Frank Shelby Groner

Frank Shelby Groner (January 7, 1877 – November 8, 1943) was an American lawyer, pastor of Baptist churches, chairman of the Southern Baptist Hospital Commission, executive secretary of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, director of fund-raising in Texas for the Southern Baptist Convention, founder of the Baptist Student Division and the Department of Evangelism, president of the College of Marshall, Texas (now East Texas Baptist University), and author of several religious books.

Early life Frank Shelby Groner was born near the town of Weston, Texas, in Collin County, Texas, to William Christopher Groner and Cleopatra Clementine Dunnegan on January 7, 1877. His parents moved to Graham, Texas, when he was three years old, where he started to preach by using a flat-top trunk as a pulpit. in Jacksboro, Texas, from the age of 14 where he was awarded a Master of Science degree in 1896. His graduating thesis was on the subject of "The Evidence of Christianity as shown in Profane History". Groner then studied at the University of Texas Law School. Groner was nominated as county attorney by the Jack County Democratic Society near the end of his second year in law school. a position which he held until 1918, when he resigned to become executive secretary of the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT).

He also accepted the directorship for Texas of the Southern Baptist Convention's $75 million fundraising campaign in 1920. He raised $12 million in Texas despite the opposition of J. Frank Norris.

College president Groner was chosen as president of the College of Marshall in Marshall, Texas, in June 1928. Groner used his financial skills to greatly enlarge the College of Marshall by acquiring additional property and buildings. Groner served as president of the College of Marshall for 14 years and stepped down in 1942 due to ill health; he was then appointed president emeritus of the College of Marshall.

Author Groner also found time in the course of his life to author several books on Christianity, including: The Witness of Great Minds to Christian Verities Christian Education Our Sainted Loved Ones

Honors Howard Payne College and Baylor University granted honorary doctorates to Groner in recognition of his service to the College of Marshall.

Personal life Groner met Laura Virginia Wyatt (1878–1951) of Cleveland County, Arkansas, while they were both students at North Texas Baptist College. They were married in 1903 and had seven children.

Groner was a close friend of Patrick Morris Neff, president of Baylor University and Governor of Texas, for whom he named his last child. He was a member of the Democratic Party and a Mason.

Death and burial Groner died at the age of 66 in a hospital in Marshall on November 8, 1943, following a cerebral hemorrhage. A funeral service was held in Marshall, followed by a second funeral service in Waco, Texas. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Waco.