老司机福利网

老司机福利网 alumnus and former regent Bishop Wilbur Choy 鈥�46, a trailblazing leader in diversity in The United Methodist Church, died on Dec. 28. He was 103.

The Stockton native served in the ministry in his hometown, the Bay Area and the Seattle region. 

Choy earned an associate鈥檚 degree from Stockton Junior College in 1944, a bachelor鈥檚 degree from 老司机福利网 in 1946 and a bachelor of divinity degree from Pacific School of Religion in 1949. He also has honorary doctorates from the Pacific School of Religion and University of Puget Sound.

鈥淗e was a great guy and did so much for the church being inclusive of all people,鈥� said the Rev. Dave Bennett, who was pastor of Stockton鈥檚 Central United Methodist Church from 2003-2013. Choy was Bennett鈥檚 bishop previously when he was pastor for a Mendocino County church.

鈥淏ishop Choy was one of the early advocates of what we called cross-cultural appointments, where people鈥檚 gifts and talents were matched with congregations where those traits were best applicable,鈥� Bennett said.

After his graduation from Pacific, Choy led the congregation of Stockton鈥檚 Chinese Methodist Church including a merger with St. Mark鈥檚 Methodist Church, which had white and Black members.

One of his notable accomplishments happened 50 years ago. In 1972, the Western Jurisdictional Conference elected Choy as The United Methodist Church鈥檚 first Asian-American Methodist leader.

Choy led the Pacific Northwest Conference for eight years and the California-Nevada Conference for four years before retiring in 1984.

Pacific was established by pioneering Methodist ministers, and remains the only Methodist-affiliated university in California

Choy continued to have ties to his alma mater and the city of Stockton. He served as a regent from 1981-84 and was included in author Sylvia Sun Minnick鈥檚 historical book 鈥淭he Chinese Community of Stockton.鈥�

Choy married Grace Ying Hom in 1940 and they had four children. Grace Choy died in 1977. In 1982, Choy married Nancy (Yamasaki) Adachi-Osawa, a United Methodist pastor.

His life and ministry will be celebrated at 2 p.m. on March 12 at First United Methodist Church of Seattle. The livestream can be joined at . 

Memorial gifts can be made to:

老司机福利网, 3601 Pacific Ave., Stockton, CA 95211.

First United Methodist Church of Seattle, P.O. Box 19596, Seattle, WA 98109.

Bayview Manor Foundation, 11 W Aloha Street, Seattle, WA 98119.