wfn.org | United Methodist Bishop W.T. Handy Jr. dead at 74

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

April 13, 1998  Contact: Linda Green (615)742-5470 Nashville, Tenn.
(10-21-31-71BP){220}

NOTE: A photograph is available with this story.

by United Methodist News Service

NASHVILLE, Tenn. --  United Methodist Bishop W.T. Handy Jr., 74, died
Easter Sunday, April 12,  of a heart attack. The former leader of the
church's Missouri Area had just attended worship services at Clark
Memorial United Methodist Church here.

A native of Louisiana, where he served as pastor and district
superintendent, Handy was the first black to be named to a top-ranking
executive position at the United Methodist Publishing House here.  He
was elected a bishop in 1980 and retired in 1992.  In recent years, he
had provided pastoral care for employees at the Publishing House.

Handy was born March 24, 1924, in New Orleans. During World War II,
while attending Tuskegee (Ala.) University, he was drafted into the Army
and served three years before being discharged in 1946. He earned his
B.A. degree from Dillard University in New Orleans in 1948 and continued
his education at Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta and Boston
School of Theology. He received several honorary degrees. 

On behalf of the Council of Bishops, Handy helped develop "In Defense of
Creation," a churchwide initiative on nuclear disarmament, launched in
1986.  He also served on a committee that developed a new United
Methodist Hymnal, released in 1989. 

He was ordained  in 1950 and became a member of the Louisiana Conference
of the former Central  Jurisdiction,  a geographic unit for black
members. He served 25 years as a member of his conference's Board of
Ordained Ministry -- 20 of those as chairperson.

Handy was a pastor in Alexandria and Baton Rouge before joining the
staff of the United Methodist Publishing House in 1968. He began as a
publishing representative and then became vice president for personnel
services. In 1978, he served as a district superintendent in the
Louisiana Annual Conference before being elected bishop.

Handy was a member of several churchwide organizations. He was a
delegate to the General Conference -- the top legislative body of the
church - from 1964 to 1980, including the 1968 conference, which united
the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. 

He also served as  trustee to several  academic institutions and was
president of the board of trustees for Saint Paul School of Theology in
Kansas City, Mo.; Gammon Theological Seminary; and the
Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta.

Handy is survived by his wife, Ruth Odessa Robinson Handy;  three
children: Dorothy Denise Davis of Franklin, Tenn., and Stephen Emanuel
Handy and Mercedes Ruth Cowley, both of Nashville; and six
grandchildren. 

Memorial services will be at 2 p.m. April 15 at West End United
Methodist Church here and at 11 a.m. April 18 at the Dillard University
Chapel in New Orleans. The body will be donated to United
Methodist-related Meharry Medical College here.

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/