Lorraine Stehman Snowden

Lorriane Snowden

Lorraine Stehman Snowden, 76, made her transition from earth life to spirit life on July 21, 2008 after a personal struggle with the challenges of cancer. She is survived by her husband, the Rev. Dr. Glen Wenger Snowden, to whom she was married for 55 years. Before living in Northborough, MA, they lived in Newton for many years. She is also survived by Julie Marie Martin, her daughter, and two grandchildren and three sisters. She enjoyed a lifelong career as a church musician. A graduate of Elizabethtown College, the Yale School of Music, and the New England Conservatory of Music, she was a longtime member of the American Guild of Organists. She was also a piano teacher. Lorraine was highly dedicated to spiritual practices and the study of religious philosophy.

The Rev. Thomas Leroy Smith

The Rev. Thomas Leroy Smith, 87, died August 15, 2005, following a stroke. Prior to receiving preliminary fellowship with the AUA in 1957, he was ordained a Methodist minister and also served as a Presbyterian minister. He served congregations in Duluth, MN and Lansing, MI. He was a teacher who went on to do graduate work in counseling. He is survived by two children, Pamela Smith Marsh of Denver and Thomas Dan Smith of the United Arab Emirates. A memorial service was held Oct. 7 at UU Church of Greater Lansing, followed by a memorial dance at Fraternal Order of Eagles the same evening.

The Rev. Dr. Roger H. Smith

Roger Smith

The Rev. Dr. Roger H. Smith, 75, died August 10, 2011. He earned a BA at Washington State University, an MS and a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University and an M.Div. from Starr King. He served congregations in Wayzata, MN; Pasco and Kirkland, WA. During his time in Minnesota he enjoyed canoeing. Prior to joining the ministry, he worked for NASA in Oak Ridge, TN, as a research biologist. He also worked for the International Atomic Energy Association at a laboratory in Greece and later worked for the Environmental Protection Agency in Olympia, WA. He and his wife, Jane, traveled and worked in California, New Jersey and Japan. In recent years they ran a home-based business germinating orchid seeds for hobbyists.

The Rev. Philip A. Smith

Phil Smith

The Rev. Philip A. Smith, parish minister, psychotherapist, and dedicated activist for social justice and civil rights, died on March 3, 2015, at the age of 84.

As a long-term active member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Mr. Smith was a leader in many desegregation marches in the 1960s. Following the murder of James Reeb in 1965, he traveled from California to participate in the Selma-Montgomery march.

Philip Ashley Smith was born in Bangor (Maine) on September 15, 1930, to Philip and Blanche Smith. He earned a B.A. from Tufts College (now Tufts University) in 1954 and an M.Div. from Crane Theological School in 1957. Mr. Smith was ordained by the Second Parish (Unitarian) of Marlboro (Mass.) in 1957 and continued his pastorate there until 1960, while serving also from 1958 to 1960 as associate chaplain to a prison in nearby Norfolk. He then moved on to parish ministries at the First Unitarian Church in Louisville, Kentucky (1960-63) and the Universalist Unitarian Church of Riverside, California (1963-80).

During these ministries, the Rev. Mr. Smith took on active roles in a variety of local social justice organizations. He served as an adult adviser to CORE in Louisville, was a member of the Louisville Executive Board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a member of the Board of Directors of the Kentucky Civil Liberties Union, and a co-founder and co-chairman of the Kentucky Committee to Abolish Capital Punishment.

While serving the Riverside Church, Mr. Smith undertook training as a psychotherapist, receiving a California license in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling in 1970. For the next ten years he practiced psychotherapy alongside his ministry to the Riverside Congregation, and then took early retirement from parish ministry in 1980 to practice psychotherapy full time.

Phil is recalled as a maverick and one who valued individual creativity. He encouraged others to hold on to their uniqueness, and enrich the world with it. He gave voice and support to those who suffered injustice and mistreatment. He is remembered by family and friends for his love of laughter and his appreciation of life; his final words were “thank you.”

Philip Smith is survived by his wife Sharon Rose (McMaken) Smith; a son, Gabe, and a daughter, Bryony; grandchildren, Ryan, Andy and Ashle; two great-grandchildren; and brothers, Jim, Tom, and Paul.

Memorial donations are encouraged to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Rev. Kenneth Jackson Smith

The Rev. Kenneth Jackson Smith, 90, died March 21, 2007 in Penney Farms, FL. He was ordained in 1951 by the First Universalist Church of Duluth, MN and served in Duluth; Garden City, NY; Vineyard Haven, MA, and Corpus Christi, TX. The UU Church of Martha’s Vineyard named him Minister Emeritus in 1987. Smith was active in community and denominational affairs. His lifelong interest in promoting peace and equality led him to chair committees to further the efforts for racial equality in the 1960s while living in Philadelphia where he ministered to the Ethical Culture Society. His niece, Susan DePass in California, survives him. In 1984 he married Ruth Luening, who predeceased him. At his request there were no services.

Ann H. Rutledge

Ann H. Rutledge, 76, wife of the Rev. Fred A. Rutledge, died September 1, 2008, from colon cancer. A native of Texas, she earned a BA in English at the University of Texas and a masters degree in social psychology from Johns Hopkins University, where she worked as a research assistant. The Rutledges served congregations in Petersham and Danvers, MA, Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN and Baltimore, MD. Ann worked as a church secretary and in RE at Unity Church in St. Paul; she sang in the choir at the Baltimore church. She was a devoted member of the Thomas Wolfe Society, which promotes a scholarly approach to the author’s work. She is survived by her husband of 57 years and their three daughters: Cyndi, Anita and Nina. She was predeceased by their son Rick, Jr.

Jeannette D’Ewart Royce

Jeannette D’Ewart Royce, 83, widow of the Rev. Burchard A. Royce, died Sept. 21, 2003 in a nursing home in Amherst, MA. She was a native of Cleveland who held a bachelor’s degree in biology from the American International College of Springfield, MA. She worked as a speech therapist. The Royces served congregations in Foxboro, MA and New Haven, CT. She is survived by her son, Jonathan Royce.

The Rev. Donald W. Rowley

The Rev. Donald W. Rowley, 83, died March 27, 2006 at his home in the Hunt Community of Nashua, NH. He served at the First Parish Church, United, in Westford, MA, and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua, NH, from 1958 until his retirement in 1987. In recognition of his 29 years, he was named minister emeritus of the Nashua church in 1994. He was a tireless advocate for social justice in greater Nashua, especially in hospice and mental health care. He was predeceased by his wife, Norma, and is survived by two sons, Dana and Philip. He requested a private interment.

Catharine Clements Ross

Catharine Ross

Catharine Clements Ross, 79, wife of the Rev. Robert Jordan Ross, died July 23, 2015 in Sugar Land, TX. A native of Wrens, GA, she was born to Alma and John Clements. She met Robert at a dance and had to be wooed and won to the idea of marriage, which she planned to avoid, and then to this Yankee, from New York City, studying electronics at Camp Gordon. He planned to enter the Methodist ministry. Despite her family’s reservations, she joined him in Fort Huachuca, AZ, to be married at Trinity Methodist Church in Warren, AZ.

He completed his tour of duty and they moved to New York City. Robert began his theological studies at Drew University. Their first son was born in 1956. Catharine began to take college courses (free to student wives) at Brothers College of the University.

The family moved into the Fisherman’s Methodist Church parsonage in Brooklyn, where Robert was a student pastor. She studied at Brooklyn College, learned to play tennis, and worked at the Dime Savings Bank. After several successful years in Brooklyn they served Methodist churches in Marietta and Smyrna, GA. In the tumult of the civil rights movement, they served UU churches. After working with student groups in Georgia and South Carolina, they moved to Kennebunk, ME, then to Topsfield, MA where Robert worked in Boston.

Their second son was born in 1961. Catharine continued to study at the University of Maine, Orange Coast College and Santa Ana College, pursing her work as a bank manager and a loan officer. Then her avocational focus turned to archeology and anthropology. As her interest grew, she became an officer of the Pacific Coast Archeological Society. In England, during Robert’s sabbatical, she ran the archeological laboratory at Winchester, working on the old Roman walls of the city. After two years in El Paso, they moved to Newport Beach, CA, living there for 41 years, while Robert served congregations in Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Mission Viejo. In California, she participated in many digs of pre-Columbian settlements. She studied management with Bank of America and worked as a branch manager, returning to work as a loan officer to be nearer home.

She was a gracious hostess and spirited dinner companion, and a great dancer. She delighted in her family. Her gardens were her pride and joy. She was a kind friend to many, a source of wisdom to her husband.

Catharine was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2008. The disease gradually took away most of the things she enjoyed. She continued to enjoy reading (C.S. Lewis, English history, archeology, mysteries) up to the last year. Her decreasing capacities dogged her but her love remained strong and clear. She painstakingly noted birthdays and anniversaries to send greeting cards. Her spirit shone through until the end. A service was held July 25 at Providence Presbyterian Church in Sugar Land, TX. Her remains were buried at Ways Baptist Church, in Stellaville, GA. In addition to her husband of 59 years, she is survived her two sons, Jordan Clement Ross and Derek Allen Ross and their families, which include three grandchildren and three great granddaughters; and by three brothers and two sisters. She was predeceased by her parents and by another brother.

Notes of remembrance may go to Robert Jordan Ross, 5910 Gentlewood Lane, Sugar Land, TX 77479.

The Rev. Andrew Rosenberger

Andrew Rosenberger

The Rev. Andrew Rosenberger, parish minister, apple farmer and conservationist, died at age 94 in Concord, New Hampshire, on May 31, 2013.

In addition to a thirty-five year career in parish ministry, Mr. Rosenberger spent a life- time actively involved in various civic causes. For over fifty years, he chaired the Board of Trustees of the Protestant Guild for the Blind, during which time the Guild greatly expanded its reach, serving children at the Perkins School for the Blind as well as other visually handicapped and blind people. He was also president of the Wellesley (Mass.) School Board; a founding member of the Unitarian Christian Fellowship in Groton (Mass.), and president of the Groton Council of Churches.

An early advocate of healthy living, Andrew Rosenberger lectured widely on health and nutrition and published Eat Your Way to Better Health (Bobbs-Merrill, 1961), a healthy food and lifestyle manual, considered in some circles to have been twenty years ahead of its time. This interest in health led him, in retirement, to purchase Hillbrook Orchards, an eighty acre apple orchard in Groton. Andrew, with his wife, thus fulfilled a long-held desire to work the land, growing apples and peaches, pumpkins and strawberries, living as a true steward of the land and an ardent conservationist. Hillbrook Orchards became for many years a popular pick-your-own destination for apple lovers from all over Massachusetts, and the Rev. Mr. Rosenberger would conduct sunrise worship services among the apple blossoms atop the orchard’s highest hill.

Reflecting on a life of gratitude, Andrew Rosenberger memorably wrote:

“If I were to make a short list of my gratitude to others at this time, it would include: my mother and father whose faith, hope, love and benevolent spirit inspired me to enter the ministry; Harvard College and Har- vard Divinity School which helped me to prepare for that sacred calling; my marriage to Willamena Parks whom I had courted for three years at Radcliffe before our wedding at Christ Church in Cambridge a week after graduation; and the intimate contacts with men and women and children in the churches I served in nearly every condition and circumstance, sharing their births and deaths, hopes and fears, joys and sorrows, successes and disappointments, as I tried in some small measure to help make their lives a little better and more meaningful… The longer I live, the more important it seems to me for all of us to be engaged in some form of human service. To find real satisfaction and true peace of mind, we have to recognize at least a few of the endless opportunities to fulfill our obligation to life by tangibly reaching out to the physically and mentally challenged — the often forgotten people who need our help so badly, more than ever, because of the systematic reduction in public funding for their care and support. When Billie and I look at our fifty-five years of happily married life together with our four children and their spouses, our ten grandchildren, and our great grandchild, all of whom have filled our lives with abiding joy, we enter our golden years together with heartfelt thanks for all our blessings and with great expectations for the days ahead.”

Andrew George Rosenberger was born in Oak Park, Illinois, on August 21, 1918, son of Emily Williams and Andrew Fretz Rosenberger. He earned a B.A. from Harvard College in 1941 and an S.T.B. from Harvard Divin- ity School in 1944, was ordained by the First Congregational Unitarian Church of Northborough (now First Parish UU) on June 25, 1944, and remained there as minister until 1950. Following a number of interim ministries over the next decade, he accepted a call to the First Parish Church of Groton in 1963, serving there until his retirement in 1979. He was doubly honored with the title of Minister Emeritus by his churches in both Northborough and Groton.

Andrew Rosenberger is survived by a daughter, Wilhelmina Gustavson; three sons, Eric, Karl, and Leif Rosen- berger; ten grandchildren; and five great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Willamena (“Billie”) Parks Rosenberger.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the First Parish Church, 1 Powder House Road, Groton, Massachusetts 01450, and notes of condolence may be sent to Eric Rosenberger at 29 Auburn St, Concord, New Hampshire 03301.