David Jones Wynne was born at West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh on June 11, 1914. He was the first and eldest child of James F. and Lottie Jones Wynne who resided at that time on Cable Place in Oakland. Reverend Wynne’s father worked as a bookkeeper at the National Union Fire Insurance Company at the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce in downtown Pittsburgh.
In 1920, Wynne’s family continued to reside in Oakland but they had moved to 17 Melba Place. The couple’s second child, James Edward Wynne, was born later that year on September 20, 1920. Reverend Wynne’s father died on December 10, 1929 from pneumonia at the age of fifty-seven. His widowed mother moved her family the next year to 410 Rochelle Street in Knoxville, the 30 th ward of Pittsburgh. When the pastor of the Puritan Congregational Church on the South Side died in 1937, Wynne filled in for him on three successive Sundays and achieved enough support to be hired as the church’s minister for the next three years. Wynne married Doris McElhaney in June 1938. Wynne was admitted on trial to the Methodist Conference in 1939 and in 1940 he was ordained at the Calvary Methodist Church on the North Side. His first assignment was Fairhaven Church.
The 1940 census finds Reverend Wynne living in Fairhaven Church’s parsonage on Saw Mill Run Boulevard with his wife, mother, and brother. Wynne was enumerated as a minister AND as a ladies shoes salesman at a department store in downtown Pittsburgh. One day after the census was taken, Reverend Wynne’s first child, George, was born on April 2. His daughter Mary was born ten years later. Fortunately for Fairhaven Church, Wynne came to us at a critical time in the church’s history when the energy of his youth would be needed to its fullest extent.
The church had been condemned by the city in 1939 and due to this financial hardship, “ … the congregation could no longer afford a full-time pastor.” Under Wynne’s leadership, the congregation was energized. A $10,000 remodeling and redecorating program was begun. The renovations included what are obvious to regular worshippers at Fairhaven, the addition of the kitchen, heating system, ceiling support bars in the sanctuary, new wall coverings in the sanctuary, and reconstruction of the church’s foundation. According to the church newsletter, the monthly payment for the renovation loan was $75 per month with $57 of the payment applied to the principle. The renovated church was dedicated on November 10, 1940.
Fairhaven Church continued to grow along with the nearby community and by 1941, membership reached three hundred-fifty. Reverend Wynne claimed credit for the church’s moniker, The Country Church in the City. Wynne also began a different form of outreach to the public by writing a weekly, ”Saturday Sermonette,” that was published every Saturday in the Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph. Another weekly column that he wrote, “Teach Us To Pray,” appeared weekly in the Pittsburgh Press.
Wynne left Fairhaven for Baltimore in 1942 in order to attend seminary at Western Maryland College and Wesley Theological Seminary where he received his bachelor’s degree. During school, he worked as the minister of the Light Street Methodist Church in Baltimore. He later attained a Doctor of Divinity Degree from Allegheny College. He became a deacon of the Methodist Church in 1941 and an Elder in 1945.
After his return from the seminary, Wynne was assigned to the North End Methodist Church from 1944-1947 and then Baldwin Community Methodist Church where he remained for thirteen years. His biography says that during his time at the Baldwin Church, membership grew to over 3,000. Also, during his time at this church, Wynne became interested in the plight of World War Two European refugees and he went to the Middle East in 1951 and in 1957 to study the problem.
Wynne was named Pittsburgh Man of the Year, Religion in 1956 by the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. In 1959, the Board of Missions sent Wynne first to Alaska, then the Soviet Union, and later Eastern Europe. It appears that Wynne took a break from pastoral duties when he was hired as Executive Secretary of the Board of Missions and Church Union from 1960-1962. He continued to work as the Executive Secretary and also as Associate Pastor at the Smithfield Street Methodist Church from 1962-1965.
Wynne continued his multi-job career when he became Executive Vice President of Goodwill Industries from 1965-1977 and continued to work as a pastor at the Bingham Street Methodist Church from 1970-1971 and then the Warren Pittsburgh Methodist Church from 1974-1975.
He retired from Goodwill in 1977 and he was again honored as Man of the Year, Community Service by the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. After retirement, Wynne continued to serve as a pastor at the Bethel Park Methodist Church from 1977-1980.
Wynne and his wife moved to Florida in 1986 where he served as Associate Pastor at the First United Methodist Church in Naples, Florida. His final position was at the Sarasota Church of the Palms
where he worked until 1996 as Associate Pastor. Wynne died July 8, 2002 at the age of 88 in Sarasota and is buried at Church of the Palms Memorial Garden.
