wfn.org | [ENS] Retired Bishop Moodey of Ohio and Maine dies of cancer

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

>From the Episcopal News Service

September 6, 2005

Retired Bishop Moodey of Ohio and Maine dies of cancer

[ENS] The Right Reverend James Russell Moodey, 72, died Sept. 5 at his
home
in Damariscotta, Maine. The cause of death was metastatic kidney cancer.

Bishop Moodey was born Dec. 9, 1932 in Brooklyn, N.Y. the younger son of
the
late Matil Cochran Moodey and Rev. John Reginald Moodey. Educated in the
Long Island public schools, he was a 1954 graduate of Hamilton College
in
Clinton, New York, and in 1957 was graduated from the Episcopal
Theological
School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While in seminary, he served one
summer
in Haiti. The profound impact of this experience contributed to a
lifelong
devotion to the causes of social and racial equality. He was ordained to
the
deaconate of the Episcopal Church in 1957 and to the priesthood in 1958.
he
received two honorary doctorate degrees, one from Kenyon College, where
he
served as a trustee from 1984-1994, and one from Hamilton College in
1988.

Bishop Moodey spent both his career and his life in ministry to others.
In
1993 he retired as the ninth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio, a
position in which he served for ten years. Prior to his consecration as
a
bishop, he served for 26 years in parish ministry, beginning in 1958 as
an
assistant to the rector at Christ Church, Cincinnati, Ohio where he met
and
married Penelope Hall. In 1960 he was called to be the rector of the
Church
of the Nativity in New Castle, Delaware, and helped steer that parish
through the turbulent social issues of the early 60s. His enthusiasm for
urban ministry, kindled in Cincinnati, was fed in Scranton,
Pennsylvania,
where he served from 1965-1976 as rector of St. Luke's Church. In 1976,
he
was called to St. Paul's Church in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, were he served for seven years.

During his ten years as bishop, Bishop Moodey focused his considerable
energy on pastoral care, both for the clergy and the people of the
Diocese
of Ohio. Among his achievements was the formation of the Episcopal
Community
Services Foundation, providing funds for community ministry. He retired
in
1993, but following his retirement served 18 months as visiting bishop
of
Maine, an opportunity that drew him back to the place he most loved.

Bishop Moodey had many passions in life, time with his family being
foremost, particularly at their camp in Maine. He read voraciously and
was a
compendium of historical information. He loved words, choosing his
carefully, and wasting few. He was a natural and gifted athlete,
participation enthusiastically in ice hockey, baseball, basketball,
tennis,
and golf, at various stages in his life. He shared these talents
generously,
coaching Little League baseball and Boys Club basketball when his
children
were young. He was a lifelong and enthusiastic baseball fan, and never
stopped pulling for the Cleveland Indians.

For the last 14 years, Bishop Moodey lived deeply and richly with cancer
in
his life. The disease robbed him of little, repaying him with the
knowledge
that life is not endless, and that opportunities for time with family
and
friends, trips to unknown places, and glorious Maine days were to be
seized
and celebrated. He was committed to living with, rather than struggling
against, cancer.

"Jim was a man of deep faith, tender compassion and profound wisdom,"
said
Bishop Chilton Knudsen of Maine, where Moodey served as assistant bishop
from 1996-1997. "People of every circumstance felt the blessing of his
graceful courtesy. When you were with Jim, you knew that he gave you his
full and loving attention, as if nothing else were more important than
those
moments together.

"His spiritual leadership of the Diocese of Maine as Assistant Bishop
brought healing and gentleness into our diocesan life.... I was blessed
to
have Jim as a supportive advisor and friend, always empathic and
insightful
about the joys and challenges of a bishop's ministry."

Bishop Moodey is survived by his wife, Penelope Hall Moodey, with whom
he
shared 46 joyous years of marriage; three children, Meredith Moodey
Poole
and her husband Joe of Williamsburg, Virginia, Tucker Moodey and his
wife
Dana of Seattle, Washington, and Tia Moodey Hamilton and her husband Tom
of
Falmouth, Maine; nine grandchildren, Lily Moodey, James Hamilton, Amelia
Poole, Jack Moodey, Mac Hamilton, Drummond Poole, Lytle Hamilton, Hope
Moodey, and Tess Hamilton.

A Requiem will be held on Friday, September 9, at 2 p.m. at St Andrew's,
Newcastle, Maine. A memorial service will be held at a later date at
Trinity
Cathedral in Cleveland, in the Diocese of Ohio, where +Jim served as
Bishop
from 1984 until 1993.

Memorial gifts may be sent to:
The Moodey Funds
The Maine Community Foundation
245 Main Street
Ellsworth, Maine 04605

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