband and children, she is survived by six grandchildren.
A memorial service was held Sept. 10 at Preston Trail Community Church in Frisco, where she was a member.
Another memorial service will be held at Second Baptist Church in Richmond on Oct. 5 at 4 p.m.