Rev. Philip Werlein Dies; Grandson Of Store's Founder
Times Picayune 02-20-1996

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Former rector in B.R. The Rev. Philip Prentiss Werlein, an Episcopal priest
who was the grandson of the founder of Werlein's for Music, died Saturday at
his Baton Rouge home. He was 102.

The Rev. Werlein, who was rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Baton Rouge
for 27 years, was the grandson of Philip Peter Werlein, a German musician and
composer who founded the first music store bearing his name in Vicksburg,
Miss., in 1842. He opened a New Orleans outlet on Canal Street eight years
later.

Although the Rev. Werlein was not involved in the family business, he was a
musician and played the organ one Sunday when St. James' organist did not
arrive, said the Rt. Rev. Robert C. Witcher, retired bishop of Long Island,
who was an assistant at the church at the time.

Moreover, "he could chant like an angel," Witcher said.

The Rev. Werlein was born May 7, 1893, in St. Louis. After earning an
undergraduate degree at Tulane University, he went to Oxford University as a
Rhodes scholar and earned a master's degree in divinity.

During World War I, he was a second lieutenant in the Army field artillery.
After his discharge, he entered the General Seminary in New York City.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1920, he served in churches in Newark, N.J., San
Francisco and Houston before going to St. James in 1935. He stayed there until
his retirement in 1962.

"He was sui generis, unique in every way," Witcher said. "His focus was on
people. As a priest, he figured that what he had to do was reach people, so he
spent a great deal of time ringing doorbells, going to factories and offices,
going to meet people where they were to get them connected to the church."

He also was chaplain of Nicholson Post No. 38 of the American Legion in Baton
Rouge from 1936 until 1962.

Even after he retired, he kept busy at churches in Georgia and Tennessee.

Survivors include his wife, Virginia Pearson Werlein; two daughters, Virginia
Geck of Germany and Phyllis Budd of Alexandria; a son, Halsey Werlein of
Tullahoma, Tenn.; 11 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

A funeral was held Monday at St. James. Burial will be Wednesday at 3 p.m. in
University Cemetery in Sewanee, Tenn. Rabenhorst Funeral Home of Baton Rouge
is in charge of arrangements.