Title: Prominent African American Lutheran Died ELCA NEWS SERVICE - NEWSBRIEF February 11, 1997 GROVER C. WRIGHT DIED A prominent African American Lutheran, Grover C. Wright, Philadelphia, passed away Feb. 3 at the age of 80. Wright is credited with recognizing the talents of and bolstering many of the people of color now serving as pastors and lay leaders in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He was president of the Black Lutheran Community Development Corporation in Philadelphia and was a notable member of the North Philadelphia Improvement Council, the Urban League of Philadelphia and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Wright was born on April 18, 1916, in Thomaston, Ala. He grew up in a sharecropper home, the sixth of 13 children. Wright became a New York railroad porter in 1942 and worked part-time as a real estate salesman. He left the Penn Central Railroad in 1968 to become a lay associate at Christ Lutheran Church and at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, both in Philadelphia. From 1972 until his retirement in 1981 Wright served as associate director for leadership support in the former Lutheran Church in America's Division for Professional Leadership, with special responsibilities for "minority recruitment." Wright is survived by his wife, Irma, his son, Grover E., his daughter, Gail E., and five grandchildren. Funeral services were held Feb. 8 at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, Philadelphia. For information contact: Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html