Gerald Francis Burrill (June 8, 1906 – July 17, 2001) was the eighth bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of Chicago The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago is the official organization of the Episcopal Church in Chicago and Northern Illinois, US. The diocese is headed by Bishop Paula Clark, who is the first woman and first African-American to lead the diocese. ...

Early life and education

Burrill was born on June 8, 1906, in Bangor, Maine, the son of William George Burrill and Clara Mary McCafferty. In 1929 he graduated from the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. It is classifie ...

with a Bachelor of Arts. After studying at the

General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating Seminary in the Anglican Communi ...

, he graduated with a

Bachelor of Sacred Theology The Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus; abbreviated STB), not to be confused with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology, is the first of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the second being the Licentiate in Sacre ...

in 1932.

Priest

Burrill was ordained deacon in 1932 and a priest a year later in 1933. His first post was as priest-in-charge of All Saints Church in

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. In 1935 he became rector of St Paul's Church in

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. He also served as a member of the board of religion education in New York in 1939 and later served as its president from 1941 till 1944. He was also president of the New York Churchman's Clericus in 1943 and served as chairman of the commission on church education of the second province in 1944. He served as rector of Christ Church in

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from 1946 till 1950.

Bishop

Burrill was elected Suffragan Bishop of Dallas on May 30, 1950. He was consecrated on September 29, 1950, by former Presiding Bishop Henry St. George Tucker in St Matthew's Cathedral in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. In 1954, he was elected Bishop of Chicago. While in Chicago he established the Church of St James as the permanent cathedral of Chicago after the original Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul was destroyed. He was also instrumental in promoting integration in the 'white' parishes of Chicago and promoting the elections of black clergy as rectors and vicars. Burrill retired on October 1, 1971. After retirement he moved to

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sou ...

and assisted the Bishop of Southwest Florida. He died on July 17, 2001.

Family

Burrill and his wife Janet had two sons, James and

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, the latter having served as Bishop of Rochester.

References

External links