The son of Lee Arthur and Irene Howard Wimberly was born in Shreveport. He grew up on a farm where he drove tractors and worked as a carpenter. Reverend Wimberly attended Dixie High School and earned a bachelor's degree from Shreveport Bible College. He entered the U.S. Army and was sent to Fort Chaffee in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for basic training. Trained as a gunner, he was sent to Korea. Upon arrival, he went through another period of training, this one to condition men for combat. Most of his 18 months in Korea were spent in combat, "from Inchon to Seoul," he recalls. He served as an artilleryman as well as a cook, and returned to the States as a corporal. He recalls his buddies in Korea as soldiers who "stood together," he says. "That old hatred and discriminating stuff, we didn't have that. We cared about one another; we fought for one another; and we helped one another. As a matter of fact, I had a lot of white boys in the United States Army who were closer to me than some blacks," Reverend Wimberly recalls. He married Emma Jean Hamilton. The couple would have six children and four grandchildren. Besides serving as a minister, Reverend Wimberly worked for Allen Manufacturing. During the civil rights movement he organized the Citizen Leadership Conference to fight discrimination. He says police officers beat him on Jewella Road where he was "left to die," because of his activities. Reverend Wimberly has pastored at Close to Christ Missionary Baptist Church. He has been a pastor for 27 years.