Category: Obituary: C

The Reverend Dr. John Cummins—remembered for his wry humor and a 23-year ministry to the First Universalist Church of Minneapolis (1963–86), recognized for many more years as a local leader in liberal religious and social causes, and deeply venerated as a mentor to younger ministers and aspiring seminarians—died 11 December 2021, aged 95.

When the call rang out in 1965 to bear witness for justice in Selma, John Cummins showed up. As an opponent of the Vietnam war, he counseled more than 500 draft resisters and conscientious objectors. Preaching on the Watergate scandal, he titled his sermon, “Malice in Blunderland.”

John Cummins was born on 8 September 1926 to Alice E. (Grimm) and the Rev. Dr. Robert Cummins, who for many years was the General Superintendent of the Universalist Church of America and a leader in consolidating the Universalists and Unitarians in 1961. Enrolling at Bowdoin College (Brunswick ME), John joined a college fraternity but withdrew on discovering that they refused entry to Jews and Blacks. A screed, “Fraternity Without Brotherhood,” was John’s outraged response. He completed work for his B.A. in 1947, went on to graduate from Harvard Divinity School, and was ordained in 1950.

After parish settlements in Brunswick ME (1950–54) and Waltham MA (1954–63), the Rev’d Mr. Cummins took a call to First Universalist in Minneapolis, where he would remain until retirement and honored as emeritus thereafter. Members recall him as “prophetic, a caretaker, nurturer, and something of a poet,” helped perhaps by the editorial pencil of his spouse, Drusilla (“Dru”). “Your ideas soar like eagles,” she once told him, “but your grammar has webbed feet.”

In an interview at 90, John looked back, “I was naïve, an idealist, a dreamer, a humanist, a visionary, I guess, and I don’t regret any of it.”

John was preceded in death by spouse Dru and a son, Christopher. He is survived by daughter Carol and son Clyde. In a celebration of life at First Universalist Church of Minneapolis on 20 December 2021, no fewer than six colleagues offered tributes to John’s warmth, gentleness, humility, wit, and pastoral presence.

The Rev. Vivienne Chapman died on December 7, 2021, at the age of 94.

Vivienne is survived by her four children, Caroline Guild, Todd Guild, Katherine Guild, and Sylvia Guild Beaudoin; by her elder sister, Paulette C. Loomis; and by her five grandchildren; as well as nieces and nephews.

A memorial service is being planned.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Faith & Family Hospice Foundation, 420 Lakeside Ave., Suite 203A, Marlborough, MA, 01752. UURMaPA will contribute $50 to the UUMA Endowment Fund in honor of our colleague’s ministry.

Notes of condolence can be sent to the family in care of Sylvia Guild Beaudoin, 4 Kendal Common Rd., Weston, MA 02493-2160.

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

Ann Perry Reynolds Campbell, spouse of the Reverend Fred Campbell, died 27 Sept 2021, surrounded by family. Born 11 June 1937 in Woodstock, Connecticut, where her family had been for eight generations, Ann left to attend Earlham College in Indiana, after graduating from Woodstock Academy.

Ann met Fred Campbell at Earlham when she was managing the student cafeteria and Fred applied for a job in the kitchen. They married in 1960, after graduating.

Her inquisitive mind and natural sense of humor led her to enjoy a range of employment. She helped design the Head Start Programs at the University of Arkansas. She served as purchasing director for the Michigan Cancer Foundation in Detroit, and she worked in hardware stores. 

She was an Advanced Master Gardener and couldn’t pass a garden without pulling weeds. Ann was also a Master Thrifter whose turn signal automatically started blinking for a yard sale. During the last 20 years while living in Williamston, MI, Ann participated in Shagbark Questers historical society; restoration of the one-room Branch School; garden clubs at the local, state and national levels; Williamston Kiwanis, the Williamston Depot Museum, food bank and more. 

She was kind whenever possible. Her kindness being tempered only by her tendency to be a little more truthful than some people were comfortable with. Ann’s sense of humor was perhaps her greatest asset, and it was ever present. Relatively early in their 61 year marriage, when asked why she wasn’t more engaged helping her husband Fred in his job as a minister she observed “As far as I can tell, you are only paying one salary.” 

Ann is survived by her loving husband Fred Campbell, son Craig Campbell (Peggy), daughter Judi Lintott (Richard), and four adult grandchildren, Ian Campbell, Griffin Campbell, Emily Lintott and Susan Lintott. 

A celebration of Ann’s life, along with dedication of a community memorial garden to be created in her honor, will be held in early summer 2022. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ann’s name to Ann Campbell Memorial, Williamston Area Beautification Fund, PO Box 116, Williamston, MI 48895.

Ann Reynolds Campbell died on September 27, 2021 at the age of 84. Her husband is the Rev. Fred Campbell. Ann was remembered in UURMaPA’s virtual conference in October.

Ann is survived by her loving husband Fred Campbell, son Craig Campbell (Peggy), daughter Judi Lintott (Richard), and four adult grandchildren, Ian Campbell, Griffin Campbell, Emily Lintott and Susan Lintott. A celebration of Ann’s life, along with dedication of a community memorial garden to be created in her honor, will be held in early summer 2022.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ann’s name to Ann Campbell Memorial, Williamston Area Beautification Fund, P.O. Box 116, Williamston, MI 48895. UURMaPA will contribute $50 in her memory.

Ann was an Advanced Master Gardener through the Michigan State University extension program, and she could not pass a garden without pulling weeds. During the last 20 years while living in Williamston, MI, Ann participated in Shagbark Questers historical society; restoration of the one-room Branch School; garden clubs at the local, state and national levels; Williamston Kiwanis, many Red Cedar Jubilee celebrations, the Williamston Depot Museum, food bank and more.

We understand that notes of condolence can be sent to the Rev. Fred Campbell, 1186 Wild Cherry Drive, Williamston, MI 48895-9443.

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

The Reverend Ron Cook—parish minister, beloved teacher, endearing nonconformist, and craftsman extraordinaire—died on 6 July 2021, two months short of his 88th birthday.

Ron’s legacy was as a builder. For 27 years he helped build up Starr King School students seeking a religious calling. And starting in 1969, he built his own house on the California Big Sur Coast, where he died in a bed he also built. His spouse Deborah Streeter and dear neighbors stood by as members of the Mid-Coast Fire Brigade carried his body out along the path to a firetruck for an honor guard departure.

Ralph Hiram Cook, Jr., was born 27 August 1933 in Snohomish WA to Ralph Hiram Cook and Esther A. Cook. He grew up on a pea farm and was the first in his family to go to college, earning his B.A. in art and political science from Whitman College (Walla Walla WA) in 1955.

As a child Ron was a happy Cascades camper and a faithful Episcopalian acolyte, but at Seattle’s University Unitarian Church, he was encouraged toward professional ministry by Pastor Aron Gilmartin. He headed off to Starr King School in Berkeley and completed his B.D. in 1960, all the while discovering the San Francisco jazz and art scene and making dear lifelong friends.

Ron would proudly, maybe even gleefully, tell the tale of how the UUA Ministerial Fellowship Committee (MFC) turned him down for credentialing, but the UU Church in Ventura CA nevertheless called him in 1961 with a telegram, “Boston be damned! We’ll have our own Tea Party,” and promptly ordained him. (The following year, the MFC relented.)

Ron resigned his Ventura ministry in 1966 for a year-long trip to Europe and Africa, then returned from Nigeria to work as Associate Director of Young Adult Programs at the UUA (1967–69). Starr King School President Bob Kimball invited Ron to join the faculty in 1969, where he promoted the distinctive Starr King style of education: student-centered and affirming of life experiences. “We teach by who we are—work done, credit given.” He taught preaching and worship, weddings and funerals (“Marry ‘Em and Bury ‘Em”), and UU History, with a special love for Emerson.

Ron retired from teaching in 1996, retreating to his beloved Big Sur home and a life of community service. He built up the local volunteer fire brigade, worked against local logging enterprises, and became a court advocate for foster kids, all the while continuing to make the house more livable year-round. In his last days he was still building, working on a bench just outside the kitchen window where he happily read and wrote. In his spouse Deborah’s words: “Ron’s organic life is never finished, and he and this house and hill live happily together.”

A memorial service on 9 October 2021 was held at the UU Church of the Monterey Peninsula (Carmel CA), conducted by Ron’s ministerial colleagues, Bill and Barbara Hamilton-Holway, with tributes from children, a neighbor co-builder, and a former student.

Memorial donations are encouraged to the Mid-Coast Fire Brigade, which Ron and Deborah helped to found. Providentially, the Brigade saved their home from destruction in the Soberanes Fire of 2016.

Notes of condolences may be sent to Deborah Streeter at 37755 Palo Colorado Rd, Carmel, CA 93923.

Mary Rose Curtis, surviving spouse of the Rev. James Curtis, died 4 March 2021 at home in Charlottesville, Virginia, at age 94. She was born 30 May 1926 in Utica, New York. After secondary school, she earned an associates degree in medical records and began working in that field.

In 1952 she married James Curtis and accompanied him to Germany, where he was deployed as a Russian linguist by the Air Force. When they returned to the U.S. she went back to work and he went to seminary to become a Unitarian Universalist minister. She engaged with social justice work in each of the four churches he served, working for farm worker’s rights, women’s rights, and international peace. Her 50-year commitment led to a United Nations Human Rights Community Award.

When James died in 1973, May Rose (or MZ, as she was sometimes called) returned to college to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree as medical records administrator. She built a consulting business, published articles in trade magazines, and eventually took a job at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital. Acting as her own attorney, she won a suit against the Army for age discrimination. She also met Dr. Edward Fries and enjoyed world travel, attending symphonies, and live theater with him for more than 30 years.

Dr. Fries died in 2005, and her son Bennett – a who lived with her for over 30 years – died in 2014, but MZ continued her involvement with her UU community.

A memorial service will be held when people can gather. Memorial contributions can be made to the UU Congregation of Charlottesville, Va. 

The Reverend Carolyn Wood Colbert—artist, teacher, poet, parish minister, community organizer, justice activist, and lover of nature—died on 4 June 2019, at the age of 85.

Carolyn lived with beauty, artistry, and passion. Whenever there was a protest for peace, for reproductive rights, or a task force on domestic violence, she was there, planning, organizing, or speaking. Her sarcastic wit was an ever-present delight. During a “question box” sermon, when a congregant boldly asked about her love life, she answered demurely, “I don’t like to speak of small electric appliances in public.”

Carolyn Helen Colbert was born on 24 May 1934, in Oakland, California, to Horton Richard Colbert, a Universalist minister, and Lynette Wood Colbert. (She later adopted her mother’s birth name in place of Helen.) Married at age 19 to Paul Sawyer, and then divorced at age 33, she undertook extensive training and then teaching and leadership in awareness techniques, group process, Gestalt therapy, and human development theory, both in private practice and on Starr King School’s adjunct faculty. In 1978 the teacher became the student, and she was graduated from Starr King with her M.Div. in 1982.

Ordained on 10 June 1984 by the Unitarian Church of Davis, CA, the Rev’d Ms. Colbert served as an extension minister at the Community UU Church, Kennewick, WA. She then took calls to the UUs of San Luis Obispo, CA, and to the UU Church in Eugene, OR, with a number of interim ministries in between. On formal retirement in 2006, she was elected minister emerita by the Eugene church. After retirement, she served additional interim ministries in Los Gatos, CA, Livermore, CA and Rogue Valley, OR.

In final retirement, Carolyn lived for several years in El Cerrito, CA, where, to her delight, deer came to visit the creek that ran through her backyard. She is survived by daughters Charlin, Shanda, and Katherine Sawyer, her beloved black cat Layla, and innumerable friends and colleagues.