Obituaries: Cunningham, Hightower

Milton Cunningham, 84, Aug. 3 in Waco. He died from complications following a stroke. After his mother died one month after his birth, he traveled with his father, who was an itenerant preacher and Milton Cunninghamchurch planter. He enrolled at Baylor University when he was 16 years old. He credited Baylor President W.R. White with bringing him to faith in Jesus Christ. While attending Baylor, he also experienced a call to ministry, and he continued his education at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in pursuit of that call. He and his wife, Barbara, were missionaries in Africa 15 years, serving in Rhodesia, Zambia, Kenya and Ghana. He also was pastor of Westbury Baptist Church in Houston 17 years before returning to Baylor, where he served as chaplain and later as sports chaplain. In recent years, he was interim pastor of First Baptist churches in San Antonio, Athens, Corsicana and Woodville. He was the founder of Heart and Hands, a missions foundation that sent student missionaries all over the world. He served as president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas from 1977 to 1979, and he was chairman of the board of trustees at Baylor from 1985 to 1986. He was recognized as a distinguished alumnus of Baylor and also received the Huckins Award. He is survived by his wife of 57 years; sons, Milton and Miller; and two grandsons. 

Jack Hightower, 86, Aug. 3 in Austin. He died of complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was a graduate of both Baylor University and the Baylor Law School. A year after graduation, he was Jack Hightowerelected to the Texas House of Representatives, where he served one term. He was appointed district attorney for the 46th Judicial District in 1957, where he served until 1961. In 1965, he was elected to the Texas Senate, where he served 10 years. He was a trustee at Baylor from 1972 until 1981 and was noted as a distinguished alumnus in 1978. He was a U.S. Representative from 1975 to 1985. In 1985, he was appointed first assistant attorney general of Texas, where he served two years. He was elected as a justice on the Texas Supreme Court in 1988 and served until 1995. He was a deacon at First Baptist Church in Austin and taught Sunday school there many years. He was a trustee of Wayland Baptist University from 1991 until 2001. His personal and official papers are housed in Baylor’s W.R. Poage Legislative Library. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Colleen; daughters, Ann Hightower, Amy Brees and Alison Suttle; and six grandchildren.