Substitute preachers for small-town churches come from the unlikeliest of careers.

When preachers for Winslow's First United Methodist Church were unable to tend their congregation, the flock heard the fire and brimstone from Wen Elliott, the church's accountant.

Elliott had moved to Winslow in 1990 as a partner in an accounting and bookkeeping firm. In 1997 Elliott ventured as a solo Certified Public Accountant, and he cultivated a loyal and substantial clientele.

But Elliott's history brought verve to his messages, which betrayed more than a thorough ability with ledger sheets.

Elliott was born in Salinas, Kansas, to Francis and Walter Wendell Elliott Sr. The family moved to Dodge City, Kansas, where Elliott and his brothers Sam and Mark tinkered with and raced cars.

Thin with side parted black hair, Elliott graduated high school in 1959 and traveled to the University of New Mexico, where he studied communication and journalism. After he graduated in 1964, Elliott enlisted in the United States Army, in which he served as a photographer.

Traveling the east coast, he finished his enlistment in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he taught photography for the Army and worked part time as a videographer for a local television station.

Those skills prepared him for a move to Flagstaff, where Walter Sr. and his wife had relocated, eyeing a potential market for a television station.

By 1970, Elliott and his parents had launched KOAI-TV. Elliott married his first wife, Linda, in 1973.

Walter Sr. died in 1974, and Elliott and Linda assumed control of the station. They popularized shows such as "Today in the Northland" and broadcast NAU athletics.

Seeking new directions, they sold the station at the start of 1981, and it became KNAZ-TV. They earned accounting degrees from NAU in 1985, by which time they had two sons. They divorced in 1989.

Elliott embraced Winslow as his new home. He bought a house and began renovating it, and in 1993 he married his second wife, Betty.
The two became fixtures around town, as vigilant promoters of local businesses, and in their neighborhood, where Elliott's woodworking saws echoed out of his garage and down the street.
Locals visited Elliott at his pipe-smoke-filled office in Winslow's historic district, where he glanced over his thick glasses and solved tax problems, always listening to the Suns or Diamondbacks amid the chimes of his clocks.

His experiences provided a base from which Elliott drew as a bullpen preacher. That is why Winslow's Methodists listened when an accountant stood to laugh and talk with them about God and the Oak Ridge Boys.

Walter Wendell Elliott Jr. died of cancer at his home on Sunday, December 28th. He was 67. He is survived by his two sons, Brad and Steve, his wife, Betty, her three sons, and by his brothers Mark and Sam.

Winslow's First United Methodist Church will hold a celebration of Elliott's life on Saturday, January 3rd at 10 am. In lieu of flowers, contributions to that church are suggested.