SBU Holds Candlelight Vigil

Students, faculty, and staff gathered in the Administrative Office Foyer at Southwest Baptist University-Mountain View Campus on Monday afternoon to honor and remember a recently lost adjunct faculty member. Mrs. Jimmie Walters passed on September 2, twelve days before her seventieth birthday. 

Dedicated wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and teacher, Mrs. Walters touched the lives of many. Married to her husband George Walters for fifty-one years, they raised four children together. Mrs. Walters received her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Northeast Louisiana State College. Later her Masters degree from The University of Missouri would eventually take her to Southwest Baptist University.

Mrs. Walters, better known as “Ms. Jimmie,” by students and staff of the SBU-MV campus, had a passion for education and serving others, according to SBU faculty as well as the pastor of First Baptist Church in West Plains. “She wanted to serve rather than be served,” said Pastor Phil Pietroburgo, who had known Mrs. Walters for several years. 

“Her students got 100% of her. She gave everything she had plus some to help them succeed,” said SBU-MV Director Shae Miller. “She encouraged her students to go beyond the classroom. It was like her thought was, if I can make sure they have a solid foundation, they’re going to be successful,” concluded Miller. 

Mrs. Walters focus at SBU-MV was on the incoming freshmen, teaching University Seminar and Critical Thinking classes. She helped set the students on the right path toward success. “Jimmie truly cared for each of her students and their success at SBU and in life. She was passionate about serving her students and her community,” commented Dr. Dana Steward, assistant provost for general education and transition at SBU. 

Though Monday’s vigil was a time of honor and remembrance, it was also a time of grieving and closure for students and staff of SBU-MV according to campus Director Miller. “She was invested in her students lives, and that speaks volumes for who she was,” stated Miller. 

Director Miller continued to explain how Mrs. Walters recently inspired a group of students to begin of what is now known as the Student Social Society, (S3.) The S3 group later gained approval to create the S3 Student Lounge on campus which provides a study area for students, snacks, drinks, and various extracurricular activities. After Mrs. Walters passing, students have decided to call the S3 Student Lounge, “Jimmie’s Room,” in her honor.