Category: Obituary: S

The Rev. J. David Scheyer, parish minister, outdoorsman and avid sailor, zealous fighter for justice, and dedicated volunteer and counselor in programs for victims of domestic violence, died at age eighty-five on 7 February 2014 after several months of declining health.

David Scheyer was passionate about hiking and sailing. He went on week-long backpacking trips in California during his seminary years and did a month-long hike through the Alaskan wilderness in the early 1960s. For many summers he and his wife Fia anchored their sailboat in the Bahamas, living on board and enjoying the water, sunsets, and people they met. They also spent time sailing in Massachusetts and Florida, living first on their boat and later in their homes on shore.

Early on in his ministry, the Rev. Mr. Scheyer foresaw the evil of market values permeating social relationships, and he lamented the “dehumanizing” impact of materialism as “the gravest problem facing the world today.” At the same time his tastes were simple and unpretentious. In a 1974 interview, he told a local news reporter that, for longer than he could remember, cheeseburgers—made with equal amounts of meat and cheese—were “the best eating around,” and when served with a “mug of coffee together, that’s good chow!” [Lenn Speers, “Minister of the Week,” The Ledger, Lakeland, Florida (20 April 1974), p. 1C.]

John David Scheyer was born in Philadelphia on 28 April 1928 to Dr. Frederick L. Scheyer and Synette Swensen Scheyer, but after a family move to Puyallup he grew up near the south end of Washington’s Puget Sound. College attendance at Princeton University, Reed College, and UC Berkeley was interrupted by service (1951-53) as a Marine during the Korean conflict. By his early 30s, Mr. Scheyer was living in Billings, Montana and working in drug sales to physicians. Unchurched since the Methodism of his teens, he discovered the Billings Unitarian Fellowship—“the most comfortable meeting I had ever attended”—and quickly became an active member, soon serving as the congregation’s president. With his increasing involvement in the anti-war movement and growing dissatisfaction with the values of the pharmaceutical industry, ministry began to call to him as a more fulfilling career. He went off to Berkeley and was graduated from Starr King School for the Ministry in 1967.

In his first call, he served the UU Church of Fort Lauderdale from 1967 to 1971, where he was ordained on 9 February 1968. Moving to a period of yoked ministry (1972-76), he served the Unitarian Fellowship of South Florida and made monthly trips to the Lake Region UU Fellowship (now the UU Congregation of Lakeland). After calls to the Church of the Mediator in Providence, Rhode Island (1977-78) and the UU Church of Marblehead, Mass (1979-82), the Rev Mr. Scheyer moved into a series of interim ministries, serving successively the First Parish Church (UU) of Ashby, Mass (1983-84), the UU Fellowship of Raleigh, North Carolina (1986-87), the Unitarian Church in Charleston, South Carolina (1987-89), and lastly the First UU Church of Austin, Texas (1989-90).

Service to the UUA included membership on the board of the association’s Florida District and presidency of the Massachusetts Bay District. Mr. Scheyer’s ministerial career was brought unexpectedly to an end by amnesia in early February 1990 when he went missing for nearly three months, after failing to show up for two events at the Austin church where he was an interim minister. Wandering apparently from Texas, to Florida, and then to Arizona, without knowledge of his own identity, he chanced to overhear mention of “Puyallup,” which triggered memory of his boyhood town. He made his way there by late April, and with only a social security card to remind him of his surname, he found a “Carl Scheyer” in the local phone book, who turned out to be his uncle. Thus reconnected with family, including his brother Warner living in nearby Redmond and his wife Fia, who had returned to Boston after his disappearance, Mr. Scheyer seems to have gradually recovered.

Relocating with his wife to Franklin, North Carolina, he joined the UU Fellowship there to live out the last twenty years of his life. He made friends easily. A computer store owner in Franklin recalled that he “was always one of my favorite customers. We became friends and I always enjoyed discussing religion, spirituality, and politics with Dave. We had lots of laughs, and seeing him come through the door always put a smile on my face.” The Rev. Mr. Scheyer was also deeply concerned about domestic violence and devoted much time in his retirement years to volunteering at Resources Education Assistance Counseling Housing (REACH), a local agency with a mission “to eradicate domestic violence and sexual assault crimes in Macon County, through prevention, intervention, and educational services.” He spent many nights in hospitals, talking with domestic violence victims and offering comfort and companionship.

In frail health but cheerful spirits during the last months of his life, David moved into the Macon Valley Nursing Center, where his outgoing friendliness continued to touch people. One visitor to the Center, who met him there only three months before his death while visiting members of her own family, continued to visit him regularly and, despite brief acquaintance, felt moved to write at some length a generous remembrance of him and Fia as “kind, caring, and loving.” Sadly, David’s wife Fia was killed in a car accident in December 2013, just two months before his own death.

David Scheyer is survived by his brother, Warner; three step-children, David Cefkin, Suzie Della Penta, and Beverly Calobrace; eight grandchildren; and five great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Fia Bartnovski Scheyer. His life was celebrated in a memorial service led by long-time friend and fellow UU, Walter Burnett, on February 22 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Franklin, North Carolina. His stepson, David Cefkin, described him as having “a passion for equality, and a very low tolerance for injustice.”

Memorial donations may be made to REACH of Macon County, PO Box 228, Franklin, North Carolina 28744.

Mary Ann Shokes, 83, widow of The Rev. Theodore (Ted) Wilson Shokes, died in Lansing, MI, February 5, 2014. She married Ted in Charleston, SC, in 1948 when she was 18. She had completed a year in the College of Charleston as a psychology major. The couple moved to Boston in 1960, where Ted attended Tufts Theological Seminary to become a UU minister. They reared two sons and she partnered with her husband to support his ministry. This work would define her life until 1971, when Ted died in Hinsdale, IL. Mary Ann went into in a deep depression and people feared the worst. She surprised everyone by rejoining life fully in the mid-1970s in Lansing, MI. She returned to college, received an AA in social work, and later worked at Michigan National Bank in Lansing before retiring in the late 1980s.

In the mid-2000s, Mary Ann was in a Lansing hospital on life support, with EEGs showing minimal brain activity. Her sons were advised she would never regain consciousness. While her younger son was visiting her and talking with her personal aide about her condition, the aide began sobbing. When her son looked over at his mother, she was smiling back at him. A few months later, she was living independently. She had surprised everyone again by making a full recovery.

She will be remembered for her wisdom, her perseverance, but most of all for her kindness.

Mary Ann is survived by her two sons, Ted (Jr.) and Doug, and by two grandchildren. Condolences may go to the family through Estes-Leadley funeral home: http://estesleadley.com.

Fia B. Scheyer, 82, wife of the Rev. John David Scheyer, died Dec. 1, 2013. Born in Brooklyn, NY, she was the daughter of the late Sasha Bartnovski and Antonette Salisbury Bartnovski.

Fia was a Julliard trained professional singer and recording artist. She was the author of numerous articles and curricula, who had two books in print. She worked for the Unitarian Universalist Association as the Director of Volunteers and Fundraising. She was a member of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Franklin, NC. She was also an active member of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers’ Partners for many years.

In retirement, Fia was elected to the UURMaPA board but was unable to serve due to her poor health. She took her physical losses in stride over many years.

She is survived by her husband of 45 years and by three children, Suzie DellaPenta and son-in-law, George of Cheektowaga, NY; David Cefkin and daughter-in-law, Mia of Franklin; and Beverly Calobrace of Tamarac, FL; two sisters, Helen Lamb of Pompano Beach, FL and Beverly Smalheiser of Tamarac, FL; eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life was held at December 7, at Macon Valley Nursing Home. Her son David says, “Fia’s Memorial service was fantastic. She was honored in a way that would please her. There was a packed house. Friends, family and colleagues told stories of their time spent with her, and how she changed their lives. She was a remarkable woman who touched the lives of many. Her work and contributions to the world will have a profound effect for years to come.”

Sympathy notes may go to David Scheyer at Macon Valley Nursing Home, 3195 Old Murphy Rd., Franklin, NC 28734. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Care Net, 130 Bidwell St., Franklin, NC 28734.

Robin Spry-Campbell, 90, widow of the Rev. Jeffrey Campbell, died Oct. 23. She was born in Schenectady, NY, on Nov. 12, 1922.

She attended Skidmore College, as one of the youngest members in her freshman class studying arts education. She served in the US Army at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, MD. There her artistic talents were put to use for weapon design – an irony she relished later in life as an ardent and life-long civil rights and peace activist. She later shipped out to Germany with the Army, where she met her first husband, Bill Spry. On her return stateside she participated in the WPA project and attended Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. She went on to accept a position as an art teacher at the Putney School in Vermont.

There she met and married her second husband, Jeffrey Campbell. He had been a conscientious objector during World War II and went on to become a UU minister, who served our church in Amherst, MA during the 1960’s and 1970’s. He and Robin continued their work for civil rights and for peace and justice over many years.

Robin worked at the Putney School for 35 years. When she retired in 1985 she returned to upstate New York. She is survived by her daughters, Jocelyn Lash of Burlington, VT and Allison Campbell of Sebastopol, CA. The family says that Robin’s second husband died just ten days before she did.

Donations in Robin’s memory may be made to the Tompkins County SPCA, 1640 Hanshaw Rd., Ithaca, NY or the Ulysses Philomathic Library, 74 E. Main St., Trumansburg, NY 14886.

Sympathy notes may go to Jocelyn Lash, 364 Governor’s Lane, Shelburne, VT 05482.

Diene Bull Scholefield, 91, widow of the Rev. Dr. Harry Barron Scholefield, died Oct. 11, 2013, with her family at her side. She had lived on her own until just the final week of her life.

She was forever active in politics and community service. Diene worked to make schools more inclusive, government more responsive and everyone more compassionate.

Diene made may meaningful contributions to her community over the course of her long life. She served as the chair of the Board of the San Francisco League of Women Voters, was a member of the Sierra Nevada Girl Scout Council, and was as representative of private schools on the Post-Secondary Education Commission of the State of California. Diene also served as a long-term member on the board of directors of the ALL Student Loan Corporation and both founded and managed Campaign Data Service, a cutting edge data mapping company. She volunteered for more than 30 years at the San Francisco Society of Christian Work.

She reared a daughter and a son with her first husband Robert Bull, who died in in 1981. Diene and her family knew the Scholefield family, through the church. After Sarah Scholefield died of lupus, Diene and Harry began a courtship and were married in 1987.

Harry was named minister emeritus of the First UU Society of San Francisco in 1973. He died Mar. 3, 2003. Diene is survived by her children, Penny Chambers and Charles Bull and her granddaughter, Miya Chambers-Navarro and their families. She is also survived by three stepchildren, Joel Scholefied, Sarah Ellen Scholefield and Anne Thomas and their families. A tribute to Diene’s life was held Sun., Jan. 5, 2014 at 12:30 p.m. at First UU Society of San Francisco, 1187 Franklin St.

Condolences may be sent to Penny Chambers, P.O. Box 118, Fairfax, CA 94978.

Eugenie “Nina” Morin Smith, 71, long-time spouse of the Rev. Theodore R. Smith, Jr., died February 6, 2013 in Patterson, NY.

Ted served Universalist churches in Yonkers, NY and Rutherford, NJ. He was Chaplain of the Middletown State Hospital in Middletown, NY, and Director of the Central Counseling Service of NY, the Foundation for Religion and Mental Health, and Minister of Counseling at the Universalist Church of New York in New York City. He died in 1999.

Nina was a spiritual teacher for many years, working through her practice, Education for Life, Inc. She sponsored a number of children overseas. She enjoyed the outdoors, watching birds and animals in the countryside. She was an animal rights advocate. Her long-term friend, JoAnn Tannenbaum, said Nina was well-loved and is greatly missed.

Nina is survived by her sister and by two sons, Theodore R. Smith III, and Remi Merlo Smith. Notes of remembrance may go to Nina’s sister, Michele Morin, 220 Quaker Rd., Patterson, NY 12563.

The Rev. Charlotte Justice Saleska, 77, died of Alzheimer’s disease on December 28, 2012. Rev. Saleska was born in Marion, IN on August 16, 1935 to Olive (Heal) and Enos Edward Justice. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Taylor University in 1957 and a Master of Arts from Hunter College in 1964. In 1988 she earned both a Master of Arts in Religious Studies from the University of Chicago Divinity School and a Master of Divinity from Meadville Lombard Theological School. As a student at Meadville Lombard, she helped create and implement the first women’s studies course at the seminary, and led a call for the school to hire female professors to the all-male faculty.

Rev. Saleska was ordained on June 6, 1988. She was first called to serve the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad Cities in Davenport, IA, becoming their first and only female settled minister, from 1988-2000. She then went on to serve as interim minister at the First Universalist Unitarian Church of Wausau, WI from 2000-2001, and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tampa, FL from 2001-2002. In 2000, she was bestowed with the honor of Minister Emeritus of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad Cities.

Rev. Saleska brought her diverse background to her work as a minister. She was a social worker at Head Start Families in Milwaukee, WI from 1968-1975; coordinator of the Milwaukee-area high school Inter-Urban Health Careers program from 1975-1980; and, for many years, a high school English teacher. While her husband, the Rev. Charles Saleska, was serving the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville, FL (1980-1985), she served as the Fellowship’s Director of Religious Education from 1983-1985. She often recalled that, growing up as an Indiana farm girl in the 1940s and 1950s, it never occurred to her that ministry was something a woman could do. When her husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness, though, her women’s group helped her see what had really been her deeper call: ministry. And so, in 1985, at age 50, she entered Meadville Lombard Theological School.

Rev. Saleska’s tenure as minister, as in life, was marked by a love of literature, a commitment to religious pluralism and social justice, and the enduring power of liberal religion in local congregations. While in Davenport, IA, she co-founded the Interfaith Theological Symposiums to bring her Unitarian Universalist Congregation together with Edwards Congregational United Church of Christ and the Temple Emanuel Reform Jewish congregation for religious dialogue and social action. An early supporter of marriage equality, she began performing gay and lesbian wedding ceremonies in the early 1990s. As part of her passion for merging justice and religion, Rev. Saleska also helped guide the church through a building expansion that created more religious education classroom and meeting space.

Rev. Saleska’s passion for women’s issues, and for reclaiming the role of women in human society, began at home as she taught and guided her sons to feel compassion and respect, and to speak out for women and women’s issues; and expanded to include her engagement in seminary and in ministry. She also loved deep discussions of any kind, especially book discussion groups and movie discussions. Because of her background in English literature and her love for Shakespeare, she could quickly recall and expound on literary references, metaphors and poems, giving them voice in her sermons and discussions.

She loved to garden, and in later years, her house was full of green and growing plants of many varieties. Rev. Saleska also loved to travel, and during her years of ministry she took trips to Transylvania, Germany, France, and Italy. When she could, she also traveled to Chicago and New York to visit friends and attend the theater. One of her favorite activities before and after retirement was to drive to Spring Green, WI, to meet her sister and brother-in-law to attend Shakespeare plays by the American Players Theater.

Rev. Saleska is survived by her sisters, Carol Jones and Carmen Wilks; brothers, Warren Justice and Sam Justice; son, Scott Saleska, his wife, Kirsten Engel and their daughter, Helene; son, Kent Saleska, his wife, Heidi Saleska, and their children, Parker and Mirek.

A memorial service took place on Saturday, March 16, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church West, 13001 West North Avenue, Brookfield, WI 53005.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Unitarian Universalist Women’s Federation (http://www.uuwf.org/donatejoin.html) or to Planned Parenthood (http://www.plannedparenthood.org/) in honor of the Quad-Cities location Rev. Saleska helped establish.

Notes of condolence may be sent to Kent Hemmen Saleska at 210 12th Ave. N., Hopkins, MN 55343; or to Scott Saleska at 2210 E. Hawthorne St., Tucson, AZ 85719.

The Rev. Dr. Wayne Shuttee, 93, died June 22, 2011. He graduated from the University of Missouri and Meadville Theological School with a Bachelor of Divinity degree. He served the First UU Church in Cleveland, OH, where he was ordained; the West Shore UU Church of Cleveland, OH, where he served as their first minister; and at the Unitarian Society of New Haven in Hamden, CT, where he served for thirty years. Following his retirement he served as interim minister for a dozen UU churches. He was named minister emeritus at the Unitarian Society of New Haven, in Hamden, CT, where he was also a member. He was active over the years in several community organizations in the New Haven area such as the Yale-New Haven Hospital, the New Haven Youth and Family Services Association, and New Haven Reads Community Book Bank, where he volunteered three times a week running the front desk and packing book orders. He also served on many association boards. Wayne is survived by his wife of almost 64 years, Patricia (Wuliger) Shuttee. He was predeceased by their son, Timothy.

Mary Margaret Cline Schug, 92, the widow of the Rev. Philip C. Schug, died January 13, 2011. During her college years she worked for Sears and she also built 35 mm guns during WWII. The Schugs served congregations in Urbana-Champaign, IL; Lincoln, NE; and San Antonio, TX. Mary volunteered in the churches Phil was serving while rearing two daughters. In San Antonio she worked as a lapidary and made jewelry. She was a member of the Rock and Lapidary Club, River Art Group, Craft Guild and Fiesta Commission. She is survived by her two daughters.

The Rev. Paul W. Sawyer, 75, died June 23, 2010 from pancreatic cancer. He had just finished his memoir, Untold Story: A Short Narrative History of Our Time. A graduate of Harvard College and Starr King, he served churches in CA, NJ, PA, WA, OR and Russia. The Pasadena Weekly called Paul “a tireless advocate for the dispossessed who often risked arrest in his opposition to war, capital punishment and nuclear energy.” The LA Times described him as “a scholar of American Transcendentalism and ancient Chinese texts, a founder of the Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace… [who] served on the boards of the UN Assn. and the Jackie Robinson Center in Pasadena.” He enjoyed jazz, politics and history. He is survived by his wife, Susan, and their son, Alexander, and by his first wife, Carolyn Colbert, and their daughters Sharlyn, Shanda and Katherine Sawyer, and his son Adam Sawyer, and Adam’s mother, Carole Selter Norris.