Author: Duane Fickeisen
Catherine J. (Seeger) Cardell
Cathy Cardell
Catherine J. (Seeger) Cardell, 72, surviving spouse of the late Reverend Nicholas C. Cardell, Jr., died September 10, 2018 in Syracuse New York, after a long illness.
Cathy was born in the small, blue collar factory town of Ilion, New York. She grew up there and in Albany, graduating from Academy of the Holy Names and Hudson Valley Community College. While in Albany, Cathy met and married Nick Cardell. They moved to Syracuse when he was called to serve as minister of May Memorial Unitarian Society.
Although she eventually worked at NYDOT, Cathy was first employed as an administrative assistant for the church. With a great sense of humor and a warm smile, she worked to connect folks with one another and to bring joy and love into the church. She facilitated some small groups and helped found a women’s group called Evenings Beyond Eve, which still exists and focuses on raising consciousness of world events.
Cathy was also a fierce social justice warrior, advocating for the church to become a sanctuary for those in need of protection, and protesting at the School of the Americas. Her spirituality and theology was rooted in Native American teachings, she always felt closer to the divine when out in nature.
After Nick’s death in 2002, Cathy began to make a new life for herself away from May Memorial. She met Roosevelt Dean, a blues musician, who would be the final love of her life. This new relationship would propel her into the social world of blues music and new friendships.
She is survived by a brother, Michael (Jackie) Seeger, of East Nassau, NY and a sister, Rosemary Welch, of Syracuse, NY.
Donations may be made in her memory to Francis House Hospice and In My Father’s Kitchen, of Syracuse.
The Rev. Richard Jasper “Dick” Norsworthy
The Reverend Dick Norsworthy—parish minister, civil rights activist, woodworker, and outdoorsman—died on 10 September 2018, aged 86.
Richard Jasper Norsworthy was born on 31 July 1932 in Caribou, Maine, to Marion Rose (Bowden) and Jasper Ellsworth Norsworthy. After service in the US Air Force (1950–54), the USAF Reserve (1954–1958), and the US Army Reserve (1958–1960), he completed a joint undergraduate and seminary program in 1962 with a B.A. in English from Tufts University (Medford, MA) and a B.D. from Bangor Theological Seminary (ME). Meanwhile, in the early 1950s, he had married Glenna Henderson, with whom he raised three children.
Mr. Norsworthy was ordained on 10 June 1962 by the Third Universalist Church in North Weymouth, (MA), where he served until 1966. That was followed by settlements at the Unitarian Church (now UUs) of Clearwater, FL (1966–72), the First Unitarian Church of Victoria, B.C. (Canada, 1972–76), the First Universalist Church of Woonsocket, RI (1977–84), and retirement from active ministry in 1985. In 2013 he was retrospectively named minister emeritus by his former congregation in Clearwater.
Beyond the parish, the Rev’d Mr. Norsworthy served multiple roles in the local UUMA chapter and represented both the Ballou-Channing and Florida districts as a UUA Trustee. In various local communities his activity was focused on human relations agencies and civil rights activism, including travel to Selma on the morning after “Bloody Sunday,” along with many other UU clergy. Dick enjoyed a wide variety of outdoor activities and sports, and from the early 1960s he and his family summered at their cottage on Lake Wassookeag in Dexter, ME.
At his death, Richard was survived by his second wife Janice Kazlauskas, and sons Dane and Scott. His first wife, Glenna, had died in 2007 and his eldest son, Richard, in 2011. Memorial donations were encouraged to the UU Society for Ministerial Relief.
Jennie Parker Weller
Jennie Weller
Jennie Parker Weller was born 7 August 1931 in Ann Arbor, Michigan to Martha Vaughan Parker and Dewitt Henry Parker. She died on 7 September 2018, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with her children lovingly by her side.
A gifted musician, Jennie graduated from University High School in 1948, and received a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the University of Michigan in 1952. She married H. Mark Hildebrandt on 26 August 1950. Jennie chose to forego a musical career to stay home bringing up her five children. She returned to the U. of M. for a master’s in social work, graduating in 1973. She was divorced in 1975.
Shortly after her divorce she met Reverend Peter Weller at a Singles group at the Unitarian Church in Ann Arbor. They fell for each other and married on 23 December 1977. In 1979 they moved to Pittsfield, MA, where Jenny practiced social work while Peter was a minister at the Unitarian Universalist church. Jenny was “carefully” active in that church, attending the Episcopal church every other week to keep in touch with her Christian needs. She and Pete always attended Ferry Beach in Maine and Star Island in New Hampshire. They led the sexuality education class at his church.
After their retirement in 1996 they moved to Fort Collins, Colorado where he attended the UU Church and she was very active in the Congregational church. After Pete’s death, Jennie moved to Colorado Springs to be close to three generations of offspring.
Jennie was a great mom, always there and always understanding. She developed dementia, and as it progressed she became increasingly frustrated as she lost her mental abilities. She is survived by her children, Marian Ware, Carl Hildebrandt, Janet Hildebrandt, Jay Hildebrandt, and Lisabeth Almgren, and is missed by many friends, as well as stepchildren, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
The Rev. Dr. Max D. Gaebler
The Reverend Dr. Max Gaebler—beloved pastor, community activist, and international advocate for liberal religion, whose snappy bow ties and cherubic smile made him instantly charming and recognizable—died on 7 September 2018, aged 97. His long-time friend and colleague, Rabbi Manfred Swarzensky, called Max “the most brilliant clergyman in Madison (WI).”
Max David Gaebler was born on 26 May 1921 in Watertown, Wisconsin, to Hans and Hele Gaebler, and grew up among German-American free thinkers. He earned an A.B. from Harvard College in 1941 and then an S.T.B. from Harvard Divinity School in 1944. Later he would receive two doctorates honoris causa—an S.T.D. from Starr King in 1968 and a D.D. from Meadville/Lombard in 1975.
Mr. Gaebler was ordained on 5 March 1944 by the First Parish in Cambridge, MA, and then served for a year as the American Unitarian Association’s Minister to Students in the Greater Boston Area. During that year, Carolyn Farr, then a graduate student at Harvard University, visited the First Parish in Cambridge and heard him preach. They were married in February, 1945.
After settlements at the First Parish Church United in Westford, MA (1945–48) and then the Unitarian Church of Davenport, IA (1948–52), the Rev’d Mr. Gaebler was called to the First Unitarian Society of Madison, WI, and 35 years later was named Minister Emeritus there on retirement in 1987.
His service to our national liberal religious movement was extensive and varied. Early on, Max served as president of the Unitarian Ministers’ Association and, in the late 1950s, as secretary for one of the joint interim committees leading to Unitarian and Universalist consolidation in 1961.
To the Rev’d Michael Schuler, his long-time successor in the Madison pulpit, Max was the ideal emeritus colleague, almost a co-minister, and “quite the gentleman…unfailingly courteous in speech and in his correspondence… He and I bonded very early over the Chicago White Sox.” Indeed, Max wrote an ode to Comiskey Park when it was torn down in 1991 for a new stadium.
At his death, Max was survived by five children (David, Mary, John, Ralph, Helen), a sister-in- law, three nephews, and his domestic partner Nancy Townsend and her family. His wife and a younger brother had died earlier.
July 18, 2018
Jean Zoerheide
Jean Zoerheide, age 99, the surviving spouse of the Reverend Robert Zoerheide, died 11 August 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. She was born Jean Kenyon Spaulding on 1 April 1919 and married Robert in 1937. They remained together until his death in 2003. During their 66 years, he owned a butcher shop with his brother, earned a Batchelor’s degree from Western Michigan College and an MDiv from Meadville Lombard Theology School. Jean maintained the home and raised their four children while Bob worked for USC with Japanese American internees during WWII and with Czechoslovakian Unitarians after the war.
They returned to the U.S., where he served churches in Peterborough, New Hampshire, Syracuse, New York, and Bethesda, Maryland before being called to First Unitarian Church in Baltimore in 1978.
Jean became active with the UU Women’s Federation and helped to draft and promote The Women and Religion Resolution which was passed by General Assembly in 1977. In 1978, Jean was appointed to the Continental Women and Religion Committee, and in 1979 she was one of the organizers of the first conference, titled “Beyond This Time,” which produced manuals of worship services, workshop ideas, and educational sessions to work on implementing the 1977 resolution within Unitarian Universalism. At the Women and Religion Convocation on Feminist Theology in 1980, she was one of the eight women who brought water to the first Water Ritual.
After their retirement, Jean and Bob became Caring Contact people in the Joseph Priestley district for UURMaPA. Jean continued in that role for a couple years after Bob’s death in 2003.
In addition to her husband, Jean was predeceased by their daughter, Robyn Reklitis, who died in 1996. She was survived by three of her children, Todd K Zoerheide of Brewer, Maine: Mark E Zoerheide of Alum Bank, Pennsylvania; Vickie J Dykes, who has since also died in December 2020; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The Rev. Dr. Richard “Dick” Henry
The Reverend Dr. Richard Henry—parish minister, scholar of Czech Unitarianism, avid sailor and mountain climber, and vigorous social activist—died in Seattle on 6 August 2018, aged 97.
In retirement, Dick traveled to Prague six times for research in the Čapek archive at the Unitarian church, eventually publishing Norbert Fabián Čapek: A Spiritual Journey (Skinner House Press, 1999), the first book-length biography of that liberal religious martyr. His second book was Eleanor Roosevelt and Adlai Stevenson (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).
Besides scholarship, the Rev’d Mr. Henry was actively engaged throughout his parish career in social service causes, including Planned Parenthood and the Clergy Council on Abortion. He was an active leader in mental health issues and was twice a delegate to international mental health congresses in London and Toronto. In Denver, CO, he was the founding president of the Good Death Fellowship, promoting death with dignity.
Richard Henry was born on 5 February 1921 in Boston to Richard Henry and Dorothy Miller. He earned an A.B. in philosophy at Harvard University in 1943 and a B.D. at Union Theological Seminary (NY) in 1946. Mr. Henry was ordained on 17 February 1946 by the First Unitarian Society of Brooklyn, NY, where he served as assistant minister (1945–49) under the Rev’d John Howland Lathrop. He moved on to senior ministries at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Church (Knoxville, 1949–57), the First Unitarian Society of Denver (1957–77), and the First Unitarian Church in Salt Lake City (1977–86), from which he retired on 1 August 1986 as Emeritus Minister, having meanwhile, in 1979, been awarded a D.D. by Meadville Lombard Theological School.
At his death, Dick Henry was survived by his wife Pat, and his sons Seth and Evan. A Celebration of Life was held on 15 September 2018, at Horizon House, Seattle, WA.
Hollis Wilburn Huston, Jr.
Hollis Huston
Hollis Wilburn Huston, Jr., the spouse of the Reverend Carol Huston, died peacefully at home in his Manhattan apartment on 2 August 2018. His wife, Carol, daughters Vanessa and Linnea, and Linnea’s fiancé Scott Will, were there with him in the last days. He is also survived by his mother, Annie Laura Cotten, sisters Becca and Laura, and nephew and nieces
He was born on 10 April 1947, in Durham, North Carolina. His family relocated frequently during his youth. After attending Loomis School in Windsor, CT, he attended Oberlin College and graduated with honors in June 1968. Hollis earned a Master’s Degree in Theatre from Tufts University and a Ph.D. from Ohio State University.
Hollis and Carol were married in 1968. Carol pursued careers as a teacher and a Unitarian Universalist minister. Hollis taught acting and theater courses at several universities, and was also active as a producer, director, and performer.
In St. Louis, he founded the Holy Roman Repertory Company (“Not holy, not Roman, just damn good radio”). In collaboration with others, he produced radio programs featuring performances of historical writings and music. The programs were recorded in live performance and then broadcast on NPR.
After moving to metro New York, where Carol served as minister of Community Unitarian Church in White Plains, Hollis followed his own call. He earned a Masters of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in 2006. Even before graduation, he began work as a hospice chaplain. He is fondly remembered for his 13 years of work as a chaplain through early April 2018. He also preached at local UU churches, and maintained a blog entitled “The Next Circle.”
Hollis had been treated for prostate cancer in 2007, but his symptoms reappeared in 2015. He was able to keep working, reading and writing, but the disease worsened in 2018. He fractured his hip at the end of May, which led to hospitalization and rehab. On 21 July, he returned home for hospice care.
Memorial donations are encouraged to the Living Legacy Scholarship Fund, to support participation of people with limited funds in a Pilgrimage to Civil Rights Movement sites. Send contributions to John W. Harris, Treasurer for the Living Legacy Project, 9050 Fathers Legacy Unit 253, Ellicott City, MD 21042-5195.
Notes of condolence can be sent to Carol Huston, 940 St. Nicholas Ave SE, New York, NY 10032 revcarol@earthlink.net