FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) — Andy Lester, a professor of pastoral care and counseling popular with a generation of Baptists who attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in the 1970s and 1980s, died June 10 after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer.
Andy Lester
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Lester, 70, was professor emeritus of pastoral theology and pastoral counseling at Texas Christian University's Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth. He came to that position after teaching from 1977 to 1991 at Southern — one of several Southern Seminary professors from that era to leave as control of the Louisville, Ky., school shifted from moderate to fundamentalist hands.
Lester wrote several books, including some with his wife of 50 years, Judith, like her husband a licensed therapist. They also co-taught a popular class on marriage enrichment at Southern that, according to alumni, had a strong impact on many student couples from the era. She survives him.
He wrote widely on subjects related to pastoral care, particularly those dealing with marriage- and family-related issues, human sexuality and anger.
A memorial service for Lester is scheduled at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 13, at Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth. The family will receive visitors at the church 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 12.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests a donation in Lester's memory to a charity of choice or to his favorite organizations, which include Brite Divinity School and Habitat for Humanity. A memorial fund at Brite, the Dr. Andrew D. Lester Memorial Fund, honors his legacy.
In addition to his widow, survivors include two children, three grandchildren, his mother, three sisters and a brother. One sister, Diane Cofer, preceded him in death.
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