Quick Facts
Biography
Charles Ellsworth Bennison Sr. was the fifth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan. He was the father of Charles E. Bennison Jr., former bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania.
He was born in Janesville, Wisconsin in 1917 and went to college at Lawrence College and the University of Minnesota. He was ordainedin the Diocese of Minnesota in 1942, having attended Seabury-Western Theological Seminary; after serving in several parishes in the diocese and in the Episcopal Diocese of Eau Claire, he was called as rector of Christ Church, Joliet, Illinois, where he was serving when elected as bishop of Western Michigan. At his consecration in 1960 he was the youngest bishop in the Episcopal Church.
His tenure as bishop was marked by the construction of many new churches and facilities, including the Cathedral Church of Christ the King in Portage, Michigan. He retired in 1984 and served as assisting bishop in the dioceses of Diocese of Los Angeles and California. Towards the end of his life he and his wife lived in Menlo Park, California, where he died January 5, 2004 of Alzheimer's disease.
In addition to his son, Charles Jr., his son, John was also a priest in the Episcopal Church.