The Rev. John Francis Minford Wyatt; hosted local TV's 'Confession' prior to priesthood
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the law. Subjects included a murderer, prostitute, burglar,
counterfeiter and criminal alcoholic. Mr. Wyatt, then an
advertising executive, moderated the discussion with a panel
that included top-ranking law enforcement officers, clergy
and civic leaders. The criminals sometimes wore masks or
hoods to conceal their identities."
The Rev. John 'Jack' Francis Minford Wyatt: Adman hosted
local TV's 'Confession' prior to priesthood
12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, April 12, 2008
By JOE SIMNACHER / The Dallas Morning News
jsimn...@dallasnews.com
The Rev. John Francis Minford Wyatt was well-known in North
Texas for Confession a decade before he decided to become an
Episcopal priest.
He started his studies for ordination at age 50, capping off
careers in advertising, public relations and broadcast
production in New York and Dallas, where he was best known
as Jack Wyatt.
Father Wyatt, 90, died April 4 at his Rockport, Texas, home
of complications from cancer.
A memorial for Father Wyatt will be at 10 a.m. today at St.
Peter's Episcopal Church in Rockport.
Father Wyatt was born in Kansas City, Mo., and grew up in
Forest Hills, N.Y.
"He was always a person who was very much involved with
people and things in growth and change," said his daughter,
Susan Wyatt of Memphis, Tenn. "He was a warm, outgoing
person who touched many lives."
He started his career in radio and television production in
New York, where he later became an advertising consultant.
He had a number of Dallas clients and decided to move to
Texas in 1954.
In Dallas, he formed the Jack Wyatt Co., which grew to be
Wyatt, Dunagan & Williams Inc., which later merged with a
prominent New York agency, Lennen & Newell Inc.
He became a local television celebrity in the mid- to late
1950s as moderator of Confession, broadcast live late Sunday
nights on WFAA-TV (Channel 8).
Each program featured someone who had been in trouble with
the law. Subjects included a murderer, prostitute, burglar,
counterfeiter and criminal alcoholic. Mr. Wyatt, then an
advertising executive, moderated the discussion with a panel
that included top-ranking law enforcement officers, clergy
and civic leaders. The criminals sometimes wore masks or
hoods to conceal their identities.
Sam Price of Dallas, co-producer of Confession, said many of
the criminal guests were in trouble at the time.
"I went up to Huntsville several times to pre-interview
people before we brought them back to Dallas under guard for
the show," Mr. Price said.
ABC signed up Confession as a summer television series in
1958. The Dallas program was written about in Newsweek.
In 1967, Mr. Wyatt began his transition from gray flannel
suit to clerical collar.
"He had one of those life-changing experiences," his
daughter said.
Father Wyatt attended St. Augustine's College in Canterbury,
England, and took his final year of study at King's College
at the University of London.
"Jack always had an urging to take the next step, whatever
he was doing, whether it was broadcast, advertising - from
film to videotape and things like that - this was the next
step for him," Mr. Price said. "I was as surprised as
anybody."
Father Wyatt was ordained as an Episcopal priest and served
at St. Paul's Cathedral in Oklahoma City, where he was an
assistant priest before receiving his own church in Durant,
Okla.
He then became canon to the Bishop of Oklahoma.
He had served on national level within his denomination on
the Presiding Bishop's Committee on Evangelism and Shared
Ministry.
He retired to Rockport in the early 1980s but continued his
ministry as a supply priest and interim rector to churches
in the area.
"He was spiritual director for the hospice here for a
while," his daughter said. "He did lots of things, he just
kept moving."
In addition to his daughter, Father Wyatt is survived by his
wife, Florence Wyatt of Rockport; another daughter, the Rev.
Claudia Wyatt Smith of Blue Hill, Maine; and one grandchild.