Bishop Joseph Heistand, the 11th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona, died Tuesday at his home in Richmond, Va., after a long illness. He was 84.Heistand led the diocese from 1979 until his retirement in 1992. Prior to that, he had been the rector of St. Phillip's in the Hills Episcopal Parish in Tucson.
A high point of Heistand's 13-year tenure as bishop was the diocese hosting the denomination's General Convention in 1991, a national meeting of Episcopalians held every three years and drawing about 10,000 people.
The Phoenix convention became controversial because of threats by black Episcopalians and others to boycott it because Arizona was one of three states that did not have a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. civil rights holiday.
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1 comment:
+Joe Heistand's father, +Tom Heistand, was, before he was Bishop of Harrisburg, before he was Dean of Harrisburg, Rector of St. Paul's, Bloomsburg, of which parish I was rector in the late 80's and early 90's. The Heistand family had a home in Eagles' Mere, a lake community in the mountains of Central Pennsylvania, and many summers they motored down to Bloomsburg for a Sunday morning service and visit around town. +Joe would tell funny stories to my kids about growing up in the rectory, driving a bicycle off the stage in the Parish Hall, etc. An exceptionally kind and good-humored man. May he rest in peace, and rise in glory.
Bruce Robison
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