Hugh Fleece Halverstadt

1939 - 2020

The Rev. Dr. Hugh Fleece Halverstadt, one of theological education's foremost experts on managing church conflict, died April 14 in Davidson, N.C., where he had moved in March from his home in Oak Park, Ill. He was 81.

Described by his former colleagues at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago as good-humored, wise, supportive and always authentic, Hugh taught in the seminary's DMin program from 1982 until his retirement in 2001.

Prior to that, he was pastor at Presbyterian churches in Tuscaloosa and Union Springs, Ala., and interim pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, Nashville, Tenn.-pastoral stints that provided material for his classic book, "Managing Church Conflict," which advocates an ethical process of conflict management that calls for respectfulness, assertiveness, accountability and a focus on the larger common good.

He was a retired minister of the Chicago Presbytery and a regular worshiper at Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, where he counseled the personnel committee and guided its Lilly Pastor Residency. He served the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) extensively as trainer, presenter, consultant and faculty member from 1988 through his retirement at McCormick in 2002. Hugh also served on the ethics committee of the Chicago Transit Authority.

He received a PhD in Religion in 1973 from Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., after obtaining an MDiv from Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Va., and a BA from King College (now King University), Bristol, Tenn.

Born in 1939 in Atlanta, Ga., to James Andrews Halverstadt and Charline Fox (Fleece) Halverstadt, he was raised in the Belgian Congo, now Democratic Republic of the Congo, by his missionary parents who served the American Presbyterian Congo Mission from 1946 to 1966. He was active in Chicago's refugee resettlement programs at Heartland Alliance and RefugeeOne, a reflection of his love and knowledge of central Africa.

He was married in 1965 to Barbara Ann Hornby of Welch, W. Va., which ended in divorce. Their two sons, Peter Breen Halverstadt and David Andrews Halverstadt, both born in Richmond, Va., predeceased him. In 2002, Hugh married R. Craig Endicott in a same-sex union in Oak Park, Ill. Their union culminated in marriage in 2014 when the state legislature approved same-sex marriage. The couple were long-time residents of Oak Park and were "snowbirds" on Saint Simons Island, Ga., during the winter months.

Extended survivors include Endicott of Davidson and his two stepsons, Seth James Killian of Raleigh, N.C., and Peter Arthur Killian of Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Barbara Doak Halverstadt of Fairview, Tenn., widow of Hugh's son, Peter; mother of Craig's stepsons, Mary Jane (Killian) Endicott of Chicago, Ill., and mother of Hugh's sons, Barbara (Hornby) Halverstadt of Nashville, Tenn.

Services will be held later this year at Fourth Presbyterian Church.

Hugh can be honored with gifts to RefugeeOne (donor link at refugeeone.org); Fourth Presbyterian Church at 126 E. Chestnut, Chicago 60611, and McCormick at 5460 S. University Ave., Chicago 60615.