He also gained notability as a college professor, a pastor, and as the president of the Council of Bishops of his denomination.
William, known as Walter, was born 26 November 1881 near Gibson, North Carolina (near the border with South Carolina), the fourth son of Andrew H. Peele (1850-1914) and Nora Jane (née Gibson) Peele (1856-1936).
In 1911 Peele married Elizabeth Lytch of Laurinburg, North Carolina.
He entered Officers Training School at Plattsburgh, New York, during World War I.
Peele also accepted the pastorate of the Edenton Street United Methodist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, remaining five years.
When Methodist reunion took place in 1939, Bishop Peele was assigned the Richmond episcopal area, which at that time included 56 eastern counties of Virginia and North Carolina.
He made his retirement home on X-Way Road near Rockdale in Scotland County, North Carolina.
Bishop William Walter Peele died 1 July 1959 and was buried in his wife's family's Lytch Cemetery in Laurinburg, North Carolina.