Fall 2005 - Oklahoma Christian University

2005 HOMECOMINGHONOREESAvanelle Baird - Distinguished Honorary AlumnaAvanelle Baird, who has devoted her adult life toChristian education and Oklahoma Christian University,has been named a Distinguished HonoraryAlumna.“So much of my life is tied to OklahomaChristian,” Avanelle Baird said recently at herhome near the campus. “My hope has alwaysbeen that OC would stay close to its rootsand it is doing that. If Christian educationisn’t different, let’s not do it.”OC has been a major focus of Avanelle’slife since her late husband, Dr. James Baird,became the school’s first dean in 1950, thesecond person hired by the new CentralChristian College in Bartlesville.Four years later, James became presidentof the college and Avanelle’s life became awhirlwind of raising five children, entertainingthe Board of Trustees and friends of thecollege, speaking to ladies’ groups on behalfof the university and Bible teaching.Avanelle and James also hosted areapreachers and their wives annually to makesure the school maintained a close relationshipwith the churches of Christ.Somehow, she found time to help organizethe Stepping Stones, a Tulsa-based ladiessupport group that later became the OklahomaChristian Women’s Association.Avanelle graduated from Harding Universityin 1939 with a bachelor’s degree inbusiness. She served as a student secretaryfor Harding’s president, Dr. George S. Benson,during her four years of undergraduatework.After graduation, Avanelle worked for fiveyears with Arkansas Power and Light beforemoving to Nashville in 1944.While in Nashville, she worked as secretaryto Dr. Batsell Baxter, president of DavidLipscomb College. There she met James, aprofessor at the college, who was teaching,preaching and working on his doctorate.“I typed his dissertation before we hadcomputers,” she said.They were married in 1946. She completeda master’s degree in social sciences fromGeorge Peabody University in 1947. Thatdegree became useful in later years as shefrequently counseled fellow church members.By the time the Bairds moved with CentralChristian from Bartlesville to Oklahoma Cityin 1958, they had four children and wouldsoon have another.“When we first moved here, all this landwhere OC is now was pasture,” she said.“People in Oklahoma were on fire for Christianeducation at that time. The businesscommunity was also very receptive and wedeveloped an association with many people.”Summer foreign mission work was also animportant part of Avanelle’s life. She fondlyrecalls trips to Australia, Japan, and the Africancountries of Cameroon and Zimbabwe.Friends remember that Avanelle was a tirelessambassador for the university, speakingto women’s groups across Oklahoma, as wellas in Tennessee, Texas and Kansas, and atthe OC Lectureship.Avanelle began teaching preschool SundaySchool classes as a teenager and taughtwomen’s classes until a few years ago. She’salso a prolific writer, recently authoring twoBible workbooks entitled “The Jesus of theGospels,” published in 2001, and “Boughtwith a Price,” published in 2005.“The people I’ve been privileged to workwith and know all these years are what madeit worth the effort,” she said. “It has beena joy to find so many people with the samedreams and love for Christian education.”All five of Avanelle’s children, HarrietEstep, Lynn Jones, Frances Epperly, JimBaird, and Morrow Beth Jacobs, graduatedfrom OC. Her son Jim is a professor in OC’sCollege of Biblical Studies.Avanelle has 14 grandchildren and fivegreat-grandchildren. Three of her grandchildrenalso have graduated from the universityand two more will graduate in 2006.“Oklahoma Christian has been a blessingto my family,” Avanelle said. “OC has beenblessed through the years with a dedicatedfaculty and a wise and supportive board. Iam very thankful for Dr. (Mike) O’Neal’sleadership, his vision, his encouragementof world missions by our students, and hisdetermination to hold the university to theideals which brought it into existence.”Avanelle, who just turned 86, plans to stayactive.“I’m not good at doing nothing,” she said.By Ron Frost14