In Memoriam: Unitarian Universalist Ministers 2000 - 2001

The Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Holden Baker
September 16, 1915 - August 16, 2000

The Reverend Doctor Elizabeth Holden Baker, dynamic Unitarian Universalist Minister and Director of Religious Education, died August 16th at age 85.

Recipient of a B.A. from St. Lawrence University (1936), an Ed.M. from Harvard University (1959) and an honorary S.T.D. (Doctor of Theology) from the Starr King School for the Ministry, Dr. Baker served in Unitarian Universalist churches in Malden, Wellesley Hills, Newtonville (Congregational), Waltham, Cambridge, Weston and Haverhill, Massachusetts; White Plains and New York, New York; Atlanta, Georgia and Ventura, California.

During her 55 year career as an innovator of Unitarian Universalist Association church school curricula and ordained minister, she received the Angus MacLean award and was a Berry Street Lecturer for the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association, in addition to being named Minister Emerita at the White Plains Community Unitarian Church.

Dr. Baker was also an active member in the communities where she resided and continued to be of service after her retirement to Foulkeways in Gwynedd, Pennsylvania. Married in 1937 to Russell F. Baker (deceased 1982), Dr. Baker is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Virginia and Roger Hekinian of St. Renan, France; by her son and daughter-in-law, Russell F. and Christine Baker of Tivoli, New York; and by her five grandchildren, Aram, Diran and Anna Hekinian and Matthew and Elizabeth Baker.

Memorial services were held August 26, 2000 at the Gwynedd Monthly Meeting House in Gwynedd, Pennsylvania and October 14, 2000 at the Community Unitarian Church in White Plains, New York.

The Rev. Horace Colpitts
July 30, 1916 - January 18, 2001

The Reverend Horace E. Colpitts, 84, of Manhattan, who wrote and helped coordinate a religion column for the Advance for a decade and who led the Unitarian Church of Staten Island, New Brighton, for 15 years, died January 18, 2001 at home, after a long illness.

Born in New Brunswick, Canada, Rev. Colpitts moved to Eastport, Maine in 1952 to serve as minister of the Unitarian Church. In 1955 he became pastor of the Unitarian Church in Augusta, Maine, and in 1960, he left to serve in the Unitarian Society of New Brunswick, New Jersey. After nine years there, he took over leadership of the Unitarian Church of Staten Island, where his 15-year tenure was one of the longest pastorates in the church's 149-year history. He retired in 1984 and a year later, on Jan. 6, was officially installed as Minister Emeritus of the church.

Rev. Colpitts wrote for and coordinated the weekly column, "Religious Speaking," during the 1970's and 1980's. The column, which continues to this day in the worship section, was in fact his idea, according to an Advance profile published when he retired in 1984. Upon his retirement, he and his wife of 57 years, the former Lorraine Ingraham, moved to an apartment in Manhattan. While living in Manhattan, he and his wife volunteered in the Central Park Conservancy. He also volunteered at the American Museum of Natural History, helping to sort dinosaur bones.

He received both his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Divinity degrees from Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Canada, and went on to receive his Master of Arts degree in liberal studies from the New School for Social Research, Manhattan.

Rev. Colpitts was a member on the board of trustees of the Unitarian Universalist District of Metropolitan New York, a ministerial consultant in the New Jersey area to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, and a past president of the Clergy Association of Staten Island. He enjoyed reading and writing, and authored a book on the Unitarian Church of Staten Island entitled The Story of a Small Church. "He was very well-received and was devoted to church responsibilities and to the members," said the current church minister, the Reverend Benjamin Bortin "I felt that his memorial services and sermons were always thoughtful and moving," he added.

Surviving in addition to his wife, Lorraine, are his twin sons, David and Jonathan; two brothers, Warren and Henry; two sisters, Jean Myers and Annabelle Thomas; and two granddaughters.

A memorial service was held January 26, 2001 at the Unitarian Church of Staten Island, New York.

The Rev. Dr. Wallace Grant Fiske
March 2, 1908 - July 23, 2000

The Reverend Doctor Wallace Grant Fiske was born March 2, 1908 in Everett, Massachusetts. He received a B.S. from St. Lawrence University and a B.D. and a D.D. from St. Lawrence Theological School.

Dr. Fiske served congregations in Orange and Haverhill, Massachusetts and West Hartford, Connecticut. Upon his retirement in 1973, he was designated Minister Emeritus by the Universalist Church of West Hartford, Connecticut.

A licensed pilot, Dr. Fiske served in World War II as a Chaplain in the India, Burma and China theatre with the Air Force "Flying Tigers." Additionally, he served as a Senior Chaplain in the 43rd Infantry Division during the Korean War. He worked with a variety of civic organizations and denominational affairs.

Dr. Fiske is survived by his wife, Linnea Fiske; his son, Robert Fiske of Old Town, Maine; his daughter, Helen Ann Fiske Mills of Westwood, New Jersey; a stepdaughter, Ellen DeAngelis Babcock; nine grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. His first wife, Helen Everett Fiske, predeceased him in 1987.

A memorial service was held August 20, 2000, at the Universalist Church in West Hartford, Connecticut. The Reverends Stephen Kendrick and Jean Cook Brown officiated.

The Rev. William E. Gardner
October 11, 1912 - June 18, 2000

The Reverend William E. Gardner, Minister Emeritus of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth, died Sunday, June 18 at his home in East Falmouth, Massachusetts in his 87th year. A native of Canton, Massachusetts, he was a graduate of Boston University College of Business Administration and the Tufts College School of Religion.

From 1935-1940 he was the Executive Secretary of the National Young People's Christian Union of the Universalist Church in Boston. In May 1940 he was ordained to the Universalist ministry at the Universalist Church in North Weymouth, Massachusetts, where he served his first parish ministry. This was followed by pastorates of Universalist churches in Bangor, Maine and Meriden, Connecticut. During his Meridian years he was one of the leaders in bringing about the merger of the Unitarian and Universalist denominations, which was completed in 1961 to form the Unitarian Universalist Association.

In 1978 he retired from full time service following a twelve-year ministry at the First Unitarian Church in Wilmington, Delaware, and he and his wife Priscilla moved to their retirement home in East Falmouth, Massachusetts.

He served in a voluntary capacity as Minister-in-Residence for the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth for 10 years until a settled minister was secured in 1989. From 1980-1994 he served twelve Unitarian Universalist congregations in southeastern Massachusetts in a part-time capacity as interim or support minister.

During his retirement years he received several honors. In 1990 he was selected to give the Fifty-Year Address to the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association during General Assembly in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as the representative of all Unitarian Universalist ministers who were ordained in 1940. At the annual conference of the Ballou Channing District in 1993 he was presented the Award for Distinguished Service to the congregations of the District and in 1996 the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth honored him by electing him Minister Emeritus.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Priscilla (Wright) Gardner, and by his two sons, Robert, of Lakeland, Florida and Christopher, of Hyannis, Massachusetts. A third son, Richard, died in 1989. He also leaves his brother, Harry, three grandchildren, two great grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

A memorial service was held at the Meeting House of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth, Massachusetts on July 1, 2000.

The Rev. Dr. Richard Spencer Hasty
September 12, 1928 - November 25, 2000

In the company of his loved ones, the Reverend Doctor Richard Spencer Hasty died peacefully of cancer at his home overlooking Lake Winnepesaukee in Alton Bay, New Hampshire on Saturday, November 25, 2000.

Rev. Hasty was born in Dover, New Hampshire on Sept. 12, 1928, the son of Jennie Odelle Sanborn and Harold Clyde Hasty. He was raised a Methodist and graduated from Dover High School, where he was president of the student government. He was an Eagle Scout and a member of the Order of the Arrow, BSA. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New Hampshire in 1950, with a major in English and a minor in Art, and studied sculpture under Edwin Scheier. During the Korean Conflict, he served as First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany from 1951-1953.

Upon his return, he attended Harvard Divinity School and worked as a student minister at the First Church of Boston (Unitarian Universalist), earning his S.T.B. in 1956. He was ordained to the ministry by the Unitarian Society of Fall River, MA in 1956, where he served as minister until 1963. From 1963-1972, he served the First Parish Church in Duxbury, MA and from 1972-1987, the First Parish Church in Portland, ME. Between 1987 and 1992, he served as Interim Minister for St. John's Unitarian Church (Cincinnati, OH), the First Unitarian Universalist Church (Detroit, MI), and the Unitarian Universalist Church (Peoria, IL), and as Interim Senior Minister at the First Unitarian Church of Cleveland (Shaker Heights, OH). In 1989, he earned a Doctorate of Ministry at Andover Newton Theological School, majoring in Psychology and Pastoral Care. After serving as minister at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Greater Springfield, MA from 1992-1998, Rev. Hasty was named Minister Emeritus of the parish. Following his retirement in 1998, he was Visiting Minister for the Brisbane Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Queensland, Australia in 1999 and recently was Visiting Minister at Capital Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Victoria, B.C.

As a leader of many social justice causes throughout his life, Rev. Hasty spoke out against the Vietnam War, championed rights of the underprivileged and preached against racism and prejudice, always striving for an inclusive and tolerant society. In Portland, he was one of the founders of the Aids Project and the Bail Fund, a Board member of the Community Counseling Center, and facilitated the expansion of social services of the Portland Ministry at Large. He was a member of the Building Committee and a Trustee of the Portland Public Library, as well as a Trustee of the Fall River and Duxbury Public Libraries. Throughout his life he was involved in many aspects of Unitarian Universalist denominational affairs and the Harvard Divinity School Alumni. He was President of the Wellesley College Parents' Committee.

Rev. Hasty is survived by his children, Margaret Lawrence (Laurie) Hasty of Falmouth, Maine; Christopher Spencer Hasty of London, England; and Victoria Merritt Hasty of Kona, Hawaii; by his life partner, Richard T. Lincoln of Alton Bay, New Hampshire; and by his former wife Margaret (Susan) Howlett Hasty of Portland, Maine.

Memorial services were held at the First Parish Church (Unitarian Universalist) in Portland, Maine on December 9, 2000, and at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Greater Springfield in Longmeadow, Massachusetts on December 10, 2000.

The Rev. Byrd Willard Helligas
April 28, 1920 - July 3, 2000

The Reverend Byrd Willard Helligas died of heart failure on Monday, July 3, 2000.

He retired in 1976, after serving as minister of the First Unitarian Church of San Jose, California since 1967.

Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1920, Rev. Helligas came to the ministry after an eventful life. He served as a medic in World War II, first assigned to the British forces in North Africa in the campaigns to protect Cairo from the German troops under Field Marshal Rommel. As support for American troops, he served through Sicily, Italy, France and into Germany, including medical relief for those remaining in Dachau at the time of its liberation.

The GI Bill provided for his education in Anthropology at the University of Washington, but the start of a family required his finding a career in sales of medical and drug supplies (and a part time job at the Seattle Yacht Club). Rev. Helligas attended Starr King Seminary in Berkeley from 1961 through 1964, and served as assistant minister in Dallas, Texas and minister in Waltham, Massachusetts prior to coming to the San Jose church.

After retiring from the ministry he worked part-time in a variety of what he called "fun jobs" - food service, tobacconist and proprietor of a bed and breakfast When his wife Phyllis retired in 1984, they worked together as peripatetic proprietors of other people's bed and breakfasts for several years.

The couple lived in Arcata, California after 1989. In his last year of life, Rev. Helligas returned to college through the "Over 60" program, taking classes in history at Humboldt State University.

A service to celebrate the life of Rev. Helligas was held July 8, 2000 at the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Bayside, California.

The Rev. T. Ewell Hopkins
August 30, 1908 - March 25, 2001

The Reverend T. Ewell Hopkins died Sunday March 25, 2001.

Mr. Hopkins was born August 30, 1908 in Sontag, Virginia, the oldest son of T. Daniel and Core (Edwards) Hopkins.

He received an A.B. from West Virginia State College in 1933, a B.D. from the School of Religion of Howard University in Washington D.C. in 1938 and a Master's of Religious Education from Howard in 1939. Rev. Hopkins was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1938, and was on the staff of the Wider City Parish in New Haven, Connecticut in the early sixties.

Transferring his credentials to the Unitarian Universalist Association, he received final fellowship in 1986 and served as Associate Minister at the First Parish in Framingham, Massachusetts from 1983 until his retirement in 1991. Upon retirement, he was named Associate Minister Emeritus and continued active involvement with the life of the Church.

In addition to his ministerial career, he was an elementary school teacher in Virginia, a social worker, and a social activist in New Haven, Connecticut and Framingham, Massachusetts.

Rev. Hopkins is survived by his wife, Esther A. H. Hopkins of Framingham, Massachusetts; his son, T. Ewell Hopkins, Jr. of Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts; his brother, James A. Hopkins of Maryland; and three grandchildren: Kristine Hopkins, Danielle Hopkins and Jeffrey Mitchell-Francis. His daughter Susan predeceased him.

First Parish celebrated his life on Saturday, March 31, 2001 at the Meeting House in Framingham, Massachusetts.

The Rev. Margaret Cary Kauffman
May 7, 1944 - February 2, 2001

Margaret Cary Kauffman, 56, an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister who was a policy analyst at the Agency for International Development, died of breast cancer February 2, 2001 at the Casey House hospice in Rockville, Maryland. She lived in Wheaton and was a member of the Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church.

Rev. Kauffman, who was known as Cary, was ordained in 1997 and helped develop new congregations in the mid-Atlantic region. She was a student minister of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Frederick, Maryland in the early 1990s, and she assisted Unitarian groups around the world and served as a mentor to seminarians.

Rev. Kauffman was born into a Navy family in Bethesda, Maryland. She was a graduate of the National Cathedral School for Girls and attended Wilson Teachers College, American University, the University of the Philippines, Portland State University, Lake Forest College and Kenosha College. She received a bachelor's degree at George Washington University, did graduate work in business administration at the University of Oregon and received a master's degree in theology cum laude from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.

She had worked at AID since 1987 as a career counselor, training manager and analyst in workforce planning, after previously managing foreign service training for the Commerce Department. Earlier, she worked as a social worker in Oregon and an assistant librarian in Oregon and Alaska, and was a labor organizer and Democratic Party official in both states. More recently, she worked at the Maryland Constitutional Convention, led a Girl Scout troop at Washington's Junior Village, tutored children in Southeast Washington and was active in the Democratic Party in Washington. She was a research subject at the National Cancer Institute and spoke in the clinical pastoral education program at NIH's Clinical Center.

Her marriage to Michael A. Mulligan ended in divorce. Survivors include her husband of 16 years, Gerald S. Schatz of Wheaton; a daughter from her first marriage, Anne Kathryn (Mulligan) Booth of Burke; two stepsons, Kenneth A. Schatz of Brooklyn, New York, and Daniel S. Schatz, of Tamworth, New Hampshire; a sister; and a granddaughter.

Ms. Kauffman was a direct descendant of the Reverend Joseph Tuckerman, a founder of the American Unitarian Association. She was also a cousin of President Bush. Her aunt, Elizabeth Bush of Greenwich, Connecticut, is married to former president George Bush's older brother, Prescott. Her husband, Gerald S. Schatz, teaches Biomedical Ethics Law and her stepson, Daniel S. Schatz, is a Unitarian Universalist Minister.

The Rev. Jack A. Kent
October 22, 1921 - April 18, 2001

The Reverend Jack A. Kent was born in Dombey County, Oklahoma, October 22, 1921. He passed away suddenly at home on Hornby Island, B.C. on April 18, 2001.

He served as Minister of the North Shore Unitarian Church from 1968-1973. Rev. Kent was actively involved throughout his entire life in social, environmental, civil rights and political causes, both in the U.S. and in Canada.

He is survived by his wife Barbara and her children and grandchildren; his children Carolyn, Jay and Allison and their mother Dorothy; grandchildren Gwyneth, Morgan and Evan Jones; and sisters Gladys Conrad of Oregon and Jo Egenberger of California.

His positive, enthusiastic outlook on life and his many contributions to his community are a legacy that will endure in the many people whose lives he touched. He will be lovingly remembered and deeply missed by his family and many friends.

A memorial service to celebrate his life and ministry was held on May 23, 2001 at the North Shore Unitarian Church, West Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Rev. Richard W. Knost
December 8, 1902 - January 27, 2001

The Reverend Richard William Knost of Tavares, Florida died January 27, 2001 of pneumonia. He was born in Portsmouth, Ohio on December 8, 1902 and was 98 years old when he died. He was the husband of Rosalie Eleanor Quigley, who predeceased him in 1995.

Rev. Knost attended Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, where he received the Springer Gold Medal for excellence. He became the Stage Director of the Eastman Theater before founding the American Opera Guild in Pasadena, California in the 1930's. His wife shared his vision of popularizing opera for the masses by having it sung in English.

He later attended Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, California before pursuing a career as a Universalist Minister.

The Rev. Knost served churches in San Jose, California; Brewton, Alabama; Peoria, Illinois; and Malden, Massachusetts before retiring as Minister Emeritus from the White Memorial Universalist Church in Concord, New Hampshire in 1971. He became a talented interior church architect, redesigning and installing the chancels of three of the churches he served as senior minister, including the Off-center Cross and Circle of Symbolism he brought into use in Brewton, Alabama. He also was on the faculty of Crane Theological School at Tufts University, where he taught courses in hymnology, homiletics and parish administration.

Mr. Knost considered himself a classical Universalist and dedicated his years as a religious professional to preaching the doctrine of Universal Salvation as exemplified by Reverends John Murray and Hosea Ballou. He was the author of the Lenten manual 40 Days of Self Discipline.

He served his denomination as Superintendent of the Alabama Universalist Convention, as Trustee of the Illinois and Massachusetts Universalist Conventions, as a member of the Five Year Planning Committee of the Universalist Church of America and as the founder of "The Universalist Hour," a radio program broadcast weekly from station WEBJ in Brewton, Alabama.

He was a Freemason, a Rotarian and a member of Phi Mu Alpha honorary music society. He was very active with the family service and mental health programs of the communities in which he worked and served as District Governor for Rotary International for the New Hampshire/Vermont District of the Unitarian Universalist Association, 1973-74.

Rev. Knost is survived by his two sons, the Rev.s Peter Noel Knost of Tavares, Florida and Jan Vickery Knost of Norwell, Massachusetts. It was the wish of Rev. Knost that no memorial service be held.

The Rev. George W. Marshfield
July 4, 1912 - August 14, 2000

The Reverend George W. Marshfield was born July 4, 1912, in Briggsville, Wisconsin, the son of the Reverend Walter J. Marshfield and Cecilia Wright, both of whom emigrated from England.

After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, he attended Chicago Theological Seminary. Here he met Anne Ward, a social worker who had worked with migrant farm workers in Oklahoma during the Depression and who later became his wife and partner in ministry for 63 years. In 1937, he was ordained as an Episcopal minister like his father, but was drawn to the liberal ministry and ultimately joined the Unitarian Society of Minnesota.

Becoming minister to UU students at the University of Minnesota, he was joined in this service by Anne Ward Marshfield. After their daughter, Laurel, was born in 1949, the couple moved to Canada to serve the Unitarian Church of Ottawa. In 1954, they moved to lead the recently founded Unitarian Church in Austin. Several years later, Rev. Marshfield began a long affiliation with the American Friends Service Committee. While serving as College Secretary in the AFSC's Northeast Regional Office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he was also acting minister for Unitarian churches in Woburn, Abington and Rockland, Massachusetts.

When Rev. Marshfield was asked to join the national office of the AFSC as Director of Summer Projects Abroad, Youth Services Division, the family moved once again, this time to a suburb of Philadelphia. Continuing their UU ministry, the couple attended fellowships in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware, where Rev. Marshfield served as guest minister.

During the Vietnam War era, he was asked to testify before Congress as a Unitarian minister and executive with the Friends Service Committee. He spoke on behalf of those opposed to continued US involvement in the aggression, citing the detrimental effects to this country and to Vietnam. "Transcending the barriers of race and the boundaries of nation," he wrote in his UUA statement about the liberal ministry and the role of the liberal church, "those associated in a fellowship of liberal religion should be worldwide in their concerns and universal in their sympathies."

Eight days after Anne Ward Marshfield died - on the day after her 90th birthday - George Marshfield, too, passed away. Neither wished a memorial service, believing that "The memories held by family and friends who have blessed our lives are sufficient."

The Marshfields are survived by their daughter Laurel Marshfield, George's sister, Dorothy Kimpel, two nieces and a nephew.

The Rev. Dr. Harry C. Meserve
September 7, 1914 - November 8, 2000

The Reverend Doctor Harry Chamberlain Meserve died on November 8, 2000, at the age of 86. He was born in Rye, New York, the son of Harry C. Meserve and Bertha (Murkland) Meserve. He received an A.B. from Haverford College, an S.T.B. from the Harvard Divinity School, and an honorary D.D. from Meadville Theological School.

Dr. Meserve served congregations in Cohasset, Massachusetts; Buffalo, New York; San Francisco, California; Northern Westchester, Chappaqua, New York; Grosse Pointe, Michigan; and Ellsworth, Maine. On his retirement in 1980, the Ellsworth congregation named him Minister Emeritus.

In addition to his ministry, he served as a member of the executive staff of the Rockefeller Brothers' Fund, as director of programs for the Academy of Religion and Mental Health, and from 1962 to 1993 as editor of the Journal of Religion and Health. He served on the boards of directors of the American Unitarian Association, Starr King School for the Ministry, and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.

Throughout his life he was active on boards and committees concerned with civil liberties, civil rights, and peace. He was the author of Faith in the Making (1946), No Peace of Mind (1955), The Practical Meditator (1981) and About Community (1998). For the last twenty years, he also wrote a monthly newsletter, View from the Cove.

After settling in Southwest Harbor, Maine in 1974, Dr. Meserve was active in local affairs, including the Southwest Harbor Public Library, the town's Conservation Commission and Comprehensive Plan Committee and the Mount Desert Island Historical Society.

Dr. Meserve is survived by his wife, Kay (Mann) Meserve, his three sons, Harry C. Jr., Peter L., and David M. Meserve, his stepdaughter, Shayla Briner, and his eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His daughter, Emily, predeceased him.

A memorial service was held June 9, 2001 at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Ellsworth, Maine.

The Rev. Dr. Robert L'Hommedieu Miller
July 21, 1923 - August 31, 2000

The Reverend Doctor Robert L'Hommedieu Miller, Minister Emeritus of First Parish in Plymouth, Massachusetts and Associate Professor Emeritus of Tufts University, died August 31, 2000. He was 77.

Born in Montclair, New Jersey, he received his undergraduate degree from Tufts College, his Master's degree from Crane Theological School at Tufts and his Doctorate from Boston University School of Theology.

He served in the United States Army during World War II and later commanded a German Prisoner of War camp. In 1961 he received the rank of Major in the Corps of Chaplains in the Standby Reserves.

The Reverend Dr. Miller served Unitarian Universalist churches in Assinippi, Framingham, Melrose, Peabody, Swampscott, Wakefield, Plymouth, Brockton and Bridgewater, Massachusetts and was awarded the Angus H. MacLean Award for excellence in Religious Education. He taught at Tufts for 35 years, where he also served as Director of the Summer School and as the University Chaplain.

He was School Committee Chairman for many years in Danvers and a Life Member of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. In 1985 he helped found the Plymouth Area Coalition for the Homeless and served as Chairman of the Board for many years.

He leaves his wife, Jackie (Bailey) Smith-Miller of Duxbury; his son, David Miller of Colorado; his daughter and son-in-law, Nancy (Miller) Paskowski and David Paskowski and their children, Eric, Daniel and Mark, of Danvers, Massachusetts; his stepsons, Nathaniel and Talbot Smith of Plymouth, Massachusetts; his stepdaughter, Courtney Smith of Duxbury, Massachusetts; and his stepdaughter and stepson-in-law Jennifer (Smith) Donohue and David Donahue and their children, Patrick and Josselyn, of Raynham, Massachusetts.

A memorial service was held at First Parish in Plymouth, Massachusetts on Sunday, September 17, 2000.

The Rev. John Whitman Sears
July 5, 1906 - August 26, 2000

The Reverend John Whitman Sears was born in Lawrence, Kansas, on July 5, 1906. The family moved to California, where he grew up in Los Molinos and later in Vallejo. He attended the University of Kansas in Lawrence, majoring in architectural engineering until the middle of his junior year, when he felt a call to the ministry.

Upon graduation he was confirmed as a Universalist minister. He married Catherine Hood and began his career as a minister, serving three small churches in and near Swansboro, North Carolina. His second position was in Junction City, Kansas, after which he left the active ministry and became a social worker.

During the depression the family moved a great deal, finally settling in San Carlos, California, where Rev. Sears studied psychology and went into business with his psychiatrist brother in San Mateo. He never had another church, but continued to perform marriages for friends and relatives. After Catherine's death in 1988 he married Frances Orr, the widow of his good friend, Hugh Robert Orr, and lived with her until his death on August 26, 2000.

Rev. Sears is survived by his second wife, Fran; by his six children, Mary Catherine Eschen of Cave Junction, Oregon; John Whitman Sears, Jr. of McHenry, Illinois; Robin Bartlett Sears of Sebastopol, California; David Manley Sears of Oroville, California; Peter Evan Sears of Willets, California; and Martha Felicia Schwabel of Whitehall, Montana; and by his numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The Rev. Virginia M. Stephens
May 2, 1922 - November 22, 2000

The Reverend Virginia Marie Stephens died November 22nd in Gilroy, California. She was 78.

She was born May 2, 1922, in Wichita, Kansas, and had lived in California since 1960, in Palo Alto, Los Altos, Berkeley, Vista and finally Monterey.

After graduating from the Municipal University of Wichita with a B.A. in Art, Rev. Stephens spent a year in the Women's Army Corp. Following military service, she took a teaching credential and taught in small schools in western Kansas. Upon her marriage to Reuben E. Joynson, Jr. in 1947, Rev. Stephens returned to school, taking a Master's in Psychology from Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.

After moving to California with her family in 1960, she joined the Palo Alto Unitarian Church, where she taught religious education in addition to holding several other positions as teacher at local schools. Following a 5-year marriage to John Stephens, she continued her own education, and was certified in the UUA-Independent Study Program in 1978. In 1981, she entered Thomas Starr King Unitarian School for the Ministry where she received her Master of Divinity and Master of Religious Education degrees. Following fellowship work in Hawaii and an internship in Wichita, Kansas, she was ordained as a Unitarian minister in 1982. Rev. Stephens served as parish minister at the Palomar Unitarian Universalist Fellowship from 1982 through 1985. She retired from the ministry in 1987, but continued community service as a counselor at the Suicide Prevention Hotline in Monterey, California.

She is survived by five of her children: Sarah Callbeck of Bear, Delaware; Marilyn Carr of San Martin, California; Carol Joynson of Los Angeles, California; Alan Joynson of Woodinville, Washington; and David Joynson of San Diego, California. She also leaves her sister, Mary Rudd of Boise, Idaho, and four grandchildren.

Two memorial services were held. The first took place on Saturday, December 9, 2000 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Monterey Peninsula in Carmel, California, with the Rev. Beth Miller officiating. The second was held Monday, December 11, at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Wichita in Wichita, Kansas, the Rev. Carolyn Brown officiating. Internment was at Highland Cemetery in Wichita, Kansas, immediately following the Wichita service.

The Rev. Harry Adam Thor
June 28, 1919 - March 1, 2001

The Reverend Harry Adam Thor of Vestal, New York, Minister Emeritus of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Binghamton, New York died Thursday, March 1, 2001 at Lourdes Hospital, Binghamton. He was 81 years old.

Harry Thor was born June 28, l9l9 in Buffalo, New York. He received a B.S. degree from Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1948), an M.B.A. from the University of Buffalo, New York (1956), and his Master of Theology degree from St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York (l96l).

Rev. Thor served as Assistant Minister at the Unitarian Church of Montclair, New Jersey (1961-1963); Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Binghamton (1963-1979); Interim Minister of the Unitarian Church of Tallahassee, Florida (1989); Unitarian Universalist Church of Athens & Sheshequin, Athens, Pennsylvania (1989-1996). On May 21, 2000 the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Binghamton named him Minister Emeritus. His denominational involvements include the following: President of the New York State Universalist Convention, General Assembly Planning Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Association, Fellowship of Reconciliation and founding member of Abraxas. Additionally, he was a consultant to Fellowships in Mississippi and Alabama.

A veteran of World War II, he served in the South Pacific as a U.S. Navy Pilot, attaining the rank of Lt. Commander. He was selected for pilot training from a limited group of enlisted men (1937-1957). Rev. Thor's post-military career as an engineer and teacher emphasized a creative mind and concern for others.

Known for his commitment to peace and social justice, Rev. Thor was involved in many community activities, including Headstart, Common Cause, Peace Action (Sane/Freeze). PROBE and CORE. His commitments to social justice also involved civil right issues, gay concerns, women's rights and conscientious objection to the Vietnam War.

He is survived by his wife, D. Iris Thor; his children, Norma J. Fitzgibbons, (spouse, John I. Fitzgibbons) of Binghamton, Lynn I. Thor (spouse, Stuart McCarty, II) of Tunnel, New York and Harris G. Thor (spouse, Debra Ann Thor) of Vestal, New York; his grandchildren, Kristen Fallon, Candice Porter, Tristan N. Thor, Matthew McCarty and Heather McCarty: his great-grandchildren, Shannon, Christopher and Jessica Fallon, Natalee P. and Narissa P. McCarty and Arlo M. and Rachel M. Feirman; and a brother, Norman Thor, of Elma, New York.

A memorial service was held March 25, 2001 at the Unitarian Church of Binghamton, New York.

The Rev. Dr. George Huntston Williams
April 7, 1914 - October 6, 2000

The Reverend Doctor George Huntston Williams, born in Huntsburg, Ohio, on April 7, 1914, died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 6, 2000. He was 86 years of age.

Dr. Williams was a church history scholar, author, and professor, who held dual ministerial fellowship with the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ. He was prominent in his field for his work both on the history of the Protestant Reformation and on American Unitarianism and Universalism.

Dr. Williams received his Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Lawrence University in 1936, his Bachelor of Divinity degree from Meadville Theological School in 1939, and his Doctor of Theology degree from Union Theological Seminary in 1946. He was ordained at the Church of the Christian Union (Unitarian) in Rockford, Illinois in 1940, where he served as assistant minister between 1939 and 1941. He left the pulpit to teach church history at Starr King School and the Pacific School of Religion for six years. In 1947, he joined the faculty of Harvard Divinity School, serving as Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History from 1956 to 1963 and then as Hollis Professor of Divinity from 1963 until1980. He was the acting dean of the school between 1953 and 1955. When he retired from Harvard in 1980, he was named Hollis Professor of Divinity Emeritus.Among other posts, Dr. Williams served as president of the American Society of Church History, president of the American Society for Reformation Research, and chair of the North American Committee for the Documentation of Free Church Origins.

Dr. Williams delved deeply into the Protestant tradition, focusing on the early Anabaptist, anti-trinitarian, and evangelical rationalist movements in sixteenth-century Europe. These he chronicled in perhaps his most famous work, The Radical Reformation (1962). Williams also devoted much attention to Unitarian and Universalist history, including a scholarly monograph on transcendentalist Frederic Henry Hedge (1949) and a book on American Universalism (1971). His work on the history of our denomination has been to connect it to the worldwide history of the Christian church, an orientation he considered essential for the continuing spiritual vitality of Unitarian Universalism. He also translated and edited a documentary history of Eastern European unitarianism, The Polish Brethren (1980), and penned a history of Harvard Divinity School (1954).

Williams leaves his wife Marjorie Derr Williams; two sons, Roger of Essex, Connecticut, and Jeremy of Melbourne, Australia; a daughter, Portia Weiskel of Everett, Massachusetts; a sister; and eight grandchildren.

A funeral service was held October 10, 2000 at the First Church in Cambridge, Congregational. A memorial service was held at Harvard's Memorial Chapel on January 12, 2001.

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