William Loftin Hargrave (November 10, 1903 - October 15, 1975) was suffragan bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of South Florida The Episcopal Diocese of South Florida was a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, which was created in 1922 out of what had been the Missionary Jurisdiction of Southern Florida, sometimes called the Missionary District o ...

, serving from 1961 to 1969. He served subsequently as first bishop of the new

Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida The Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA) in Florida which extends from Marco Island on the south, to Brooksville on the north, and inland to Plant City, Arcadia and ...

from 1969 to 1975.

Early life, education and law career

Hargrave was born on November 10, 1903, in

Wilson, North Carolina Wilson is a city in and the county seat of Wilson County, North Carolina, United States. Located approximately east of the capital city of Raleigh, it is served by the interchange of Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 264. Wilson had an estimated p ...

, the son of Benjamin Worthington Hargrave and Frances Lenox Daniel. He studied at the

Atlanta Law School The Atlanta Law School was a private, night law school for working professionals and others seeking a legal education. The school's faculty members were practicing lawyers and judges from across the state of Georgia. History The school began in 18 ...

from where he earned his

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1924. He was admitted to

State Bar of Georgia The State Bar of Georgia is the governing body of the legal profession in the State of Georgia, operating under the supervision of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Membership is a condition of admission to practice law in Georgia. The State Bar w ...

in 1925 and served as assistant trust officer at the Miami Bank & Trust Co. (Fla.) between 1924 and 1926. He then was an associate at the firm Shuns & Bowen in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

between 1926 and 1927. He left the law profession and studied at the Virginia Theological Seminary and graduated with a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

in 1932. In 1955 he also earned his Master of Sacred Theology from the University of the South. He was awarded an honorary

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 ...

by the Virginia Seminary and the University of the South, respectively, in 1962.

Ordained ministry

Hargrave was ordained deacon in June 1931 and priest in June 1932 by Bishop John Durham Wing of South Florida. His first post was as rector of

St Mark's Church St. Mark's Church, or variations such as St. Mark Church or with Saint spelled out, may mean: Australia * St Mark's Anglican Church, Warwick, Queensland * St Mark's Church, Darling Point, New South Wales * Old St Mark's Anglican Church, Slacks ...

Cocoa, Florida Cocoa is a city in Brevard County, Florida, Brevard County, Florida. The population was 19,041 at the 2020 United States Census. It is part of the Palm Bay, Florida, Palm Bay–Melbourne, Florida, Melbourne–Titusville, Florida, Titusvil ...

, and priest-in-charge of St Luke's Church in

Courtenay, Florida Courtenay (; ), an unincorporated community on Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne– Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Courtenay was settled in the 1870s and 1880s by peo ...

and of St Philip's Mission in Merritt Island, Florida. He retained these posts till 1943. During that time, on February 13, 1939, he married Minnie Frances Whittington, and together had four children. In 1943, he became rector of St Andrew's Church in Fort Pierce, Florida, while in 1945, became rector of the Church of the Holy Comforter. Between 1948 and 1953, he served as chaplain and president of Porter Military Academy in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

1948-1953. He then became Canon to the Ordinary and Actuary and Executive Secretary of the Diocese of South Florida on September 1, 1953, a post he retained till 1961.

Bishop

On October 20, 1961, Hargrave was elected Suffragan bishop of South Florida on the third ballot, during a special convention held in St Luke's Cathedral,

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 ...

. He was consecrated on December 21, 1961 by Presiding Bishop

Arthur C. Lichtenberger Arthur Carl Lichtenberger (January 8, 1900 – September 3, 1968) was a bishop of the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church in the United States. He served as Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, Bishop of Missouri from 1952 to 1959, and as ...

, in St Luke's Cathedral. As Suffragan bishop, he was assigned to minister in the west coast of the diocese by the diocesan bishop Henry I. Louttit Sr. After the Diocese of South Florida was divided in three separate dioceses in 1969, Hargrave became the first bishop of Southwest Florida. He retired on July 31, 1975 and died on October 15 that same year of a heart attack at his home in

."Southwest Florida's Bishop Hargrave Dies Suddenly"
''Diocesan Press Service'', 7 November 1975. Retrieved on 26 June 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hargrave, William L. 1903 births 1975 deaths Virginia Theological Seminary alumni Sewanee: The University of the South alumni People from Wilson, North Carolina 20th-century American Episcopalians Episcopal bishops of Southwest Florida Episcopal bishops of South Florida 20th-century American clergy