Episcopal Press and News

Bishop Roberts Dies

Diocesan Press Service. May 6, 1964 [XXI-15]

The Rt. Rev. William Blair Roberts, Retired Episcopal Bishop of South Dakota, died April 23 in Sioux Falls, S.D. He was 83 years old.

Bishop Roberts was consecrated to the episcopate on December 6, 1922, as Suffragan Bishop of South Dakota. In 1931 he was elected Bishop of the diocese and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1954.

Following his retirement, he was vicar of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Sioux Falls, for five years.

Born December 10, 1881, in Detroit, Mich., Bishop Roberts received his BA degree from Trinity College, Hartford,. Conn., in 1905 and a Doctor of Divinity degree from his alma mater in 1923. He attended Berkeley Divinity School, New Haven, Conn., where he obtained both BD and DD degrees. He was ordained to the diaconate in 1908 and to the priesthood a year later.

During his early ministry he was a missionary at the Gregory Tripp and Mellette Cos mission from 1908-22, When the First World War broke out, he served as a chaplain (First Lieutenant) in the American Expeditionary Forces.

Bishop Roberts is survived by his wife.