O'Kelley Whitaker (December 26, 1926 – June 25, 2015) was eighth bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of Central New York The Episcopal Diocese of Central New York is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America encompassing the area in the center of New York state. It is one of ten dioceses, plus the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, ...

Biography

Whitaker was born in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

on December 26, 1926. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in Philosophy from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

in 1949 and then studied at

Seabury-Western Theological Seminary Seabury-Western Theological Seminary (SWTS) was a seminary of the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, located in Evanston, Illinois. It ceased operations as a residential seminary granting the Master of Divinity degree in May 201 ...

. He was ordained deacon and priest in 1952. He served as rector of St Andrew's Church in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. He also served as a hospital corpsman in the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

during

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1973 he became the Dean of St Luke's Cathedral in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. On November 7, 1980, Whitaker was elected Coadjutor Bishop of Central New York during the 112th General Convention which took place in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

. He was consecrated bishop by

John Allin John Maury Allin (April 22, 1921 – March 6, 1998) was an American Episcopalian bishop who served as the 23rd Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church from 1974 to 1985. Early life Allin was born in Helena, Arkansas. He graduated from the Un ...

, Presiding Bishop, on May 16, 1981, in the

Oncenter War Memorial Arena The Upstate Medical University Arena (originally known as Onondaga County War Memorial and later as the Oncenter War Memorial Arena) is a multi-purpose arena located in Syracuse, New York. It is part of the Oncenter Complex. Designed by Edgart ...

. He was awarded a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

in 1981 by Seabury-Western. He succeeded as diocesan bishop in 1983 and retired in 1992. Between 1992 and 1997 he served as Assistant Bishop of Southern Virginia.

Works

Whitaker was the author of several hymns and also wrote a book named ''Sister Death'' in 1974.

References

Bishop Coadjutor Consecrated in SyracuseBishop Whitaker Dead at 88
obituary from

The Living Church ''The Living Church'' is a magazine based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, providing commentary and news on the Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion. In continuous publication since 1878, it has generally been identified with the Anglo-Catho ...

1926 births 2015 deaths People from Durham, North Carolina Duke University alumni 20th-century American Episcopalians Episcopal bishops of Central New York {{US-Anglican-bishop-stub