Category: Obituary: C

The Rev. Ronald Eugene Clark, 70, died August 16, 2006. He served at May Memorial of Syracuse, NY; the First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City; and First Unitarian Church of Stoneham, MA, where he was named Emeritus Minister. He served the UUA 1976-1985 as Extension Director then as Director of Church Staff Finances. He later founded the Clark School in Danvers, MA, a private elementary school. He is survived by his wife Sharon and his three children: Kevin, Kristen and Jeffery.

The Rev. R. Lanier Clance, 74, died on April 15, 2013. Rev. Clance was born in Jacksonville, FL on December 18, 1938 to Henry and Eloise Clance. He attained his Bachelor of Arts degree from Lynchburg College in 1965. He also earned a Bachelor of Divinity from Lexington Theological Seminary in 1965.

Rev. Clance was ordained at the First Universalist Church in North Olmstead, OH on February 20, 1966. He was called to serve the First Universalist Church (now the Olmstead Unitarian Universalist Congregation) in 1965, and he stayed there until 1974. He then went on to found the First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta, GA in 1976. He continued to serve there (as well as the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Riverdale in Atlanta, GA from 1996-1998) until his retirement in 2001. He was given the honor of being named Minister Emeritus of the First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta in 2001.

Rev. Clance worked hard to uphold peace and justice in his community and beyond. Being a feminist, humanist, and all-around political activist, it comes as no surprise that his beliefs led him to work with the National Organization of Women (N.O.W.), the American Civil Liberties Union (A.C.L.U.), and various other community organizations.

A practitioner of Gestalt and existentialist therapies, Rev. Clance also counseled couples and individuals, and “was a compassionate and forthright companion through his clients’ suffering and joy.”

In 1976, Rev. Clance and eight other people joined together to form the First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta. They would eventually build its membership to 450 members by 1981. As one of the founders, Rev. Clance helped form a congregation which was intentionally diverse, bringing together folks from many different communities and helping them view life through a more expansive and generous lens. “As a speaker and leader, he was known for his spontaneity, honesty, and gift of being present in the moment. His legacy includes both a profound acceptance of others as they were and his dedication to urging his congregants to become more fully themselves.”

In “An Existential Ministry: Theory and Practice,” Rev. Clance speaks on his ministerial approach:

I consider my preaching to be Life-Centered. Intellectual concepts are drawn from philosophy, theology, psychology and other disciplines of study. I do not present lectures on these subjects. I do use these areas of knowledge to illuminate and illustrate my particular responses and reactions to life problems of human existence as well as the joys. I believe such preaching creates a dual response. The initial response is to my particular answers and analysis. A more profound response is created by providing individuals with a few concrete answers which they can accept or reject. Namely, they can then work out their own position or faith. I am personally more excited when an individual states something I said started him thinking about an issue or increased his awareness of his own feelings and ideas than when I hear another repeat what I have said as if it were the truth.

A friend noted, “Lanier will be remembered for his gift of engaging others in opening their spirits to know and celebrate the depth of human experience in each moment.”

Rev. Clance is survived by his life partners, who have both cared for him for the last 40 years, Pauline Rose and Nancy Zumoff.

A memorial service was planned for Sunday, May 12, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. at the First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta, 470 Candler Park Dr. NE, Atlanta, GA 30307.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the First Existentialist Congregation of Atlanta.

Notes of condolence may be sent to Pauline Rose Clance and Nancy Zumoff at 1293 Fairview Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30306.

The Rev. Albert Francis Ciarcia, 89, died on Friday, July 26, 2013. He was minister emeritus of the UU Church of Greater Bridgeport (Stratford, CT), which he served for 32 years. He was a tireless advocate for accessibility, and earned a commendation from the governor of CT. He is survived by his wife, Jane Ciarcia, his daughters Holly McCann, Joyce Ciarcia-Levy and his son Christopher.

At the request of the family there will be no further obituary.

Edith Macgregor Christensen, 92, widow of the Rev. John Paul Christensen, died June 6, 2010. She earned a BS in biology at Jackson College at Tufts University. She worked as a lab technician in Boston hospitals and in the sanitary engineering department at Harvard. She was a stay-at-home mother to their three children and a minister’s wife for 40 years. She and her husband were part of the organizing meeting for UURMaPA at Petersham, MA in 1985. Her husband died the following year. At his memorial service she took up a collection for UURMaPA and made a generous gift to our association. She was also a member of the UU Community Church of Glen Allen (VA), Eastern Star, World Wildlife Federation and Sierra Club, She was an outspoken environmentalist. She also enjoyed going to concerts and playing Mah Jongg. She was predeceased by her daughter Jeanne Christensen Kelly. She is survived by her children, John P. Christensen, Jr. and Diane Christensen and by her son-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Constance Meta Cheetham, 97, widow of the Rev. Henry Harris Cheetham, died Aug. 1, 2006. She was born in England. In 1953, the Cheethams boarded the QE II for America. She loved life in the U.S., in Newport, RI, Boston, and Charlottesville, VA. She promoted reading among children, managed the gift shop at University of Virginia Medical Center, and spent years helping out at Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church in Charlottesville. For this work she received the Clara Barton Award from the UUA. A lifetime service award was named after her. She is survived by her daughter, Ann C. Colley of Buffalo, New York; and one granddaughter.

Virginia (Ginny) Lee Crane, widow of the Rev. John Alexie (Lex) Crane, died of pneumonia on January 23, 2016, just shy of her 93rd birthday. She died peacefully, surrounded by family, following a long life devoted to family, friends, service and travel.

Ginny was born in Elgin, IL on February 7, 1923 to Isaac Newton and Judith Beery Garber. She graduated from Elgin High School and attended Manchester College (Indiana) and Barnard College (NYC). She grew up in the Church of the Brethren, a pacifist faith that fled persecution in Europe and brought her ancestor, Nicholas Beery, to Philadelphia in 1727.

Ginny was married first to Stephen Blickenstaff. They had four children: Claire, Evan, Sarah (died 1953), and Eric. They lived in Falls Church,VA; New York City; Putney, VT; and Pittsburgh, PA; as Steve pursued a career in international education first at the U.S. State Department and later at the Experiment in International Living and the Carnegie Tech Indian Steel Training Program. In 1962, the family moved to India (the place of Steve’s birth and childhood) to continue his education work. They spent nearly five years there living in Ranchi, Bihar and Lucknow, U.P. while the children attended Woodstock boarding school in the Himalayas. In 1968 Ginny and Steve moved to Santa Barbara where Ginny became Executive Secretary of the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara (USSB). Their marriage ended in divorce.

In 1976 Ginny married Rev. John “Lex” Crane, minister of USSB, and became step-mother to Jack, David (died 2004) and Doug Crane. During their 39 years together, Ginny and Lex lived primarily in Santa Barbara, but also in Santa Monica, San Diego and Santa Paula (CA), Golden (CO), Boston (MA), Yakima and Tacoma (WA), and Chandler (AZ) following Lex’s various church ministries. In each location, Ginny was employed in UU-related administrative positions. In 2002 she and Lex moved to the Valle Verde retirement community.

Wherever Ginny lived, she was an avid volunteer and organizer in many liberal social causes. She cared particularly about ending war, promoting peace and justice, and the rights of minorities, women and children. Among her many activities, she provided housing for Hungarian refugees, and did organizational work for UNICEF. She worked with the League of Women Voters. In every election, she provided well-researched and appreciated voting recommendations for her family and friends. She also served the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, USSB Alliance, and the UU Seasoned Seekers. She and Lex were active in the UU Retired Ministers and Partners Association. They shared their memorable Odyssey with UURMaPA Colleagues in April, 2008 at Vallombrosa Retreat Center in Menlo Park, CA.

Ginny’s adventurous spirit led to a passion for travel. She traveled throughout India as well as Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Cuba. Ginny loved this life, making friends with people throughout the world, learning about their lives, history and customs and adapting easily to life in so many different communities and cultures. Her open-mindedness, organizing skills, good humor, quick wit, gentleness, and warmth endeared her to all who knew her.

Ginny is survived by her children Claire Beery (William Haigwood), Evan Blickenstaff, and Eric Blickenstaff (Cynthia Kasabian); step-sons Jack Crane, Douglas Crane (Lisa Babashoff), and step-daughters-in-law Betsy Wright and Brenda Crane. She is survived by grandchildren Willow Summer (Lew Summer), Mira Rosenthal (Greg Domber) and Zoë Leverant; John and Alex Blickenstaff; Molly Crane Tooley and Allie Crane Corrigan; Lailani Crane; Alex and Kirra Crane and great-grandchildren Tillie and Lulu Domber as well as a beloved niece and nephews.

In early August, 2015, Ginny lost Lex, the love of her life.

The family is grateful for the loving care of the staff at Valle Verde, especially The Grove, and to Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care for their tender support.

Contributions in Ginny’s memory may be made to the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara,the UU Retired Minsters and Partners Assn, or the Valle Verde Fund, Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara (P.O. Box 3620, Santa Barbara CA 93130).

A memorial service was planned for March 20, at 3 pm, at the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara.

Notes of remembrance may be sent to Ginny’s daughter, Claire Beery, 4440 Hillview Way, Rohnert Park, CA 94928.

Robert Louis Campbell, 85, husband of the Rev. Mary Louise DeWolf, died December 19, 2015 at home in Crystal River, FL, with hospice care. He was born in Port Jervis, NY, the only child of Louis and Elizabeth Strauser Campbell.

He graduated from high school in Poughkeepsie, NY where he ran track and played football. After attending Brown University in Providence, RI for one year, he transferred to Boston University. At BU he was House Manager of the Alpha Chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha, ran track, was a sprinter, and graduated with a BA in Latin American Regional Studies.

He then enlisted in the Marine Corps Officers Candidate School and graduated as a second lieutenant. He was stationed four years as the first platoon leader in an infantry company at Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, HI. He served as the base provost marshal (the equivalent of a county sheriff), defense counsel and trial counsel for special court martial cases, and was responsible for monitoring civilian activities on the base. He was a reconnaissance officer for the First Marine Brigade. As an extra activity, he put together eight-man football contests.

Upon returning home, Bob was hired by Kemper Insurance and became the district manager of the Boston area and the owner of Mutual General Insurance Agency, a brokerage outlet for New England. Bob then joined the E. A. Stevens Insurance Agency as a salesperson specializing in retail and wholesale lumber dealers insurance. During these years he continued serving in the Marine Corps Reserve and retired from the Marines as a major.

Bob moved to Citrus County, Florida in 1991 and continued working for a short while with Baxley Insurance Company. He and his late wife, Nancy Eaton Vent, were charter members of Nature Coast Unitarian Universalists in Lecanto in 1998.
He met Mary Louise in 2000 through the Unitarian Church. She was studying for the UU ministry then and shared a book on grieving with Bob when his wife, Nancy, died.

Bob enjoyed playing golf at Seven Rivers Golf and Country Club in Crystal River, and volunteering with the Citrus County Democratic Party. He is survived by his second wife, Mary Louise DeWolf, whom he married in 2000. Bob is also survived by his son Gifford Campbell, his daughter-in-law, Michele, in Salem, MA; grandson Erric Emerson in Philadelphia; granddaughter, Julie Partington, and great grandchildren, Haven and Harmony Partington, in Maybrook, NY.

A memorial service for Bob was held at Nature Coast Unitarian Universalists, 7633 N. Florida Ave., Citrus Springs on , January 6, 2016.

Notes of remembrance may go to Mary Louise DeWolf, 936 Pompano Ave., Crystal River, FL 34429.

The Rev. Rosemarie Carnarius, whose life was defined early on by a fierce devotion to human justice and political freedom, died on 10 October 2015, aged 76.

Rosemarie was born in Leipzig, Germany, on 27 November 1938 to Karl Schnabel and Hilda Gertrud Barth. After escaping to West Germany at age 17, she met and married Roderick Carnarius, with whom she relocated to the U.S. in 1960. As she was happily raising their two children, she became active in the UU congregation of Trenton, New Jersey. She used her spare time to read voraciously in history, philosophy, and world religions and to work with the elderly in a Quaker nursing home. All these, she wrote, “gave me many opportunities to see more compassionately into the heart of humanity.”

In 1984, divorced and with her children grown, Rosemarie turned her eyes to the American Southwest, whose special beauty had long captured her imagination. In the Tucson UU church she served as the DRE for two and a half years. She entered Starr King School for the Ministry, earning her M.Div. in 1991.

Ms. Carnarius was ordained by the Unitarian Church of the Monterey Peninsula (Carmel, Calif.) in 1992. She briefly served UU churches in Wyoming and New Mexico before complications from hip surgery curtailed her ministerial activity. Meanwhile, she had met Aston Bloom, who would become her soulmate and life partner for nearly twenty years. They moved back to Tucson and at her old church, Rosemarie served as Minister in Association (1999-2002) and was able to assume limited professional work.

Rosemarie is remembered by Aston as “constantly thinking of others, even when she was dying.” Aston recalled a moment when Rosemarie, just two weeks before her death, noticed that Aston hadn’t been eating well and sat her down to prepare a week’s worth of sample menus. Aston mused, “She never realized how special she was… I was her caregiver, and she was mine.”

Besides her long-time life partner, Aston Bloom, Rosemarie is survived by her sister Karin, children Michael and Patricia, five grandchildren, multiple nephews, nieces, and other relatives in Germany as wIl as dear friends in both the United States and abroad.

A memorial service was conducted by the Rev. Diane Dowgiert on November 21, 2015, at the UU Church of Tucson. Memorial donations are encouraged to ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid), 1111 14th St. NW, #400, Washington, DC 22225. Condolences may be sent to Ms. Aston Bloom, 88 S. London Station Road, Tucson, AZ 85748.

The Reverend Maurice W. Cobb of West Newfield, Maine — parish minister, religious educator, dedicated community social activist for justice and humanitarian causes, and DIY house builder — died in the Southern Maine Medical Center on 10 September 2015, aged 97.

The mainstay of his ministry was social action. His politics were as liberal as his theology, and ethics for him were situational. His friends attest to his giving and tolerant spirit; he was warm and witty, yet probing and perceptive. During his ministry in Brunswick, if anyone wanted access to help or services that were hard to come by, Maurice was known to be the one with the cosmic connection. He worked with those who back then were not well served by the system. Up until the day of his death he was aware that they are still with us, and they were in his thoughts.

Maurice Wendell Cobb was born on 4 March 1918 in Winchester, New Hampshire, but was raised in Brattleboro, Vermont, by his parents Richard Cobb and Lelia Lampson Cobb. His lifelong love of rural living began as he worked every summer on his grandfather’s farm — making hay, hitching up the horses to go to town, and bringing the cows home in the afternoon. Cold water in a tin cup was always Maurice’s favorite drink.

Mr. Cobb studied at the Crane Theological School of Tufts University and was ordained in 1943 at the White Street Universalist Church in East Boston, Massachusetts, where he had served as student minister the previous year and continued for an additional year. In 1944 he accepted a call to a yoked ministry with three churches in North Carolina’s Clinton Circuit — Hopewell, Clinton, and Red Hill — where he served until 1948. He took on an interim ministry in Derby Line, Vermont, in 1949, meanwhile studying for an M.A. in philosophy at the University of North Carolina, which he completed in 1953. Subsequent calls were to Attica-Belleville, Ohio (1953-57), Dolgeville and Salisbury Center, New York (1957-64), and Brunswick, Maine (1964-76).

The move to Brunswick in 1964 began a 12 year ministry, during which the Rev. Mr. Cobb helped the congregation grow and diversify, reaching out into the community with the social action organizations that meant so much to him: a suicide prevention program, the Bath-Brunswick food coop, and an Amnesty International group. Often at the head of a parade down Maine Street, he protested the wars and racial injustices of the era.

Leaving Brunswick in 1976, he went to New Bedford, Massachusetts, as assistant minister and religious education director (1976-79), and then to Billerica, Mass, as parish minister (1979-83), from which he retired in 1983 as Minister Emeritus. Returning to Maine, Maurice took a course in house design and construction at the Shelter Institute in Bath to prepare himself to build the only house he ever owned with the help of the Log Cabin Kits, in West Newfield. The construction was an adventure he never tired of retelling, and he dearly loved his home. There he remained for the rest of his life, interrupting his retirement just once for a part-time ministry to the nearby Sanford Unitarian Universalist Church (1998-2000).

Throughout his retirement he continued his life work, lending support to Peace Action Maine, Amnesty International, Native American advocacy, and AARP. Gardening, letter writing, and the Red Sox were the relaxing pursuits of a long happy retirement. “He was deeply at peace with himself,” affirms one of his nieces.

Notes of condolence may be sent to Martha Gottlieb: 93 Head Tide Road, Whitefield, Maine 04353, brother Lawrence Cobb, or niece Llynda Bigalow, both of the latter at 77 Cedar Ridge Drive, Shelburne, Vermont 05482.

A memorial service was held in Sanford, Maine at the Sanford Unitarian Universalist Church on 24 October 2015. Memorial donations are encouraged to the charity of the donor’s choosing.

The Reverend Dr. John Alexie “Lex” Crane — long-time parish minister, social activist, and mentor to aspiring colleagues — whose dry and acerbic wit complemented a persona at once gentle and curmudgeonly, died on August 7, 2015, at the age of 93.

Lex was a voracious reader, a talented writer, and an impressive polymath. His children fondly recall his intelligence; his son, Jack, writes: “He developed a love of study, stayed abreast of thinking in literature, the arts, liberal theology, philosophy, and social sciences. This passion coupled with his oratorical skills, made Lex unusually able to communicate the big ideas to folk who didn’t have the leisure or luxury of regular study.” These wide-ranging interests led Lex and his wife Ginny to travel throughout the world, venturing to Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Especially memorable was a semester in China with Santa Barbara City College in 1989, where they witnessed the student protests at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

The Rev. Mr. Crane became a minor celebrity in 1962 when the fear-mongering agenda of the John Birch Society (then recently founded) came to his attention, and he responded with a prophetic sermon against the organization’s ideology and activities. Shortly thereafter Santa Barbara’s local newspaper ran a special edition with a front page anti-Birch editorial and a reprint of Mr. Crane’s sermon text on the inside. The Associated Press picked up the story, and a CBS-TV crew with newsman Harry Reasoner showed up to film Lex redelivering his sermon from the Santa Barbara pulpit. Although pro-Birch vandals spray-painted a hammer and sickle on the church’s exterior and threw rotten vegetables at the parsonage, the episode eventually contributed to crippling the Birchers’ influence across the country. For his role, John Alexie Crane was awarded an honorary doctorate by Starr King School for the Ministry. His sermon text closed with a reflection of notable empathy:

“We ought to try not to hate them [local Birch activists], be disgusted with them, shout and snarl at them, for this will only drive them deeper into their relation with the group, for there they will find acceptance and confirmation. We ought to be as patient as we can, realizing that the people are doing what they feel they must do. They are as much to be pitied as censured. They are terribly frightened. Everywhere they look they see Communists. They don’t know whom to trust, to depend on. Don’t condemn them. Don’t threaten them. Let them talk about their views. Question them closely. Sometimes just hearing their own words spoken in the presence of someone who is calm and rational will help them to feel their absurdity. Be patient. Be firm. This too will pass, if we are alert and watchful.”

John Alexie Crane was born in Baltimore on January 14, 1922 to John A. and Minnie E. Crane. He was graduated from the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute in 1939 and served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945 in both the South Pacific and Europe, suffering severe wounds during the Battle of the Bulge. He returned to earn a B.A. in English in 1949, an M.A. in creative writing in 1950 from Johns Hopkins University, an M.Div. from Starr King School for the Ministry in 1951, and—midway through a long pastorate in Santa Barbara—a second M.A. (in social psychology) from the University of California in 1971, leading to his licensure as a California Marriage and Family Counselor.

Mr. Crane began his career in parish ministry in 1951 with a call to the First Unitarian Church in Vancouver, BC, where he was ordained the next year and served until 1955. He moved on to ministry at the (now UU) Community Church of Park Forest, Illinois (1955-58), the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara, California (1958-77), and the Jefferson Unitarian Church of Golden, Colorado (1977-81). After two years as the UUA’s Director of Ministerial Education (1981-83), the Rev. Mr. Crane returned to the parish with a call to UU Church of Yakima, Washington, serving there until his retirement in 1987, upon which he was named Minister Emeritus. Unwilling to relax his commitment to UU parish service, he spent the next fifteen years of his “retirement” serving interim ministries in Southern California. After a final retirement in 2002, he was voted Minister Emeritus to the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara.

In addition to social service and activism outside congregational walls in communities where he served, the Rev. Mr. Crane lent his support to the wider UU movement. He served three terms on the Executive Board of the UUMA (1963-65, 1973-75, and 1991-92), editing the UUMA newsletter during his first term. His passion for ministerial education and personal mentoring was deepened by this experience. He went on to serve as a Trustee of Starr King School for the Ministry (1968-74) and on the faculty and staff of UU leadership schools (1984-87, 1993-95). In 2008 he received the annual Creative Sageing Award of the UU Retired Ministers and Partners Association.

In addition to a booklet “Developing an Extended Family Program” (1972) and a number of articles and scholarly papers, Lex Crane published several books, including Keeping in Touch: Self, Sex and Society (1975), Love, Sex and the Human Condition: Getting a Life (2006), A New Perspective on the Philosophy of UU Religion (2008), and To the Best of My Recollection…a memoir (2012).

Lex’s wife, Virginia (“Ginny”), survived him by only a few months. Other survivors include sons John (“Jack”) Crane III and Douglas L. Crane, step-daughter Claire Beery, step-sons Evan and Eric Blickenstaff, grandchildren Molly and Allie, Alex and Kirra, Willow, Mira and Zoë, John and Alex, and two great-grandchildren. Lex was preceded in death by a son, David L. Crane.

A memorial service was held on November 22, 2015, at the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara. Contributions in Lex’s memory are encouraged to Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara, 1535 Santa Barbara St., Santa Barbara, California 93101 (http://www.ussb.org). Letters of condolence may be sent to Jack Crane, 239 1/2 Olive Ave., Long Beach, CA 9O8O2 or jabungusintl@gmail.com.