William Millard Pratt

Dr. William M. “Bill” Pratt, Jr. passed away peacefully Saturday, April 27, 2024, after a short illness. Bill was born August 25, 1930, to William Millard Pratt and Dorothy Keeler Pratt in Dyer, Tennessee. Not long afterward, the family moved to Lonoke, Arkansas where his father was a Baptist minister. Bill grew up there with his three sisters, June, Mary and Helen. He graduated from Ouachita Baptist College, and, feeling a call to the ministry, attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas before pastoring churches in Oklahoma and Texas.

Bill met the first love of his life, Eleanor Faye Hubbard, a voice teacher in the music department at the seminary. They were married in 1955 and had their first child, Martha Jean in 1957. Their second child, James Millard, was born in 1958 when Bill was pastor of the First Baptist Church in Durant, Oklahoma. While pastoring First Baptist and Ridgecrest Baptist in Greenville, Texas, Bill began graduate studies in Guidance and Counseling at East Texas State University in Commerce, Texas. In 1968, he moved to Dallas and taught at Dallas Baptist College, and served as Director of Counseling from 1970-1971. Bill completed his Ph.D. in 1970, and, in 1971, he was called to pastor Memorial Drive Baptist Church in Houston. In 1979, Bill entered private practice as a psychologist, counseling individuals and families for twenty years until retiring to take full-time care of Eleanor until her death from Alzheimer’s in 2002.

In 2003, Bill married the second love of his life, Minette Drumwright, and relocated to Fort Worth, Texas. Bill had a wonderful marriage to Minette, a regent at Baylor, and enjoyed becoming very involved in all things at Baylor University, where both Eleanor and Minette graduated. As Minette’s Alzheimer’s disease progressed, he once again was a full-time caregiver until she entered full-time memory care. After living alone for almost three years, Bill moved to the retirement residence, Ventana by Buckner, in Dallas, where he spent the last six months of his life. He had several friends there and quickly made many more.

Bill was a wonderful and caring son, brother, husband, father, father-in-law, stepfather, grandfather, great-grandfather, pastor, counselor and friend. Bill had a servant’s heart and was a Trustee Emeritus of Buckner International. He was a great encourager, a model of kindness, making everyone feel both appreciated and important. He will be greatly missed.

Bill was predeceased by his father and mother, wife Eleanor, and his sisters June and her husband, Allen Denton, and Mary Petty, as well as his sisters-in-law and their husbands, Velma Ruth and Hugh McBirney, Joan and Royce Means, Dodie and Dr. Liston Beazley, and brothers-in-law, Wayne Hubbard and his wife Theda, and Jim Rogers . Bill is survived by his wife, Minette, sister, Helen Rogers, and his children and their spouses, Martha and Larry Wainwright, and Jim and Dana Pratt. He is also survived by stepdaughters and their spouses, Meme Drumwright and H.W. Perry, and Deb and Max Underwood. Bill is also survived by nine grandchildren and their spouses, Matthew and Mackenzie Wainwright, William and Macy Wainwright, Laura and Travis Feltner, Michelle and Ryan Clements, Scott and Deanna Pratt, Claire Wainwright, Brad and Laura Underwood, Emily and Blake Prizer, and Lauren Perry; and ten great-grandchildren with two more on the way. He is also survived by seventeen nieces and nephews.

Services for Bill will be held at 1:30 pm on May 24, 2024, in the Sanctuary of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. In lieu of flowers, gifts can be given to Buckner International or Baylor University in his memory.

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