Thomas M. Pryor

Thomas M. Pryor

28 February 1904 - 15 July 1979


Bishop Thomas M. Pryor

Bishop Thomas M. Pryor, age 75, died of a heart attack on Sunday, July 15, 1979 at his summer home on Lake Charlevoix, near East Jordan. The news of his death was unusually difficult for the United Methodists of West Michigan to receive because only a month before he had presided with grace and love over the 1979 session of their Annual Conference. He was serving in the absence of Bishop Ammons who, himself, was recovering from a serious heart attack suffered during the Detroit Conference session a week before.

Tom Pryor was elected Bishop at the North Central Jurisdictional Conference in Cleveland in 1964 and was assigned to the Northern Illinois Area. He served there until 1972, encountering in those years all the political upheaval which challenged the spirit in the churches of Chicago during the 60's. He began his ministry in the Detroit Conference in 1925 at Whitmore Lake. He went to Montrose in 1930, Newberg in 1932, Detroit Whitefield in 1933, and Royal Oak First in 1937. In 1950 he transferred to the West Michigan Conference as senior pastor in Kalamazoo First and served there until his election as Bishop.

While serving in Kalamazoo Bishop Pryor was a member of the Rotary Club, President of the Torch Club and the County Council of Churches. He also served on the board of the Council of Social Services. He was a trustee of Bronson Hospital and Albion College. The people of Kalamazoo remember Tom Pryor as an active, involved pastor noted for his poise, bearing and acute social consciousness. He consistently displayed a "bright sense of humor." He served First Church and the Kalamazoo community with dedication and distinction; he will always be remembered warmly.

Bishop Pryor was a pastor of wide-ranging interests and education. With a doctorate in Urban Sociology from the University of Michigan he taught in this field at Wayne State for 17 years, during the time of his Detroit ministry. He was born in Cairo, Illinois, on February 28, 1904, where he graduated from High School. He received both his college diploma and Masters of Arts degree from the University of Michigan as well. He received a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from the Boston School of Theology and completed additional study at the Sorbonne in France, Heidelberg in Germany and Harvard University. An Honorary doctorate was granted him by Adrian College in 1962. He also had membership in Theta Pi, an honorary theological fraternity, and in Alpha Kappa Delta, an honorary fraternity of sociology.

Bishop Pryor and his wife, the former Alice Wuerfel, were noted world travellers. In 1955 they spent 3 months in Nottingham, England; then, later, visited missions in Africa, Australia, Indonesia, and the U.S.S.R. In 1977 they visited the People's Republic of China.

In addition to his wife, Bishop Pryor is survived by two sons, two daughters, eleven grandchildren, one sister and three brothers. Thomas H. Pryor is in Seattle, Washington; David B., Nancy (Mrs. Karl) Kienholz and Mary Ann (Mrs. Roderick) Daane are in Ann Arbor.

Memorial services were held for Bishop Pryor in First Church, Kalamazoo, on July 19, 1979. Gifts in his honor were given to the World Hunger Fund.

- West Michigan Annual Conference minutes of 1980, p. 249

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