Betty Carolyn Murdock died September 7, 2017, in Tulsa OK. The widow of the Reverend Dr. Virgil Murdock, she was 88 years old. Betty grew up in Hartshorne, OK where her parents, the late Elmer and Juanita Thrower, owned and published the Hartshorne Sun.

After high school, she attended Phillips University in Enid and graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a BA degree in journalism. She worked as a reporter for The Daily Oklahoman and the Oklahoma City Times.

In 1955, she and her husband moved to Cambridge, MA where he attended Harvard Divinity School. They remained in Massachusetts, where he served a congregation for a few years, then became the Executive Director of the Benevolent Fraternity of Unitarian Churches. Betty was active in a number of charitable organizations in Massachusetts. After they retired to Tulsa in 1986, she was a Gillie at the Gilcrease Museum.

Survivors include her daughter, Lisa Carolyn Ake, and her husband Tracy Ake, of Bristow, VA; grandchildren, Hayley Ake, Hannah Ake, and Sam Ake; a sister, Janice Elliott of Nashville, TN; and a brother, Frank Thrower of Dallas, TX.

In lieu of flowers, the family request donations be made in her name to All Souls Unitarian Church.

Messages of condolence may be sent to Lisa Murdock Ake, 9346 Angel Falls St., Bristow, VA 20136

The Rev. Marguerite “Peggy” C. Clason

The Reverend Peggy Clason—dedicated religious educator and consultant, parish minister, and volunteer pastoral counselor for residents in her retirement home—died on 29 August 2017, aged 76.
Marguerite Carlson was born on 3 April 1941 in New Britain, Connecticut, to Arvid and Dorothea Walleen Carlson.

In 1963 (the year in which she married her beloved spouse Don Clason), she was graduated summa cum laude from Upsala College (NJ) with a B.A. in English and Religion. While working initially in the publishing field, Peggy became active in religious education at East Shore UU Church in Mentor, OH. She went on to become the congregation’s Director of RE (1972–81) and, while still in that role, began ministerial study at Meadville Lombard Theological School, completing her M.Div. in 1981.

Ms. Clason was ordained on 4 October 1980 by the East Shore church in Mentor and continued there for another eight years as Minister of RE until 1988. She was then called to a parish ministry at the UU Society of Cleveland in Shaker Heights, where she served for seventeen years until retirement in 2005, when she was named Minister Emerita. Beyond local ministry, the Rev’d Ms. Clason continued service as Education Consultant to the UUA’s Ohio-Meadville District (1988–91) and as coauthor of the adult RE curriculum, Consider the Basics (1992).

She is survived by her spouse of 54 years Don, children Eric Clason and Christine Briede, three grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.

A memorial service took place on 30 September 2017 at East Shore UU Church in Mentor. Memorial donations are encouraged to the UU Society of Cleveland, to East Shore UU Church, and to the Life Care Fund of Ohio Living Breckenridge Village.

July 5, 2017

The Rev. Richard Rodda Gay

The Rev. Richard Rodda Gay died in Bend, OR on Aug. 13, 2017, at the age of 97.

Richard Gay began his career as a Methodist minister and educator. In Anchorage, Alaska, he served several local churches, including the Anchorage Unitarian Fellowship. He received affiliate status with the UUA and was a member of the UUMA.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 67 years, Averill. He is survived by his brother, Thomas Ward Gay Jr.; his daughters, Judy Blake (Greg Joannides), Patti Thorne (Ron), Sherry Ellis (Glenn) and Jerilee Drynan (Steve); son, Rick; 15 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; nieces and grand-nieces; and nephews and grand-nephews. He is also survived by his loving companion, Doris Lagging.

At Richard’s request, there will be no service.

A more complete obituary will be forthcoming after biographical research has been completed.

The Rev. Rebecca “Becky” Morton Blodgett

The Reverend Becky Blodgett—who lived a life of service to others, within and outside the parish, as layperson and then minister—died on 12 August 2017, at the age of 84.

The Rev’d Karen Lewis Foley, a Harvard Divinity School classmate, recalls: “Becky’s ministry was pastoral and she had a strong focus on the elderly, working with aging groups and with pastoral care groups providing care for congregants… She had immense respect for the rich lives and unique wisdom of older people… I’ll never forget her saying, “Old age is almost like another country.”

Rebecca Morton Driscoll was born on 16 April 1933 in St. Paul, Minnesota, to John and Helen Driscoll. After graduation in 1955 from Vassar College (NY) with a B.A. in Geology and Conservation, she settled with her new spouse, Timothy Blodgett, in Concord, MA. As a young mother, Becky was a dedicated volunteer with several organizations. Eventually discerning a call to ministry, she earned her M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School in 1989.

After Ms. Blodgett was ordained 17 March 1991 by her home congregation, she worked as a hospice chaplain at several Boston-area nursing homes and hospitals, including Mass. General Hospital. For a year (1996–97) she served as interim assistant minister to Concord’s First Parish and then resumed her wider chaplaincy work. She remained active in the parish as an affiliate minister, conducting weddings and memorial services, training lay leaders, preaching from time to time, and offering pastoral counseling. She retired in 2002.

At time of death, survivors included her spouse of 61 years Tim Blodgett, brothers Frederick and Andrew, children Sarah, Amy, Jeffrey, and Katherine, and eight grandchildren.

Ruth Elizabeth Lawrence

Ruth Lawrence

Ruth Elizabeth Lawrence, age 76 died July 30, 2017, in Morrisville, VT. She was the widow of the Reverend Thomas Ahlburn.

Ruth grew up in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and attended Connecticut College, where she majored in English. She was hired by the Providence Public Library as a children’s librarian and earned her Masters in Library Science. She remained a librarian throughout her professional life, mostly in the Woonsocket, Rhode Island school system. She and her husband collected a personal library of over 10,000 titles, which included religion, poetry, biblical archeology, zoology, and astronomy. They read every book.

While living in Rhode Island, they spent their summers in Vermont, where they bought some land and built a cabin. They spent two months every summer there for 20 years. They loved the peaceful life, grew a lot of their food, cooked on a 2-burner Coleman stove, hauled water, and used kerosene lanterns.

Ruth’s home was filled with animals in need, many of which were brought in by her elementary school. Over the years, she cared for a three-legged dog, goats, a squirrel, geese, a starling, a blue jay and an ancient box turtle named Gino.

Tom and Ruth retired to Greensboro in 2000. After Tom died in 2002, Ruth invented a new life for herself in Greensboro. She was active with the Greensboro Free Library and her many new friends became a family. She moved to the Craftsbury Community Care Center several years ago, and was happy there.

Ruth is survived by her stepdaughters, Heather Emerick and Megan Ahlburn, her son-in-law, Donny Emerick and her grandchildren Winnie, Charlotte and Phoebe Emerick. She is also survived by her sisters Marjorie Seabury and Virginia Buttrum and their children.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the Craftsbury Community Care Center, 1784 E. Craftsbury Road, Craftsbury, VT 05827, or the Greensboro Free Library, 53 E. Craftsbury Road, Greensboro, VT 05841.

The Rev. Edwin “Ed” A. Lane

Ed Lane

The Reverend Edwin “Ed” A. Lane—dedicated parish minister, bold and passionate activist for truth and social justice, supporter and volunteer for humanitarian causes, and devoted servant of liberal religion—died in hospice care on July 19, 2017, in Columbus, Ohio, at the age of 89.

The Rev. Mr. Lane was socially active throughout his life in a multitude of causes, ranging from civil rights to the environment. He protested against the Vietnam War and joined many of his colleagues in the 1965 Selma march. He actively supported women’s rights, abortion rights, and same sex marriage, and fought for income equality and environmental protections. His piece on gun control legislation won the Skinner Award for “Most Significant Sermon of Social Concern” in 1967. Twice he travelled to Africa to build houses with Habitat for Humanity. “Life is a gift of grace,” Ed Lane once wrote, “not something we have earned. We have a responsibility to use it with wisdom and to share it with love.”

Edwin A. Lane, born to Lester and Vera Lewis Lane on June 19, 1928, grew up on a hog farm in Kingman, Ohio. After graduation from Kingman High School in 1944 in a class of eight students, he went on to earn a B.A. from Wilmington College in 1951. Raised in the Methodist church, Ed pursued ministerial study at Drew University Divinity School but found and embraced Unitarianism while there, took his divinity degree in 1954, and was ordained on 12 May 1957 by the Church of the Unity (now UU Church of Winchendon, Mass) while serving his first ministry. He accepted a call as the first minister to the UU Church in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and in nine years there (1958-67) he helped the small fellowship grow into a thriving church with over 400 members, twelve acres of land, and four congregational buildings. The Rev. Mr. Lane went on to settlements at UU churches in Westport, CT (1967-78?), Cambridge, MA (1978-87), an interim year in Bellingham, WA, and a final call to First Parish Waltham, MA (1987), where he was named Minister Emeritus on retiring in 1996.

Mr. Lane gave broad service to the wider UU movement. He chaired the editorial board of the Register Leader (now UU World) from 1957 to 1963 and sat on the board of Beacon Press for ten years (1962-72). It was during his term as chair of that board (1969-71) that the momentous decision was made for Beacon Press to publish the classified Pentagon Papers in 1971, detailing the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. During the subsequent controversy and lawsuit, his telephone was found to have been tapped. Other roles included membership on the Ministerial Fellowship Committee (1965-1969), Ministerial Consultant to the UU Service Committee (1961-1964), and leadership in the Massachusetts Bay Chapter of the UUMA.

Ed Lane

Ed Lane wrote many articles for Church Management and edited the magazine from 1955 to 1957. As a public minister, his submissions of “letters to the editor” often appeared in The New York Times and The Boston Globe. Dedicated to the end, his final letter was published in the Times on 17 July 2017, just two days before his death.\

In retirement, as an active member of First Parish in Needham, MA, Ed often served as a guest preacher and congregational volunteer in adult religious education and on issues of social and racial justice. There he also became a model layperson, where his wildly popular homemade bread, key lime pie, and cheese pennies brought in many dollars for church fundraisers. In his spare time, Mr. Lane enjoyed acting, woodworking, bicycling, and hiking.

In their own obituary for Ed, family members recalled both his professional and personal character: “[Ed] was known as a caring, intelligent, wise, kind, loving minister with a great laugh and sense of humor. His sermons were memorable and thought-provoking. He helped nurture churches in their growth, and served as a cheerleader to those that needed it. … To his family he stands as a patient, loving, intelligent, kind, thoughtful, amazing and huggable husband, father, brother, uncle.”

Edwin Lane is survived by his wife of 28 years, Helen, two sons, four grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild.

Memorial donations are encouraged to First Parish in Needham, 23 Dedham Ave, Needham, MA 02492.

A memorial service was held on Saturday, September 30, 2017, at First Parish Needham.

Notes of condolence may be sent to HelenBLane@gmail.com and to 66 Hastings St. Apt 106, Wellesley, MA 02481.

June 6, 2017

The Rev. Carl Haycock Whittier, Jr.

The Rev. Carl Haycock Whittier, Jr. died on July 7, 2017 at the age of 87.

He is survived by daughters Sarah Whittier and Nancy Whittier (Kate Weigand); and grandchildren Jonah, Eva, and Isaac Weigand-Whittier.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to VNA and Hospice of Cooley Dickinson, P.O. Box 329, Northampton, MA 01060.

A memorial service was held on Tuesday, August 8, 2017 at the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence, 220 Main St, Northampton, MA 01060.

Notes of condolence can be sent to Sarah Whittier at 190 Chestnut St, Florence, MA 01062.