Category: Awards

Each year, the Board of UURMaPA honors a volunteer who has made an extraordinary contribution to our organization, working behind the scenes during their retirement years. This year’s deserving honoree is Marni Harmony (Winter Park, FL).

Marni retired from settled parish ministry in 2013 and has given of herself to UURMaPA in so many ways. She introduced the concept of targeted ministries, as well as peer support groups. She has served as a member of the Board, and held the portfolio of UUMA-UUA liaison. More recently, Marni has been a member of the team that selects our Creative Sageing Awards.

Over the years since her retirement from parish ministry, Marni has distinguished herself among colleagues and friends as being always willing to say “Yes,” when asked to contribute her gifts. We offer hearty congratulations to the Reverend Marni Harmony, recipient of the UURMaPA Unsung Hero Award for 2023.

Our Hero, Duane Fickeisen

Each year, the Board of UURMaPA honors a volunteer who has made an extraordinary contribution to our organization, working behind the scenes during their retirement years. This year’s deserving honoree is Duane Fickeisen.

Duane retired from settled parish ministry in 2011 and has served UURMaPA as webmaster since the fall of 2012. With characteristic grace, patience, and good humor, Duane has kept the site’s information portal current through transitions over the years.

In addition, responding to the evolving personal needs of both ministers and partners, Duane founded two much-appreciated peer groups –- one supporting caregivers and another for those experiencing grief.

Congratulations to Duane Fickeisen, recipient of the UURMaPA Unsung Hero Award for 2022.

The creative sageing award was given to two people this year, Dr. Esther A. H. Hopkins and the Rev. Dr. David C. Pohl. The Rev. Phyllis Hubbell presented the awards on behalf of UURMaPA during a video conference call since our annual luncheon could not take place in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The citations follow:

Esther A. H. Hopkins

We honor Dr. Esther A. H. Hopkins for the varied and diverse paths taken in her retirement years. Dr. Hopkins had a distinguished career as a biophysical chemist and as a Patent Attorney. She was meanwhile an active member of her professional society, being a National Councilor of The American Chemical Society, (ACS) for more than thirty years, recognized by them as a Fellow.

Retiring from The Polaroid Corporation, she became a Deputy General Counsel in the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Meanwhile she was a Trustee of her alma mater, Boston University, serving twenty-two years as trustee and a further ten as an Overseer. She gave a Century Scholarship to the University.

After retiring from DEP, she went into politics in Framingham becoming the only Afro-American ever elected to a public office in the 317 years that Framingham was a town. She was a member of the Board of Selectmen and served a term as its chair. She also served on the finance committee, and the Tercentennial Commission, was elected to the Representative Town Meeting, and the Regional Vocational School Committee.

She was an active member of First Parish in Framingham and now, at 93 is active with the Unitarian Universalist Society of Martha’s Vineyard where she served on the Intern Committee, the Installation Committee and the Worship Committee. She represented the families of deceased ministers at the annual UUA Service of the Living Tradition, served on the Committee to Select the Hymnbook Commission, and endowed the UUA’s T. Ewell Hopkins Ministerial Aid Fund.

UURMAPA proudly honors Esther Hopkins with the 2020 Creative Sageing Award!

David C. Pohl

Before he retired, the Rev. Dr. David C. Pohl enjoyed a long and distinguished career in Unitarian Universalist ministry both as a settled minister and in later roles with the Unitarian Universalist Association Department of Ministry. Rev. Pohl retired in 1993 but returned to serve as interim Director of the Ballou Channing District.

Rev. Pohl worked in two major roles in his retirement. He served from 2003 until 2016 as First Vice President of the Unitarian Service Pension Society.  The Pension Society provides Service Gratuities to approximately 350 retired UU ministers. Rev. Pohl also began work in 2003 as President of the UU Society for Ministerial Relief, a position he continues to hold.  This organization provides needed financial support to retired ministers and their surviving partners. It holds an endowment of over $14 million; under Dr. Pohl’s leadership, it disburses over $400,000 annually in special and ongoing grants.

Rev. Pohl’s dedication to our faith has led him to take on innumerable other responsibilities throughout his retirement years including membership on the boards of trustees for Meadville Lombard Theological School and the Church of the Larger Fellowship. He was on the Placement Committee of the International Council of Unitarian Universalists, finding ministers to fill pulpits abroad during their sabbatical years. As a presenter for the UUMA’s Center program on Ministry, he led programs at half a dozen districts. But perhaps most importantly, he has also spoken at numerous ordination and installations and conducted or given eulogies for many colleagues and their partners. He has clearly touched many lives. He is a minister’s minister.

The Unitarian Universalist Retired Ministers and Partners Association (UURMAPA) is pleased to honor Rev. Pohl with its 2020 “Creative Sageing” Award!

Our 2019 Unsung UURMaPAn award goes to Judy Gibson, of Knoxville, Tennessee, “in recognition of vital contributions and generous service on behalf of the community of retired UU ministers and partners.”

Following her outstanding service on the Board as Secretary, from 2014-2018, Judy has continued to carry a portfolio with a “nameless job,” which included the task of announcing member deaths by email on behalf of the Board and coordinating the flow of information and actions by UURMaPA when a member dies.  Judy developed a spreadsheet to track the multiple steps involved in notifying and publishing news of deaths, making for a more even and consistent follow-through by the many volunteers involved. We could call that nameless job the “Obituary Coordinator.” She has created a job description for these tasks, which she will hand off to Cathie Severance at the end of this calendar year.

Likewise, with our Bylaws and some other documents, Judy has continued to maintain and update them after her terms of service on the UURMaPA Board.  She also maintained a Succession List of our Board and Nominating Committee positions as well as other off-Board volunteer functions, so we know who has served, when, and when their terms conclude.  “Better to rotate volunteer leaders than to reinvent the wheel.”

Judy has a gift for clarity, and the skills required to notice details, to follow through, and to see what needs to be done. These talents have streamlined our operations, helping us to be better at giving our attention to each other.

Partnered with Gordon Gibson, Judy has a partner’s deep understanding of ministry and Unitarian Universalism.

In the old theological debate whether salvation is reached by works or by grace, Judy clearly has nailed it in the works department. She is a doer. And we so appreciate that in our voluntary association. Yet it is her grace that is salvific — Judy’s warmth, good humor, curiosity, brilliance, generosity, and graciousness to everyone that make such a difference to all of us who have the pleasure of knowing her.

And so we honor and thank Judy Gibson for her service among us as a leader, volunteer, and partner. As a token of our esteem, we present with this citation, a check for $500.

Congratulations and Thanks!

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.

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.”

The Board of UURMaPA is delighted to announce that the 2017 Creative Sageing Award was given to the Rev. Dr. Gordon Gibson.  Gordon, along with his wife Judy, has been involved in organizing and leading pilgrimages to civil rights sites since 2004, and he is currently involved with the Living Legacy Project () to continue this work. He has published Southern Witness, a book about Southern UUs during the civil rights era.

In announcing the award, the selection committee (Marni Harmony, Makanah Morris and Ellen Brandenburg) lifted up some of Gordon’s accomplishments, noting that he doesn’t seem to have much use for the word retirement and continues to enrich us all by his tireless work on our history.

Ellen particularly remembers that his leadership on pilgrimages to civil rights sites in the South, as well as his other leadership roles with the Living Legacy Project (uulivinglegacy.org) since his retirement have been particularly impressive.  Makanah Morris recalls how essential his ministerial presence was to the Knoxville congregation, of which he and Judy are members, when a gunman opened fire one Sunday. His calming presence on that day and the time which followed was very healing for all ages in that church following that tragedy.

Gordon has been organizing and leading pilgrimages to civil rights sites since 2002, bringing his experience of living in Mississippi 1969-1984 when he was the UU minister in the state. In 2015, he received the UUA Presidential Award for Volunteer Service after decades of a ministry that has held racial justice at its core. Upon receiving that honor, Gordon said, “The Living Legacy Project is a circle of people who saw value in an idea my wife, Judy, and I began developing and implementing as I neared retirement. The Living Legacy Project has improved and extended what we had begun, and I have seen our civil rights pilgrimages and the recent Selma conference challenge, change, and empower people. There is something in the process of coming face-to-face with the people, places, and stories of the civil rights Movement that has changed more lives than all 50 years of my sermons.”

Anyone who has heard him speak in any venue knows that Gordon Gibson understands the value of a good story. Gordon has lived his life learning and sharing the stories of others so that, through their example, the good and the not-so-good, we all can be stronger, better, more loving people. At Gordon’s core is a passion for us all to appreciate the gifts in one another and to leave the world a kinder, gentler place.

Gordon is genuinely interested in others, and his beloved wife Judy claims that he “… has always been other-people-focused. He seems constantly ready to reach out, ready to be helpful and supportive to people around him. His favorite situations are when we get involved in interesting conversations, ideally over good food. I cannot think of a time when he retreated into a personal funk! I believe that his choice of ministry was absolutely the right direction for him.”

In retirement, Judy and Gordon live in Knoxville, Tennessee. Gordon has published Southern Witness, a book about Southern Unitarians and Universalists in the civil rights era.

The Creative Sage-ing Award Committee wishes they could name both Gordon and Judy for this award. But given that Judy is on the UURMaPA Board where she serves as the most amazing secretary any organization could hope for, they felt it was probably not appropriate.

But we want everyone to know that in our hearts this award goes to both Gordon and Judy. And we want to mention that in 2016, the Knoxville Urban League did it right. They bestowed that Whitney Young Lifetime Achievement Award, the most prestigious of all Urban League Awards, on both Gordon and Judy.

Andy Backus, the Unitarian Universalist Retired Ministers and Partners Association is pleased to present you with its 2012 Creative Sage-ing Award along with a check for $500.

You have served three of our congregations – Tyngsborough, MA, Oneconta and Schenectady, NY, with distinction and provided remarkable service as Interim Minister in San Diego, CA, and Vancouver, B.C; you edited a significant collection of readings for your ministerial colleagues; you have written and performed music, as well as accompanied worship services for many groups.

You have been an exemplary UURMaPAn. You served on the Board for four years, including being treasurer. While moderating the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association chat line, you turned your technological talents to UURMaPA. Single-handedly you have managed the UURMaPA website, the data base, and UURMaPA Announce and Speak-Up list serves. Eight years we have depended on your singular skills. When you decided to retire from several of these tasks, it took two persons to take over the work; even though you had done this work for years, you volunteered to continue to moderate the Speak-Up list serve, much to the delight of the UURMaPA.

You have consulted with many among us as well as with countless other ministers and partners who rely on your considerable talent. You have carefully trained your very grateful successors in the ways of digital information. You were—and are—our “go-to-guy” when we have computer issues.

Your continued interest in UURMaPA activities and attendance at conferences models a retirement life of involvement. Your music talent as composer and performer has graced and enriched many of our worship services.

UURMaPA is not your only interest or you only service venue in retirement. The ACS emergency communications service appreciates your talent as a ham radio operator. You are an award-winning designer and builder of sets for the Bellingham Theater Guild. In addition, boaters in the Northwest appreciate the meticulous instructions on boat safety that you and Chris provide. We wish you clear skies and gentle waves.

We thank you for what you have done, not only for us, but with us.

We are delighted to honor you at this time. Congratulations!

— The Unitarian Universalist Retired Ministers and Partners Association Board
October 4, 2012

Annually, UURMaPA bestows its Creative Sage-ing Award “in recognition of outstanding service and creativity in pursuing new ventures after retirement and building on one’s experience in creative ways.” This year’s prize committee (Jay Atkinson, Nancy Doughty, and John Weston) was pleased to receive eight nominations and found itself hard-pressed to narrow the choice. After much discussion and sober reflection, however, the committee is pleased and proud to present the 2013 Creative Sage-ing award to the Rev. Farley Wheelwright and, posthumously, to Virginia Wheelwright, his spouse, who died in 2011.

For many years after retirement, Virginia and Farley continued as familiar presences at General Assembly, where Farley’s prophetic voice for social justice remained stentorian and passionate. After moving to Mexico Virginia and Farley, and now Farley alone, have been active participants in the UU congregation in San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato. There Farley lost no time in joining a Mexican protest against sales tax on prescription medicines. Sobered by a warning from locals that the Mexican government didn’t take kindly to “foreigners mingling in their political problems,” Farley turned his attention to a “gringo” issue by joining “a cabal to oust a somnolent Board of Trustees for the Biblioteca – the largest English library in Mexico,” thus saving “the most important gringo society in the State of Guanajuato” and serving for another two years as president of the library’s board. Following that stint, Farley threw himself into the project committee of the local Rotary Club, working especially for improvements in water service to the impoverished residents of the campos outside the town. And he continued to preach for San Miguel UUs until succumbing to failing eyesight.

Meanwhile, Virginia and other members of the San Miguel UU Fellowship founded ¡Jóvenes Adelante! (Youth Go Forward! — www.jovenesadelante.org), providing university scholarships to exceptionally promising, economically disadvantaged students from the cities of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, and environs. Many are from struggling families in el campo where, even for the most promising young people, the pursuit of a university degree and a professional career is rarely even a dream, let alone a realistic option. To date the program has served some 100 young people, all of whom have moved into good jobs, preventing their need to cross the border illegally to find work. Farley was active in the all-important fundraising arm of this effort.

Now at 96, the second oldest living Unitarian Universalist minister, Farley and, until two years ago, his wife Virginia, have rendered exemplary service during more than two decades of retirement. For all the activities just cited and others not mentioned, the Unitarian Universalist Retired Ministers and Partners Association honors Farley and Virginia Wheelwright with its Creative Sage-ing Award for the year 2013, together with the accompanying cash award of $500.

Farley’s response: “Please extend my thanks, and those posthumously of Virginia, for the UURMaPA Creative ‘Sage-ing’ Award you have so generously bestowed. She would be as proud as I to have been remembered by colleagues. Long life to you both and our organization.”