John Durham Wing

Wing was born on November 19, 1882, in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of John Durham Wing and Sallie Miller Peeples. He was educated at the Atlanta public schools, before studying at the University of Georgia, from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1903. He also studied business at the College of William & Mary in 1907.[3] In 1910, he graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity from the Virginia Theological Seminary. Wing was awarded a Doctor of Divinity from the University of Georgia in 1918, from the University of the South in 1926, and from the Virginia Theological Seminary in 1926. In 1932, he was also awarded a Doctor of Laws from Rollins College.[4]

Wing was ordained deacon on June 26, 1909, and priest on July 3, 1910,[5] by Bishop Cleland Kinloch Nelson of Atlanta.[6] Between 1910 and 1912, he served as rector of the Church of the Holy Comforter in Atlanta, Georgia, and from 1912 till 1913, he served as rector of the Church of the Incarnation in Atlanta, Georgia. On March 31, 1913, he married Mary Catherine Ammons, and together had a total of four children. That same year, he transferred to Anniston, Alabama, to take up the post of rector of Grace Church. In 1915, he returned to Georgia to serve as rector of Christ Church in Savannah, Georgia. Between 1923 and 1925, he was rector of St Paul's Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee.[7]

On May 6, 1925, Wing was elected Coadjutor Bishop of South Florida.[8] He was consecrated on September 29, 1925, at St Paul's Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, by the Bishop of South Florida Cameron Mann.[9] He succeeded as diocesan bishop on February 8, 1932, and retired in 1950. During his episcopacy, he eliminated the diocesan debt and increased support for diocesan programs in social services. He died at the Orange memorial Hospital in Orlando, Florida, on February 29, 1960.