By Michael Freeman, Managing Editor

Walter Burch, former ACU director of publicity (1951-56), journalism instructor (1952-56), director of development (1958-62) and campaign manager/consultant (1964-67), died in Mission Hills, Calif., on Jan. 29. He was 81.

“He was one of the most influential people in my life,” said Dr. Charles Marler, professor emeritus of the journalism and mass communication department. “He followed a path that you might describe as the ‘audacity of the possible’.”

Marler was one of Burch’s students during the 1950s. Despite the expensive cost, Burch organized a bus trip for his students to a journalism conference in Mexico City in 1953.

“He gave us an international experience, and he opened our eyes to a lot of stuff,” Marler said. “He was a hero to journalism students.”

After Burch left ACU, he worked several jobs as a minister, writer, planner, consultant, and fundraiser for many organizations and churches.

Burch, born in 1927, earned earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from TCU in 1949. Later, he earned a master’s degree in educational administration from Columbia University in 1963.

Burch was preceded in death by his wife Ruth and is survived by five children, 28 grandchildren, and 19 great-grandchildren.