Author: Duane Fickeisen

Carolyn Owen-Towle

The Creative Sageing Award for 2019 was presented to Carolyn Owen-Towle by Judy Welles at UURMaPA’s annual luncheon in Spokane on June 21. Here is the citation:

The Reverend Carolyn Owen-Towle has been a path-breaking minister throughout her years of distinguished service and leadership.

She was Co-Minister with her spouse, Tom Owen-Towle, at the First UU Church of San Diego, 1978 – 2002. While serving that large congregation, she was also asked to take on a series of leadership roles:  President of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), then President of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association (UUMA). She was nominated as a candidate for President of the UUA in 1993, an election she narrowly lost.

Her commitments to social justice, collegial strengthening, and denominational leadership were integrated into her preaching and pastoral roles in ministry. Carolyn was named Minister Emerita by the San Diego congregation.

She now has had seventeen years of retirement. These years are what we honor with the Creative Sageing Award.

Carolyn resumed her engagement with the art world in which she was raised, and which she studied in college. In retirement she has pursued her ongoing exploration of the value and centrality of beauty.

Carolyn has given her passion for art to institutions devoted to it. She served as President of the Board of the Mingei International Folk Art & Design Museum in San Diego, and has been on the Board of that vital institution for some sixteen years. She also sits on the board of two artist foundations: that of Sam Maloof and of James Hubbel.

Carolyn wrote Damngorgeous: A Daughter’s Memoir of Millard Owen Sheets. It was published by The Oceanside Museum of Art in 2009. The title comes from a favorite expression coined by her late father.  She quotes him in a letter saying he had “… two months to paint a real honest to gosh show, or in stronger language, a damngorgeous, supermaligorical pile of canvases.”

In 2017 Carolyn was named Distinguished Alumna of Scripps, on the occasion of her 60th class reunion. In her acceptance speech she noted the tectonic shifts in expectations and opportunities for women in the span of her education and career.

Carolyn is currently Chair of “HEResies,” an archive formed several years ago at Meadville Lombard for women clergy, religious educators and women leaders in our movement. Carolyn is working with John Leeker, Meadville Archivist, and Sarah Levine, Project Archivist, inviting women to submit their papers, which will be digitized. Meadville Lombard will make the collection accessible to anyone, anywhere.

Carolyn has been a partner par excellence to her spouse, Tom, and a devoted grandmother to their seven grandchildren.

UURMAPA is proud to honor The Reverend Dr. Carolyn Owen-Towle with the 2019 Creative Sageing Award!

The winner of the 2017 Unsung UURMaPAN Award is the Rev. Ellen Brandenburg. Marni Harmony presented the award at our Florida conference. In the citation, Marni recognized Ellen’s work with ministerial aspirants as the Ministerial Credentialing Director for the UUA and her role in developing the Regional Sub-Committees on Candidacy.

Marni Harmony presents the 2017 Unsung UURMaPAn Award to Ellen Brandenburg

Since her retirement, Ellen has volunteered as a docent at the Peabody Essex Museum, an outstanding art museum near her home in Salem, Massachusetts. She survived a health crisis and the death of her husband George and continued her involvement with the Salem congregation. After George’s passing, Ellen studied the nuances of sailing and successfully became the skipper of their sailboat.

She has quietly said “yes” to some things that keep UURMaPA going. She joined the task group with me and the UURMaPA Vice President before me to research and deduce who would receive our Creative Sageing Award. She chaired the UURMaPA Nominating Committee for two terms, from 2009 to 2013 and both she and George were famous for the hospitality they provided at the Attleboro fall conferences. Writes Diane Miller, “Ellen sails on an even keel, even when the waters are rough. She meets challenges with an open and clear mind. She connects with people with equanimity and genuine interest.”

Marni concluded, “This is the award for the “Unsung” UURMaPAn. Although I know some, I don’t know all the ways Ellen has contributed to the greater good. But I do know that among her talents — and they are many — Ellen can easily bring us joy and laughter as she carefully hangs spoon after spoon on her face. That, alone, would be enough to warrant this award.”