Walter Heath Jones (25 December 1928 – 22 March 2003) was an Anglican

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Early life and education

Jones was born in

Saint Boniface, Winnipeg St-Boniface (or Saint-Boniface) is a city ward and neighbourhood in Winnipeg. Along with being the centre of the Franco-Manitoban community, it ranks as the largest francophone community in Western Canada. It features such landmarks as the St. B ...

, on December 25, 1928, the son of Harry Heath Jones and Anne Grace Stoddart. 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 year ...

from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Bachelor of Theology The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a three- to five-year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, denomination, or parachurch organization. ...

from St John's College in 1951. He was awarded a

Doctor of Sacred Theology The Doctor of Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Doctor, abbreviated STD), also sometimes known as Professor of Sacred Theology (, abbreviated STP), is the final theological degree in the pontifical university system of the Roman Catholic C ...

in 1970. He married L. Marilyn Lunney on August 25, 1951, and together had four children.

Ordained ministry

Jones was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

deacon on May 20, 1951, and priest on June 8, 1952, at St Matthews Cathedral in Brandon, Manitoba, by Bishop

Ivor Norris Ivor Arthur Norris (9 July 1901 – 24 January 1969) was the second Bishop of Brandon. He was born in Willesden Green and educated at St John's College, Winnipeg and King's College London and ordained in 1926. He began his career as Curate of A ...

. He served as rector of St Peter's Church in

Flin Flon Flin Flon (pop. 5,185 in 2016 census; 4,982 in Manitoba and 203 in Saskatchewan) is a mining city, located on a correction line on the border of the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with the majority of the city located within M ...

between 1951 and 1956, and then rector of St John the Baptist Church in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

between 1956 and 1958. In 1958, he was received into the

Episcopal Church of the United States The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop of ...

, and became

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of St Mary's Church in

Mitchell, South Dakota Mitchell is a city in and the county seat of Davison County, South Dakota, Davison County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 15,660 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census making it the List of cities in South Dakota, sixth mos ...

. In 1962, he became Canon to the Ordinary of the Missionary District of South Dakota. He also briefly served as at St George's Church in Bismarck, North Dakota. He became

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of Calvary Cathedral,

Sioux Falls Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up t ...

in 1968.

Bishop

In April 1970, he was elected Bishop of South Dakota, and was consecrated on July 25, 1970. In 1971, when the missionary district became a diocese, Jones became the first diocesan bishop of South Dakota. He resigned in March 1983 and returned to

where he became the

Bishop of Rupert's Land The Diocese of Rupert's Land is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land of the Anglican Church of Canada. It is named for the historical British North American territory of Rupert's Land, which was contained within the origi ...

, and then Archbishop and Metropolitan of

Rupert's Land Rupert's Land (french: Terre de Rupert), or Prince Rupert's Land (french: Terre du Prince Rupert, link=no), was a territory in British North America which comprised the Hudson Bay drainage basin; this was further extended from Rupert's Land t ...

in 1987. He retired in 1993 and died in 2003."Walter Heath Jones"
''Anglican Journal''. Retrieved 16 March 2021.

References

1928 births 2003 deaths People from Saint Boniface, Winnipeg University of Manitoba alumni Anglican Church of Canada deans Anglican bishops of Rupert's Land 20th-century Anglican bishops in the United States 20th-century Anglican archbishops Metropolitans of Rupert's Land Canadian expatriates in the United States Episcopal bishops of South Dakota 20th-century Anglican Church of Canada bishops {{Canada-Anglican-bishop-stub