Walter Agnor, Jr. Remembered for His Compassion and Loving People

The Rev. Walter DeWitt Agnor, Jr., passed away on January 23, 2024, in Leesburg, Virginia. He served faithfully in Maryland/Delaware as a director of missions in two associations, pastor of multiple churches, and as a BCM/D president.

Walter was born on February 14, 1929, in Baltimore, Maryland, to Walter DeWitt Agnor, Sr. and Anna Agnor. He attended Baltimore Polytechnic Institute before enlisting in the Marine Corps at age 17 in 1946.

During his service in the Marines, Walter experienced a dramatic conversion to Christianity while serving a one-week sentence in the brig. He had been court-martialed for being Absent Without Leave to visit the love of his life, Bettye Jane Willingham, who would become his wife. It was a minor infraction and a light sentence, but it ultimately changed his life and the lives of countless others. While in the brig, he read the entire New Testament, which was the only book provided to prisoners. During the day, cell mattresses were rolled up, and he was forced to read while sitting on a cold metal bed frame. His cellmate was annoyed and would toss the Bible into the trash bin as it rolled through the corridor. Not to be discouraged, Walter would simply request another Bible and continue his daily readings.

Walter married his darling Bettye on June 11, 1949, and she became Bettye Jane Agnor.

After his honorable discharge from the Marines, Walter was awarded a full-paid scholarship to attend Johns Hopkins University to study engineering. But God had other plans. Walter was called to the ministry, and he and Bettye enrolled together at the Philadelphia College of Bible. They both dedicated their entire adult lives to service for God. During most of his career, Walter served as a home missionary or pastor in Southern Baptist churches and associations, all affiliated with the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware.

Walter’s first ministry was as the pastor of Weverton Baptist Church in Washington County, Maryland, in the early 1950s. This was an impoverished town in Appalachia, and Walter occasionally received pay in the form of live chickens.

From there, Walter served as the senior pastor at Greensboro Baptist Church, Maryland, and led Greensboro in planting the First Southern Baptist Church of Dover, Delaware. The Dover church started with an old-fashioned tent revival in an open field. One of the deacons had a large meeting tent; a gas station owner had an open field connected to his gas station; and a Christian lumber dealer loaned long planks and cinder blocks to create crude temporary benches. Oldest son Dwight (aged 6) accompanied Walter to help spray the weeds in the field for mosquitos each night before the revival services would begin. Approximately 20 curious souls attended, people were saved, and the First Southern Baptist Church was born.

During the construction of First Southern Baptist Church, Walter got to a place where he was about ready to give up. They needed more money to complete the project. But God came through miraculously. A wealthy local man called Walter and said God told him to donate the money to the church. It was the exact amount needed. In about 1959, Walter and Bettye left Greensboro to pastor the First Southern Baptist Church full-time.

In 1963, the Agnors moved to East Hartford, Connecticut, where Walter and Bettye planted perhaps the first Southern Baptist church in the Hartford area and one of very few at the time in Connecticut.

From 1966 to 1977, Walter served as senior pastor of Berwyn Baptist Church in College Park, Maryland.

In addition to pastoral roles, Walter and Bettye had leadership roles at the associational and state convention levels. Walter served as the associational director for the Susquehanna Baptist Association from 1977 to about 1981 and then as the associational director for the Eastern Baptist Association from 1981 until his retirement in about 1994. He served as BCM/D president in the mid-1980s. Bettye was actively involved with the Women’s Missionary Union of Maryland/Delaware and served for a time as WMU president. Jeff Agnor says his mom and dad ultimately failed at retirement — they both continued to serve in local church work into their late 80’s.

Walter was an avid Bible scholar with a rich, active prayer life. He rose most mornings before 6 a.m. and spent the first hour or two each day in study, prayer, and meditation. He had a long list of loved ones, friends, and strangers whom he remembered in prayer every day.

He loved his family deeply. Walter often made breakfast for his children and engaged them in morning devotionals. Jeff said he loved listening to his dad reading Pilgrim’s Progress. “He would read those stories, and I was captivated. He was very attentive that way and wanted to fill our minds and souls with good things.”

Jeff said his dad had him read the entire Narnia series one summer. “To me, he exemplified what C.S. Lewis called ‘Mere Christianity.’ He was very, very compassionate. To me, that’s the essence of Christianity. How many times in the Bible does it say Jesus had compassion? Dad was empathetic. He loved people, even strangers. That’s who he was, and he conveyed that to us too as kids,” Jeff said.

“Toward the end of his life, there was an elderly lady in his community who was in her 90s and was sick and confined to home. Her daughter had to go out and do errands. Dad would sit with her and keep her company because he said she needed it. That’s true, sweet, pure Christianity — less doctrinal, from the heart and spirit.”

Walter and Bettye were kind and compassionate souls who touched countless lives throughout their long ministry.  Over the years, his children have heard from many with stories about how much their lives were changed by Walter and Bettye’s lifelong ministry.

Walter’s favorite Bible verse was Romans 8:28, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” His favorite hymn was Amazing Grace.

BCM/D Executive Director Tom Stolle said, “Walter was a wonderful man. He lived out his Christianity. I was touched that he would remember me years after his retirement. He would reach out to me with a handwritten letter and consistently pray for me. He encouraged me. He truly exemplified love and service in the name of Jesus, and I see the imprint of Walter’s love in his son Jeff, who has served our convention faithfully for many years as legal counsel.

Walter is survived by his children, Dwight T. Agnor (and his wife Jhoane Castilar Agnor), Susan E. Bader, and Jeffrey T. Agnor (and his wife Kimberly A. Agnor), his grandchildren, Carrieanne Cox, Rachel G. Agnor, and Michael C. Agnor, and his great-grandchildren, Hunter W. Cox and Shelby B. Cox.  Walter was preceded in death by his wife, Bettye, and his sisters, Mildred, Edith, Doris, Anna, Bess and June.

Walter’s family extends their special thanks to the physicians, nurses and staff at Reflections – a Senior Living Community and Hospice in Loudon County, Virginia, who were all so kind and attentive to Walter during his last days. These selfless souls are truly angels with a vital ministry of their own, helping folks through their difficult journey to the next life.

A memorial service will be held at a time yet to be determined at Mount Hope Baptist Church, 42507 Mount Hope Road, Ashburn, Virginia, 20148. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to:

Mount Hope Baptist Church

(designated for the benefit of Lottie Moon or Annie Armstrong offerings)

42507 Mount Hope Road

Ashburn, VA 20148