Rev. William Belury

Rev. Bill Belury, a former rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church, died Sunday near San Diego, surrounded by his family.
William Robert Belury was born Aug. 25, 1926, in Waterbury, Conn. His father, George Nicholas Belury, was of Albanian descent, and his mother, Effie Harris Belury, traced her family to the Mayflower, his widow Ann Belury said.
He attended elementary and high school in Waterbury before joining the Marine Corps in World War II. He served as a machine gunner with the 4th Marine Division in the Pacific theater. Later, he graduated from Muskingum College in Ohio in 1950 and from the Virginia Theological Seminary. The Belurys married in 1953.
Mr. Belury was ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1954 and served as rector for three parishes in Connecticut. While there, he established several Hispanic mission churches and held services for Jamaican tobacco workers, his family said.
He became rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church on Fort Worth’s south side in 1980. He was instrumental in forming Hispanic missions in Texas and in Fort Worth. The first was San Juan Apostol, and the other San Miguel.
He was on the boards of the Presbyterian Night Shelter and the Edna Gladney Home. He was also a docent at the Fort Worth Zoo and a member of philatelic groups and the Lockheed Railroad Club.
Rabbi Ralph Mecklenburger of Congregation Beth-El said Mr. Belury included other faiths in worship. Politics were not important to him, and he was loved by conservatives and liberals alike, Mecklenburger said.
In addition to his widow, Mr. Belury is survived by sons Josh and Peter Belury, daughters Andrea Nobel, Natasha Van Hest and Paula Curtiss, brother James Belury and 16 grandchildren.