The Rt. Rev. W.R. Chilton Powell, second Bishop of Oklahoma, died Dec. 31 in an Oklahoma City hospital. He was 83.

Bishop Powell was elected Bishop Coadjutor of Oklahoma in 1951 and became diocesan 15 months later. He served until his retirement in 1977.

While diocesan bishop he was active in the life of the national church, serving as chairman of the Standing Liturgical Commission for 13 years, and he was a major figure in the 1979 revision of the Book of Common Prayer. He also served on the Program and Budget Committee.

He was born March 11, 1912 in Devil's Lake, N.D. He earned a B.A. degree at Carleton College (Minn.) in 1934, and, in 1938, an S.T.M. from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. He was ordained deacon and priest in the Diocese of North Dakota in 1938, and served four mission congregations there for three years He became curate at Gethsemane Church, Minneapolis, in 1941, and was dean of Trinity Cathedral, Omaha, Neb., from 1943 to 1951.

Bishop Powell is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, a son, John, of New Bedford, Mass., and a daughter, Sarah Newcomb, of Oklahoma City.

The funeral liturgy for Bishop Powell was celebrated Jan. 5 at St. Paul's Cathedral, Oklahoma City, the Rt. Rev. Robert Moody, Bishop of Oklahoma, officiating.