The Reverend Dr. Albert Curry Winn ’42

The Reverend Dr. Albert Curry Winn ’42, 90, died July 17, 2012, at the Elms at Tanglewood. Winn was born in Ocala, Fla., Aug. 16, 1921, the youngest child of James Anderson 1900 and Elizabeth Curry Winn. He was preceded in death by his wife, Grace Neely Walker Winn, after 55 years of marriage. Survivors include a daughter, Grace Winn Ellis (Stewart), 5985 Loop Rd., Clemmons, NC 27012; sons, James Anderson Winn (Lucy Chapman), Albert Bruce Curry Winn (Molly Ramkey), and Randolph Axson Winn (Mary Grogan); grandchildren, David and John Ellis, Ellen and Philip Winn, and Walker Shapiro (Luella Davis); and two great-grandchildren, Althea Grace and Iliana Fae Shapiro. Winn devoted his life to service through the Presbyterian Church. He graduated from Davidson and received degrees in theology from Princeton Seminary and Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Va. He served as a chaplain in the Navy during WWII. He taught Bible at Davidson and at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Ala., as well as at numerous youth conferences. Winn was professor of theology at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and led seminars in Christian spirituality. He served pastorates in the Nokesville area of northern Virginia, at Second Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Va., and at North Decatur Presbyterian Church in Georgia. He held leadership positions as president of Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, as moderator of the synods of Alabama and Kentucky, and as moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church U.S. in 1979. He chaired the committee that produced “A Declaration of Faith,” and he edited the accompanying Book of Confessions. He wrote a number of books, including the Layman’s Bible Commentary on Acts, A Christian Primer, and Ain’t Gonna Study War No More. He lived out his commitment to social justice and peace, working for civil rights, protesting against the Vietnam War and the School for the Americas, working for the families of prisoners in Richmond and the homeless in Atlanta, and participating as a Witness for Peace in Nicaragua. In the midst of his active life in the church, he found time to teach his children how to read music, play the ukulele, and pitch a tent, as well as how to sing numerous corny old songs. He entertained them during long car trips by making up the adventures of an imaginary pirate and his crew. During his retirement years in Winston-Salem, Winn served as parish associate at Trinity Presbyterian Church, where he established the member care committee, was active in the Presbyterian Interracial Dialogue and CHANGE, volunteered at El Buen Pastor, and helped establish the Covenant Network in Salem Presbytery, seeking to make the church more welcoming to lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgendered children of God.