Obituaries : Daniel Pinkard; Pastor of Grant AME Church
The Rev. Daniel W. Pinkard, pastor of the 1,800-member Grant African Methodist Episcopal Church in South-Central Los Angeles and a leader in the fight to improve that neighborhood while caring for those who live there, has died of a heart attack, it was learned over the weekend.
A spokeswoman for the church said the minister was 59 when he died Wednesday.
Pinkard had headed the congregation since 1986. During his tenure the church had been refurbished, a ministry for women was established and additional real estate was acquired.
The pastor came to Los Angeles after working as a clinical psychologist in the Army during the 1950s and then engaging in postgraduate work at several colleges and seminaries.
After his ordination in 1958, his first ministries ranged from California to Missouri. While in St. Louis he also served as police chaplain.
In Los Angeles, Pinkard became a director of the Community Redevelopment Agency for the South-Central area and a member of the King Drew University Health Advisory Board, Watts Recovery Area Community Advisory Committee and other civic organizations.
His survivors include his wife, Madeline, six children, a sister, two brothers and two grandchildren.
A funeral is scheduled for Monday at 10 a.m. at the church, 10435 S. Central Ave.
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