Published: June 08, 2008 02:45 pm            

CHS grad leads church candidate McCain attends

Yeary recalls his time in Cleburne

Long before he led the North Phoenix Baptist Church in Phoenix, Ariz., Dr. Dan Yeary attended and played football for Cleburne High School.

“I was born in Abilene, but we moved to Cleburne in 1953, my freshman year,” Yeary said. “My dad was a Sears & Roebuck manager and was transferred here.”

Yeary quarterbacked the Cleburne Yellow Jackets from 1954 to 1956.

“If you lost a game on Friday night, you didn’t want to get a haircut on Saturday,” Yeary joked. “First, because of all the people that would be on your case. Second, because you’d probably get a bad haircut. Deliberately.”

Fortunately, the losses were scarce during Yeary’s tenure. The team won Cleburne’s first district championship in 30 years in 1955 and the bidistrict championship in 1956, Yeary said.

“We beat Kilgore then lost to the Garland Owls,” Yeary said. “Oh, wretched, evil Garland. We had some injuries that year, but I’m positive we would have won state otherwise. Which may just be my wishful thinking. But, except that we tied Palestine that year, we were undefeated until that last game.”

After graduating from CHS, Yeary moved on to Hardin-Simmons University, where he played football under Sammie Baugh, the former Texas Christian University and Washington Redskins standout.

While a student at Hardin-Simmons, Yeary said, he met and “married a Fort Worth girl.” Yeary and Melinda Yeary went on to have three children, West Yeary, Missy Wells and Doak Yeary, who is named after Southern Methodist University’s Heisman Trophy winner, Doak Walker.

After graduating from Hardin-Simmons, Yeary went on to graduate from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.

He pastored in Kentucky and Texas before serving for 18 years as the pastor at the University Baptist Church in Coral Gables, Fla. From there, he moved to the North Phoenix Baptist Church, where he’s served for the last 15 years.

Yeary has not been involved in any of the controversies involving religious leaders tied to presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama this year. But, given that the McCains often attend his church, he has received his share of media attention this year.

“I’ve gotten a lot more attention than I ever wanted,” Yeary joked.

Yeary said he first met McCain 15 years ago.

“Actually, Sen. McCain’s wife is a member of our church,” Yeary said. “John, by history, is an Episcopalian. But he attends our church when he’s in town.

“I consider him a trustworthy friend. He’s a man of courage and conviction without question, and a man of strong, personal faith.”

Yeary’s parents remained in Cleburne until they died; his brother, Ron Yeary, still lives here. Nonetheless, Yeary said he hasn’t been back as often as he’d like. That may change, however.

“I’ve got a son at Baylor and a daughter and three grandchildren in Houston,” Yeary said. “That should draw me back more frequently.”

Yeary’s daughter, Wells, is married to the pastor of South Main Baptist Church in Houston. His son West Yeary, who played football at and graduated from Baylor University, recently returned to Waco to assume the position of sports chaplain at the university. Doak Yeary, another Baylor football player and alumnus, works as a firefighter in Miami, Fla.

Yeary said he misses Cleburne and thinks often of his days here.

“It was just a great town to grow up in,” Yeary said. “In those days, we probably had about 12,000 people. So if you sneezed, everyone knew about it.”

The decision to enter the ministry occurred during his Cleburne days, Yeary said.

“I got the calling during high school,” Yeary said. “Pastor Browning Ware [pastor of the First Baptist Church of Cleburne from 1956-1966], a hero to me, thought I’d be good at it and encouraged me. Mom and dad were also strong in their faith, which had a high impact on me. I think it was also just a combo of good guys, good teachers and good coaches at CHS at that time. I’m glad I was privileged to go to high school in Cleburne ... and be exposed to all those good people.”

        

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