For the Rev. Walter Baldwin, the word ‘retire’ meant something other than the definition found in most dictionaries. In fact, Baldwin wasn’t known for withdrawing or retreating from much, no matter the consequences.
“He did not back down from a situation that might look (questionable) to somebody else,” said one of his sons, Mark Baldwin of Nashville. “For him, the power of his convictions was everything.”
The elder Baldwin, a former Presbyterian pastor who spent 30 years ministering in Japan, came to Atlanta in the early ‘80s. He came to help his youngest child, Grace Baldwin, as she experienced a major life crisis. While engaged in not only activism in the mental health community, Baldwin — who was white — attached himself to a group of preachers who shared his visions for peace and justice: Concerned Black Clergy.
“Walter transcended race and religious affiliation.” said the Rev. Gerald L. Durley, a former president of the clergy group. “He saw something that needed to be done, and he did it.
Pastor emeritus of Providence Baptist Church, Durley said Baldwin’s actions were like the accelerant in a chemical compound, “because you just see the reaction, but you don’t know what the catalyst was unless someone tells you. When Walter presented an idea it was always ‘our’ this or that, never ‘me’ or ‘mine.’ You never knew (the idea) was Walter’s.”
Walter Paul Baldwin of Atlanta died Sept. 25 at A.G. Rhodes Health & Rehab of complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 93. A memorial service was held Sunday at North Decatur Presbyterian Church. His body was donated to Emory University School of Medicine.
Baldwin’s sense of justice was likely shaped by a depression-era childhood, his children said. He was born in the mill town of Clinton, S.C. and his family moved often so his father could find work.
“I think growing up poor… he understood about the lack of fairness in the world,” said Julie Baldwin, a daughter who lives in, Santa Rosa, Calif.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina, but he also earned an undergraduate degree in divinity from Union Presbyterian Seminary in Virginia. He later earned a master’s degree in theology from Princeton Theological Seminary.
“I think his father would have liked to have been a minster, but I don’t think it was an easy decision for my father,” said Paul Baldwin, a son who lives in Seattle said of his father and grandfather.
Paul Baldwin was a Naval chaplain during World War II, and the things he saw during his service stirred a sense of activism within him. He felt compelled to return to Japan as a missionary after he was discharged from the Navy, said his daughter Elizabeth Baldwin, of Atlanta. “In his retirement he became a more passionate activist,” she said.
When Baldwin and his wife, the former Clare Bedinger, moved to Atlanta in 1982, their youngest daughter had been diagnosed with a mental illness. When they could not find the housing services she needed, they started two homes for those living with mental illnesses.
While in Atlanta Baldwin also lobbied the Georgia legislature to strengthen gun control laws, demonstrated against wars, publicly opposed nuclear weapons and protested funding cuts to Grady Memorial Hospital.
The Rev. Timothy McDonald, pastor of First Iconium Baptist Church said Baldwin was driven by something more than an obligation to make the world a better place.
“He put his love into action,” said McDonald, a former president of Concerned Black Clergy. “Not many do that. Sure they talk about love, and how to treat the poor and the needy, but Rev. Baldwin put all of that into action.”
In addition to his wife of 68 years and five children, Baldwin is survived by his sister Kathryn Trewhella of Columbia, S.C.; and six grandchildren.
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