Chester Talton
American bishop
Chester Lovelle Talton (September 22, 1941 – November 20, 2025) was an American bishop in the Episcopal Church who served as the Provisional Bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin.
Background
Talton was born in El Dorado, Arkansas, to Chester Talton and Mae Ola Shells. He was ordained deacon in 1970 and to the priesthood in February 1971, in the San Francisco-based Diocese of California. He married Karen Louise Warren on August 25, 1963, and has four children from this union. Karen Talton died in 2003. Talton remarried in 2007, to April Grayson, a lay leader in the Diocese of Los Angeles. He was African American, and one of 37 black bishops who have been consecrated by the Episcopal Church.
Talton died following declining health form spinal surgery and hospitalization, in Altadena, California, on November 20, 2025, at the age of 84.
Education
Talton studied at California State University, Hayward, California where he earned his B.S. in 1965, and Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Berkeley, California, where he earned his M.Div. in 1970, and ultimately his D.D.
Positions held
Positions held included Provisional Bishop, Diocese of San Joaquin, 2011–2014; Bishop Suffragan, Diocese of Los Angeles, 1991 to 2010; Rector, St.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5093725. VIAF identifies the subject as 70755627. The Library of Congress control number is n2002105714. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1941, 2025, 1970 and 1971.
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