Episcopal Press and News
Frank Harris Vest Jr., eighth bishop of Southern Virginia, dies at 72
Episcopal News Service, Diocese of Southern Virginia. April 8, 2008 [040808-01]
Carlyle Gravely, Communications Officer of the Diocese of Southern Virginia, Janet Kawamoto, Associate Editor of Episcopal Life Online
The Rt. Rev. Frank Harris Vest, Jr., eighth bishop of Southern Virginia, died on April 5 in Lynchburg, Virginia. He was 72.
Vest was bishop coadjutor of Southern Virginia from 1989 to 1991, and bishop diocesan until 1998. In retirement he served as interim rector of St. Barnabas and Trinity Episcopal churches, interim chaplain at Virginia Episcopal School, and interim rector at St. John' s Church, all in Lynchburg.
Vest was known for "his abiding commitment to social justice combined with his radical hospitality to those whose opinions differed from his own," according to the Rev. Michael Radford Sullivan, now rector of St. John's.
At the time of his election in Southern Virginia, Vest had been bishop suffragan of the Diocese of North Carolina since 1985.
During his episcopate, Vest was a trustee of Virginia Theological Seminary, the School of Theology at Sewanee, and a trustee of Episcopal Radio-TV Foundation (now Episcopal Media Center).
He served on the Episcopal Church's national committee on National Commission on Specialized Ministries from 1985 to 1991, and the Joint Committee on Nominations from 1986 to 1988. In the House of Bishops, he was chair of the Dispatch of Business Committee from 1989 until 1998.
He served as rector of Christ Church, Charlotte, North Carolina from 1973 to 1985. He had previously been rector of Grace Church, Radford, Virginia, where he was also chaplain at Radford College, and served as rector of Christ Church and curate at St. John's Church in Roanoke.
He was a member and president of the Standing Committee of Southwestern Virginia, and several times a deputy to General Convention. In addition, he was a member of the executive committee of the Alumni of Virginia Seminary from 1975 to 1978 and a member of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist.
Vest was born January 5, 1936 in Roanoke, Virginia. He earned his bachelor's degree summa cum laude in 1959 from Roanoke College, his master's degree in theology cum laude in 1962 from Virginia Theological Seminary. He also studied at University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, and Saint Paul's College, Lawrenceville, Virginia. He was ordained a deacon in 1962 and a priest the following year.
Survivors include Vest's wife, Ann Booth Jarvis Vest, whom he married in 1961; their daughter, Nina Vest Salmon (Jerry) and sons Frank Harris Vest III (Legare) and Robert Alexander Vest (Katherine); eight grandsons and one granddaughter, and a brother, James Aurich Vest.
Services will be held at St. John's Episcopal Church in Lynchburg on Thursday, April 10 at 1 p.m. The Rt. Rev. J. Gary Gloster, retired Bishop Suffragan of North Carolina, will officiate at the funeral. Memorial contributions may be made to St. John's Episcopal Church, Lynchburg, PO Box 3123, Lynchburg, VA 24503 or St. John' s Episcopal Church, Bedford, 314 N. Bridge St., Bedford, VA 24523 or Westminster-Canterbury, 501 V.E.S. Road, Lynchburg, VA 24503.