Walter Elmo McAlister (1897-1991) was born on December 13, 1897. He was the son of John McAlister and nephew of R.E. McAlister, prominent early Pentecostal pioneers. He was converted to Pentecostalism at the age of eight and began preaching in his youth. He was ordained in Edmonton in 1919 by the General Council of the Assemblies of God. He pastored extensively throughout Canada 1920-1940, serving communities in Vancouver, B.C., Edmonton and Lethbridge, Alberta, Regina, Prince Albert, Parkside, and Spruce Lake, Saskatchewan, and Toronto, St. Thomas, and Strathroy, Ontario. It was in Parkside that he married Ruth Manley on May 8, 1923. They had three children, two of whom became clergymen. In 1926 he became the first District Superintendent of Saskatchewan. His service to the PAOC continued with his election as General Superintendent in 1952. He served in that position from 1953 to 1962. During his tenure he was also Chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America. In 1962 McAlister and his wife joined their son Jack in California where Jack had founded the World Literature Crusade. McAlister became Executive Vice President. They returned to Canada in 1980. Walter E. McAlister died in Toronto on March 17, 1991.