BJ Tisdale-Hyatt, age 71, of Waco, passed away peacefully Sunday, June 29th, 2014 in Bryan, Texas.
VISITATION: 30 minutes prior to, and after the funeral service, Sunday, July 6, 2014
FUNERAL SERVICE: 3 PM, Sunday, July 6th, Lake Shore Funeral Home Chapel, 5201 Steinbeck Bend Dr, Waco, with Dr. Terry York officiating.
Those wishing to pay respects may come by the funeral home Sunday 30 minutes before, and 30 minutes after the ceremony for personal time with BJ and her family. The funeral home will be open at 10am Sunday for guests to sign the register book before the family visitation begins at 2:30pm.
BJ was born Brenda Jean Tisdale on February 5th, 1943 in the town of Cape Girardeau, Missouri to Floyd and Olive (Mattingly) Tisdale. She was born the granddaughter of the late Clarence Mattingly and Gertrude Miller, whom she loved dearly. She often spoke of the times she would spend in the country playing on the farm of her maternal great-grandmother, Malissa Miller, and her husband, Henry. In addition to her mother, she had two uncles, Orville and Gary, with whom she maintained a close bond all her life.
In the early 1950s, BJ’s family moved to Houston, Texas where she soon had a sister, Karen Kay Tisdale. BJ attended Jesse H. Jones High School from which she graduated, with honors, in 1961. She married Jonathan Hyatt in 1963, and this union produced two children, Brandon Christopher Hyatt in 1966, and Malissa Paige Hyatt, in 1967.
Moving with her family to Waco in the summer of 1980, BJ began a career at Baylor University where she worked for nearly 34 years. BJ served in the School of Music, Office of the Baylor Historian, and was a member of the inaugural staff of Truett Seminary when it opened at Waco’s First Baptist Church in 1994. She served there continuously until her recent passing, becoming Coordinator of Academic Advising and Degree Planning.
BJ was preceded in death by both her parents and grandparents. She is survived by her daughter, Malissa; son, Brandon and wife Pam, of Waco; uncle, Gary Mattingly and wife Elizabeth of Woodville, TX; cousins, Belinda Carter of Palm Bay, FL, Wayne Mattingly of Anchorage, AK, Yvonne Markele, Memphis, TN, and Warren Mattingly of West Melbourne, FL; niece, Serena Goodwin of Houston; and her pride and joy of a grandson, Aiden Hyatt, of Waco.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Fuzzy Friends Rescue of Central Texas, 6321 Airport Road, Waco, TX 76702, (254) 754-9444.
Place of Service: Lake Shore Funeral Home , 5201 Steinbeck Bend; Waco, TX 76708
Print Obituary & Condolences
All the wonderful memories of working as a grad assistant in the office when Truett was at 1st Baptist. Rolling around in her filing chair with her laughing to making gas runs when her VW Beatle ran out of gas. My heart and prayers go out to her, her family, and all the staff who knew her well.
BJ was a brilliantly shining light of Christ’s love. I will never forget the lesson she taught me in not taking myself so seriously. I needed to drop a course as a first year Truett student in 1996. I was so distraught and felt like such a failure. She burst out laughing and guided me to a greater understanding of myself. She held a mirror up and allowed me to have a greater understanding that my self worth was not in accomplishments or lack there of – rather in Christ. She helped me through a degree plan of starting and withdrawing for a time when I had cancer. She continued to celebrate with me as I crammed my 3 year MDiv into 8 and joined with many others asking, “Are you STILL here?”. She celebrating my finishing too where we had a good laugh about dropping the class 8 years earlier. 🙂
I will always be thankful for her diligence, compassion, skill and contagious joy.
May the peace of Christ rule in your hearts these days as you celebrate her life while she celebrates with Jesus.
Grace and Peace,
David Cozart
BJ was always very special to me, and she assisted me in meaningful ways as I pursued 2 degrees at Truett. May God comfort you and embrace you with His never-ending peace in these days.
So sorry to hear of BJ’s passing. I appreciated her sweet and thoughtful spirit and service during my time at Truett. Sending prayers and love to the family.
Dear Family of BJ Tisdale-Hyatt,
Please accept my sincere sympathy for your loss. May the God of all comfort be with you.
Sincerely,
Diana Wilcox
Truett Seminary student
Christopher and Malissa,
Your mom was a delightful person to know and a wonderful friend. I’m going to miss her tremendously. Your family has been in my prayers since I heard what happened and you will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers. The world was blessed with BJ’s presence and is lonely without her. May the Lord comfort you and give you grace. May God bless the soul of BJ Tisdale-Hyatt.
Darlene
I knew BJ from her work at Truett Seminary.
She was always kind and helpful, and in the stress of conflicting class schedules and the stress of registration she was a friendly and compassionate presence for students.
I will miss seeing her, and miss her ALL CAPS emails that she sent out to all the students when things started to get busy around registration. I always smiled when I saw them, because I knew that she was not an ALL CAPS person in real life.
Grace and peace be with you in your time of grief.
My sincerest sympathies to BJ’s family. She was a special person. Her joyful personality and abundant laughter always brightened up her office and the Seminary. I always enjoyed visiting her and sharing a laugh. She was also very proficient and I knew any problem I brought to her would be resolved in a timely manner. Even after all these years BJ still has a special place in my memory. May she rest in peace.
Fred
She was a very beautiful lady in many different ways. She helped me so many times. What language shall I borrow to adequately say, Thank You?
We are all deeply saddened by the loss of B.J. She made an incredible contribution to Truett Seminary and will be missed by students, faculty, and staff alike. She loved students and loved helping them, and loved helping them to graduate. I shall always remember her for her kindness and her cheerfulness, even when I knew that she had physical ailments. The Truett family will miss her terribly. We will pray for you her family, whom she loved dearly and of whom she was so proud.
David Garland
Please know that the Hyatt family is in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. Peace be with you. China Spring Band Boosters
BJ was a friend for many years. Every time I came to Truett to do work, I always stopped by to say hello and get one of her great hugs. I can feel her arms around me now as I write this.
I learned a great life lesson from BJ–to place my artifacts above eye level so I didn’t have to dust them. Have you ever heard better advice??
Please know that you all are in my heart at this sad time.
Our hearts are broken with this news. Terry and I are holding B.J.’s beloved children close in our prayers with praise and thanksgiving for her life and friendship. The days we worked together at Truett (1996-2001) were times of almost constant change and growth. I will always remember her commitment to go above and beyond to help take the seminary forward. She was always ready to find the bright side and share a laugh. I remember the last time we saw B.J. was a couple of years ago when we made a brief visit to the seminary campus. We talked about her work and the joy she had in it. We complemented how her office decor so perfectly reflected her personality and was such a welcome change from the controlled chaos of that big room office at First Baptist. God grant her restful peace in eternal light and love.
I didn’t have much opportunity to speak to B.J. when I was a student at Truett, but I always appreciated her kind words and spirit when I did. My deepest sympathies go out to her family, and I pray that God will make His presence felt in the days and weeks ahead.
Peace,
Stephen Farrar
Lissa, Brandon & Pam, Aiden, and family….
What a loving friend in BJ, whose wit, humor and encouragement were outshone only by the depth of her love. She so loved her family, sharing special times with you and celebrating each one of you with a love that spilled over into all of her other families, a love that will live on! Having worked and grown alongside her for years, I will especially miss her resilient joy and sharing. She was dear to so many at Truett & Baylor. Love & prayers, Doel & Cecelia, Jamie, Cody
I remember B.J.’s positive and encouraging way of helping and serving during my time at the Seminary 1997-1999. She made people around her feel special. People like her make this world a better place.
Please accept my sincere sympathy for your loss.
Petri Ruotsalainen, international student from Finland
I knew BJ when I worked at Baylor bookstore for several years.We had lots of interaction and could not find a more delightful sweet lady to work with and get things done. She was a blessing to all who knew her.My sympathy to her family.Will be in my prayers.
sincerely
Judy
I am saddened by BJ’s death. I was one of the first group of Truett students and first graduating class of 1997. During those pioneering years, as the Truett foundation was being laid, BJ’s wonderful smile and calming spirit and presence aided those of us who journeyed during those transitional years and helped us navigate the emerging and sometimes shifting administrative processes. As I drove in each of 4 days a week from Austin, BJ would often be one of the first faces I saw upon my arrival at First Baptist and she helped me “catch my breath.” Over the years, as I visited the Truett campus, I would see BJ and saw that she offered the same smile and spirit to “today’s Truett students.” BJ was a gift from God and in honor to her I say, “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:3-6, NIV).
I am saddened by BJ’s death. I was one of the first group of Truett students and first graduating class of 1997. During those pioneering years, as the Truett foundation was being laid, BJ’s wonderful smile and calming spirit and presence aided those of us who journeyed during those transitional years and helped us navigate the emerging and sometimes shifting administrative processes. As I drove in each of 4 days a week from Austin, BJ would often be one of the first faces I saw upon my arrival at First Baptist and she helped me “catch my breath.” Over the years, as I visited the Truett campus, I would see BJ and saw that she offered the same smile and spirit to “today’s Truett students.” BJ was a gift from God and in my memory of her I pray Philippians 1:3-6. May God give you ongoing comfort.
Brandon, Pam & Aiden — we are so sorry for your loss. You all remain in our thoughts and prayers.
Mrs. Tisdale was such a beautiful person and friend, I will sorely miss her as a person and as her tax advisor,
seeing her lovely face every year in the tax office for the past 10 years was one of the highlights of my season. If I
didn’t see her at a certain time, I would call her and ask her, Mrs. Tisdale sweetie, it’s time for us to take on our
opponents, laughing jokingly, the IRS. When she came in, she would say I was hoping to see your smiling face
and I would say, Im always going to be here for you regardless of if its at H&R Block or wherever. I thank God for enabling me to be a part of her life. I know she’s ok, she’s with the Lord.
Sincerely
Cynthia Wydermyre
What a special lady! I had the privilege of meeting BJ before I met any other Hyatt family members. What a woman of incredible faith and a 1000 watt smile. She was and will remain such a blessing to her family and friends. Brandon, her spirit certainly lives on in you and Aiden. God Bless you, Pam and all the Hyatt family members. We send our love and prayers.
Brandon, Malissa, and Pam,
The service today was beautiful. I could not tell you today how my heart aches for you without losing it. I know you will miss her sweet presence, as we all will. BJ was one of the first people I came to know and love at Baylor when I came on campus in 1989. I kept feeling she should be attending my funeral (I am 84) instead of me attending hers. But God needed to take her to Heaven to heal her, as that awful illness was too much for earthly healing. I am so glad that little Aiden got to know and experience the love of his Ghee. My love and prayers for you all continue. Please express my condolences to your aunt and uncle and cousin; BJ was so excited to get to see them again.
Brandon and Pam,
We were out of town and were unable to attend the service. We are so sorry for your loss. I always enjoyed BJ, even though she was Brenda when she was in the band office.
Doris and David DeLoach
Just wanted to share a story . I drove Johnny and Brenda from Houston to Brownwood, pulling a trailer, in my lowered 1955 chevy, never a complaint about the rough ride. The car had no reverse, so we had to always leave room to pull out forward when stopping anywhere. They brought a cat, not allowed at the dorm, it was leash trained so no problem taking it back to her mom.