David Jester
3/5/1930 -10/14/2024
Dr. David Linville Jester passed away peacefully at his home in Paris,
Kentucky on Monday, October 14th. He was 94 years old.
David was born March 5, 1930, in Tanganyika (now Tanzania), East Africa,
to AIM missionary parents William and Daisy Hicks Jester. He grew up on
the southern shores of Lake Victoria with his Sakuma caretaker where he
roamed, played, hunted and fished. He learned the customs and ways of
the Zinza and Sakuma people and spoke their languages until the age of
five after which he began communicating in English.
When David was six years old, he left Tanzania to attend Rift Valley
Academy in Kijabe, Kenya. In addition to a classical education, David
participated in boxing, soccer, tennis, softball, and hunting which helped
provide for the school’s dietary needs. He was a skilled hunter and known
as a “perfect shot” in the African community. As he said, “I learned to climb,
love and respect the great Rift Valley, the mountains and the volcanoes that
provided game to eat and the highlands that furnished milk, butter,
vegetables, and fruit to enjoy. This land was my land and it was like a
Garden of Eden.”
In 1945, David came to America and attended Male High School in
Louisville, Kentucky where he was a member of the ROTC, football team,
and worked with the school newspaper and radio station, joined various
clubs and was active in his church. Upon graduation, he received a
scholarship to Georgetown College in Kentucky. He participated in
intramural sports and was president of the student body. David also was an
avid swimmer and diver and worked as a lifeguard at Baptist camps in
Mississippi. In 1951, he graduated and married Marie Jean Hans. He went
on to complete his Bachelor of Divinity and Master of Divinity degrees at
Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky followed by a Master of Arts and
Doctor of Education at Teacher’s College of Columbia University.
In 1957, David and Marie were appointed by the Southern Baptist Foreign
Mission Board to Iwo Baptist College in Iwo, Nigeria. David played a vital
role in founding and developing Baptist educational institutions. He worked
in graduate studies at University of Ibadan, was President of Niger Baptist
College, and founder of the School of Basic Studies at Ahmadu Bello
University.
Upon returning to the states in 1970, David served as Academic Vice
President of Campbellsville University. In 1975, he started the graduate
program at Georgetown College in Kentucky. During this time, the family
took yearly summer road trips to the beaches of Florida or South Carolina.
David, known for his resourcefulness, would fashion shade tents from sticks
found on the beach and blankets using rope. He would swim and dive for
hours, returning with shells and treasures for his three daughters. Some of
the family’s happiest memories were made swimming in the ocean, building
sandcastles, and scouring the shores for shells and shark teeth.
In 1981, David became the ninth president of Wayland Baptist College in
Plainview, Texas. He led WBU from 1981-87, a period of profound growth
during which the school transitioned from Wayland Baptist College to a four-
year university and established external campuses. Graduate, associate,
lifelong learning, vocational-technical, radio, television, and other programs
were added. Good Friday became a school holiday, McClung University
Center was completed, and the Learning Resources Center (libraries-art
gallery) neared completion. During his tenure, Wayland expanded outreach
to San Antonio, El Paso, Hawaii, Albuquerque, Taos, Clovis, Anchorage,
and Fairbanks. Dr. Donna Hedgepath, the current president of Wayland
Baptist University said, “His legacy of faith and dedication to higher
education has left an indelible mark on the lives he touched.”
After resigning as president of Wayland in 1987, David continued his career
in social and educational programs at Central Texas College and was
instrumental in changing the status from an institute to a college known as
Texas State Technical College. He also worked at South Texas College.
In 1997, the Jesters returned to Kentucky, where David served as
Chancellor and President of Mid-Continent University in Mayfield, Kentucky
from 1997 to 2002 and was later named Chancellor Emeritus. Upon
retirement, David remained active in Louisville, Kentucky at Hurstbourne
Baptist Church as a Sunday School teacher, deacon, and was president of
two boards as well as President of Hillcrest Baptist Camp in Illinois.
David and Marie lived in Waco, Texas from 2016-2023 and made their final
move to Paris, Kentucky, where David continued his work for Hillcrest
Baptist Camp as President Emeritus until his last day on earth.
David was preceded in death by his parents Daisy and William Linville
Jester, brother-in-law Major Duane F. Denton, sister-in-law Hulda
Reichenbach and her husband Bill Reichenbach, nephew Robert Marshall,
and great-grandson Woodson David Czirr.
He is survived by his wife, Marie Hans Jester; three daughters, Lisa Jester,
Daneta Sylvester and Karina Deaver; three sons-in-law Scott Brumley,
David Sylvester and John Deaver; three grandchildren Ashley Czirr, Andrew
Sylvester, and Alexandra Deaver; three great-grandsons West, William, and
Wyatt Czirr; Scott Brumley’s daughters Kelsey Brumley and Lindsay
Brumley Everman, her husband, Craig Everman and their infant daughter,
Elizabeth Shelva Everman; sister and brother-in-law Betty Sue and Bill
Darrow, her children, David Denton and Anne Denton Gray, their spouses,
and their children and grandchildren; nieces Patricia Yount and Diana
Marshall and their children and grandchildren; nephew Mike Marshall and
his children and grandson.
David and Marie have chosen to be cremated and have a joint service
following Marie’s death. Donations in memory of David Jester can be made to: The Dr. David L. and Marie Hans Jester Endowed Social Work Scholarship at Wayland Baptist University at www.WBU.edu, Nigeria Faithful Works Charity
Begin Planning
at www.nigeriafaithful.org, or Rift Valley Academy Giving page at www.RVA.org
The Call of Africa
“When you have acquired a taste for dust,
The scent of our first rain,
You're hooked for life on Africa
And you’ll not be right again.
Till you can watch the setting moon
And hear the jackals bark
And know that they’re around you
Waiting in the dark.
When you long to see the elephants,
Or to hear the coucal’s song,
When the moonrise sets your blood on fire,
You’ve been away too long.
It’s time to cut the traces loose
And let your heart go free
Beyond that far horizon,
Where your spirit yearns to be.
Africa is waiting... come!
Since you’ve touched the open sky
And learned to love the rustling grass, The wild fish eagle’s cry,
You’ll always hunger for the bush,
For the lions rasping roar,
And to be at peace once more.”
-C. Emily-Dibb
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