Category: Obituary: C

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.

Charles Patrick “Chuck” Campbell died on March 10, 2019 at the age of 81. He was born in Tacoma, Washington 21 October 1937, the only child of Chet and Rowena Campbell.  The family moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico after WWII, when Chet worked on converting the labs to post war uses. They moved to Colorado just as Chuck was entering high school, and he graduated from Boulder High in 1955. Eventually he received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UC Boulder, with a concentration in English literature. His studies were interrupted, however, by a two-year sojourn in the Navy.

While at University, Chuck met and married his first wife, Mary Lou.  When they confessed to friends that they’d become disenchanted with their childhood faiths, the friends introduced them to the Unitarian Church of Boulder. This encounter was the beginning of Chuck’s 59- year pilgrimage as a Unitarian Universalist.

In 1964, Chuck was accepted into a Ph.D. program in Boston. But his fellowship wouldn’t cover living expenses, and so he began to pursue other lines of work. He taught literature part-time at two local colleges, and found work with Arthur D. Little, a Cambridge consulting firm. During this time, he and Mary Lou decided to go their separate ways.

Tamara (“Tommi”) Wadsworth came into Chuck’s life in 1967. When they married the next year, he became an unofficial Dad to her three children, Dennis, Peter, and Jill. Tommi was also a UU, and together they became active in Boston’s Arlington Street Church. There they befriended a young lawyer named Sue Spencer, who remained friends with them through the years, and who would eventually become a UU minister. In 1979, the Campbells moved to Albuquerque to be closer to Chuck’s parents.

Chuck didn’t immediately find a teaching job in Albuquerque. Ever resourceful, he went to work for Mayflower, and for a few years drove moving vans all over the country. In 1982, he and Tommi found teaching jobs at the University of Albuquerque, and when it folded, he began a Ph.D. Program at the University of New Mexico. He earned his doctorate at age 51, in Technical Communication, and landed a tenure-track position at New Mexico Tech in Socorro. He taught at Tech for 12 years, retiring in 1999.

Although Chuck had been a “band geek” in high school, his love of the tuba blossomed after he came to Albuquerque. He played with several bands, but developed a passion for the traditional jazz of New Orleans. For 17 years he held the Tuba position with the Route 66 Revelers.

When Tommi died in 2011, Chuck’s long friendship with Sue Spencer blossomed into “something more,” and they married in 2012. From then until Chuck’s death, they counted themselves blessed to be together. When Sue became the Developmental Minister in Las Cruces, Chuck became the best clergy spouse anyone could ask for.

Chuck had been diagnosed in 2007 with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL). For many years he was active despite this life-threatening illness — traveling, playing music, enjoying the out of doors, going to church, and generally finding joy in life. In the last 10 days of his life, he played three Mardi Gras gigs and one concert band practice, before the disease process finally caught up with him.

He is survived by his wife, the Rev. Dr. Suzanne Redfern-Campbell, two stepchildren from his prior marriage to the late Tamara G. Campbell, and many beloved family members.

A memorial service was held on April 13, 2019 at the First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque, NM, where Chuck was a member for almost 40 years.

Memorial donations may be made to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, or to the Ministerial Internship Program at First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque, 3701 Carlisle Boulevard NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110. UURMaPA will contribute $50 in his honor to the Albuquerque church.

Notes of condolence can be sent to Sue Redfern-Campbell, 6118 Edith Blvd NE, Unit 20, Albuquerque, NM 87107.

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.

Esme MacKinnon Cahill, spouse of the late Reverend Edward Cahill, died 8 July 2018.

Born in Nova Scotia in January 1927 to Herbert and Marie MacKinnon, she grew up in North Easton, Massachusetts, and graduated from Boston University.

She married the Reverend Edward Cahill in 1955, and became the full-time stepmother of his daughter Linda. He was serving a UU church in Charlotte, North Carolina, before moving to churches in Atlanta, Georgia, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1969 he came to serve the UU church of Concord, New Hampshire.

Esme was an active minister’s spouse. She wrote and spoke of her experiences with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s church and the turbulent civil rights era. She served in many capacities, especially in the UU Church of Concord. She was Chair of the Prudential Committee, and actively worked on the Finance, Caring, and Long Term Planning committees.

She worked professionally her entire life. She did significant public health research with the Survey Research Center, U of Michigan, and co-authored an early study useful in the evolution of managed care. She worked with the Southern Regional Education Board in Atlanta and the School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. In Concord, she was a freelance contractor to survey research companies before working for the Digital Equipment Corporation. She retired in 1992.

Esme had a passionate interest in arts and crafts. She became an accomplished silver jewelry maker and taught classes as well as served on the board of the Arts Council of Greater Concord and the Concord Arts & Crafts Council. Her other community service activities included serving on the Board of the N.H. Mental Health Association and as a consumer representative at the United Health System Agency. In her later years, Esme most enjoyed her volunteer work and friends with the Hopkinton Town Library.

Ms. Cahill leaves her stepdaughter and son-in law, Linda and Dennis Brunn, her granddaughter Jennifer and her husband Ecco Adler, her great grandson, Nico Adler, and her nieces Beth Hemmert, Ellen Muehlenberger and their families.

The family suggests memorial donations to the ACLU or to the Hopkinton Town Library.

The Reverend Dr. Vic Carpenter Jr.—distinguished parish minister and tireless advocate for the disadvantaged and marginalized—died on 1 June 2018, aged 88.

Throughout his ministry, Vic was always awake—in compassion, preaching, and action—to the suffering of others. In South Africa, he and spouse Cathe worked against apartheid and he was sometimes a secret courier of international messages and money for legal and social aid to apartheid victims. In the United States, the Rev’d Mr. Carpenter was active in a breathtaking number and variety of social justice causes and organizations, opposing racial, gendered, and economic discrimination, the Vietnam and Gulf Wars, the death penalty, police violence, unjust immigration restrictions, and exploitation of hotel and hospital workers.

He promoted prison reform, reproductive freedom, same sex marriage, disability rights, and full educational access. He lost track of the number of his civil disobedience arrests. In 2011 the UUA gave him the Award for Distinguished Service to the cause of Unitarian Universalism.

Victor Howard Carpenter Jr. was born in Newton, Massachusetts, on 23 October 1929 to Victor Sr. and Pauline Carpenter. After service in the U.S. Marine Corps (1951–54), including two years in Korea, he completed his undergraduate work at Boston University in 1955 with a B.A. in English, and then earned an S.T.B. in 1959 from Harvard Divinity School. In 1987, Mr. Carpenter would receive an S.T.D. honoris causa from Starr King School.

Mr. Carpenter was ordained on 28 September 1958 by Christ Church, Unitarian in Dorchester, MA. Parish settlements followed in Norwell, MA (1959–62), Capetown, South Africa (1962–67), Philadelphia (1968–76), Boston (Arlington Street, 1976–87), and San Francisco (1987–93). His final settlement was at the First Church in Belmont, MA, where he was elected minister emeritus on retirement in 2002.

At his death, Victor was survived by his spouse of 60+ years, Cathe, children Tyler and Melissa, grandchildren Simone and Milo, and brother John. His daughter Gracia had died earlier.

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.

Betty M. Curry, 86, passed away unexpectedly October 19, 2008. She worked at Saint Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, MN, and later, at the Veterans Administration in Minneapolis, where she worked until her retirement. An active UU, she selflessly dedicated her life to the welfare of others and all creatures great and small. She was preceded in death by three sisters, a former husband of 27 years, the Rev. Vernon Curry. She is survived by a son, Mark Curry of Rochester and daughter, Lynne Morin of Minneapolis. Other survivors include nieces and nephews, as well as many loving friends. A memorial services was held October 23 at the Church of St. Edward Chapel Bloomington, MN. Fr. Michael Tegeder of St. Edward’s and the Rev. Kate Tucker of the First Universalist Church officiated.

Drusilla E. Cummins, 84, wife of the Rev. John Cummins, died Nov. 29, 2009. A graduate of Mt. Holyoke, Breadloaf School of English and Meadville Lombard, she was an English teacher and drama coach. A long-time advocate for equal rights for women, she served as president of the UUWF, trustee and first vice-moderator of the UUA; District Trustee for Prairie Star and Western Canada, and Meadville Lombard trustee and board chair. She enjoyed theater and symphony concerts. She is survived by her husband and their three children, Carol, Christopher and Clyde. In 1991, Dru and John Cummins received the Annual Award for Distinguished Service to the Cause of Unitarian Universalism, one of the most prestigious awards given by the UUA. In 2000 Dru was award UUWF’s Women in Ministry Award, which she had helped establish in 1974.

The Rev. Joseph Ira Craig, 82, died June 11, 2009. He was an aerial photographer in the US Army. Ordained a Methodist, he went on to serve Unitarian churches in Norton and Fitchburg, MA and Augusta, ME. He was a librarian at the Augusta Mental Health Institute for more than 20 years. A civil rights activist, he marched from Selma to Montgomery, AL and served on the Maine State Advisory Committee to the US Commission on Civil Rights. He was a member of the Unitarian Historical Society, secretary of the Maine Unitarian Association, and on the Board of Directors of the NE District of the UUMA. He enjoyed reading, theology, history, painting, fencing, and music. He played viola in the Augusta Symphony for many years. Survivors include his daughter, Leslie Flores, and her husband, three stepsons and their spouses, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.