The Rev. Edwin Cabaniss Coleman, who worked for racial integration in Charleston, South Carolina, in the 1960s, died March 15 at 95.
He was a native of Jackson, Mississippi, and an alumnus of Louisiana State University and the University of the South’s School of Theology. He was ordained deacon in 1953 and priest in 1954. A family obituary said that Coleman’s bishop ordered him, as a seminarian, to join a blind date with Mary Lou Alexandre (Alex) Parker. They were married for 65 years, until her death.
In 1958 he was called as rector of St. John’s in College Park, Georgia, a struggling church on the south side of Atlanta. The church grew to more than 1,000 members under his leadership. He was called in 1965 to become rector of St. Michael’s Church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, but he initially refused the call because the parish was segregated. He agreed to become rector after the church changed its bylaws.
When the Southern Christian Leadership Conference came to Charleston in 1969 to support striking hospital workers, Coleman led a Sunday morning “pray-in.” Some vestry members urged locking the doors, but Coleman instead welcomed the parish’s Black visitors and invited them to attend coffee hour after the service.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Coleman served as clergy adviser to Education for Ministry and Cursillo. In 1985, Coleman became associate rector of St. George’s Church in Nashville. He served twice as interim rector during periods of transition. Semi-retired in the 2000s, he served as a priest at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Nashville.
He is survived by three sons, a daughter, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
The Rev. Dcn. Charles Robert (Bob) Cook, a U.S. Army veteran who lived in Sidney, Nebraska, for most of his life and led its school board, died February 19 at 94.
He was a native of Potlatch, Idaho, and a graduate of Chadron State College and the University of Northern Colorado. He met Marian Stanker at a school dance, and they married in 1953. He was an athlete during his school years, and his master’s degree was in physical education.
Cook served in the army at Fort Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. After his army discharge, Cook accepted coaching positions in Colorado and Nebraska, including a six-year stint as head basketball in Sidney. He developed a 41-year career in real estate. He was a seven-year member of the Sidney School Board and was its president twice. During these years, he was a Sunday school teacher and senior warden at Christ Episcopal Church in Sidney. He was ordained deacon in 2004. In retirement, the Cooks moved to Nevada and then Arizona.
Cook is survived by his wife, two sons, five grandchildren, and a great-grandson.
The Rev. Deborah H. Piggins, who advised nonprofit ministries before her ordination to the priesthood, died February 15 at 79.
She was a native of Montclair, New Jersey, and earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Rutgers University. She studied for the priesthood at General Theological Seminary.
She formed a one-person company called Working, in which she provided strategic guidance to nonprofit agencies. She also worked for in publicity for the publisher E.P. Dutton.
She was ordained deacon in 2005 and priest in 2006. She began her ministry as an assistant rector, but later served as interim rector at several parishes in New Jersey. She is survived by a sister, two nieces, and a nephew.
Other Deaths
Douglas LeBlanc is the Associate Editor for Book Reviews and writes about Christianity and culture. He and his wife, Monica, attend St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Henrico, Virginia.
