Edwin A. Penick

Edwin Anderson Penick was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina from 1923 to 1959.

Early life and education

Penick was born on April 4, 1887, in Frankfort, Kentucky, the son of the Reverend Edwin Anderson Penick and Mary Atchinson Shipman. He studied at Sewanee: The University of the South where he graduated with a B.A. in 1908. In 1909 he graduated with an M.A. from Harvard University and later graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1912. In 1922 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Sewanee: The University of the South and an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of North Carolina in 1948.

He was ordained deacon on June 23, 1912, and priest on May 9, 1913. He served as rector of St Paul's Church in Bennettsville, South Carolina between
1912 and 1914. In 1914, he became rector of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Columbia, South Carolina before enrolling as civilian chaplain in Jackson, South Carolina, and later first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Chaplain's Corps. In 1919 he became rector of St Peter's Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he served till 1922.

Penick was elected Coadjutor Bishop of North Carolina in 1922 and was consecrated on October 15 of the same year by Bishop Joseph Blount Cheshire of North Carolina. He succeeded as diocesan bishop on December 27, 1932. He served as vice-president of the house of bishops between 1946 and 1952. He was also a trustee of the University of the South, president of the board of St Augustine's College in Raleigh, North Carolina and president of the board of trustees of St Mary's School in Raleigh, North Carolina. He also served as president of the board of managers of Thompson Orphanage in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Penick married Caroline Inglesby Dial on June 20, 1917, and together had 3 children.