Category: Obituary: G

The Rev. John Patrick Gaffney died on May 16, 2022, at the age of 86.

John is survived by his wife, Beverly Gaffney nee Mitchell; two daughters, Juliette Dame nee Gaffney of Ohio and Rachel Bragg of Longwood, Florida; along with five grandchildren, Adam, Ryan, Patrick, Madeline, and Lauren, who enjoyed playing at the beach and just hanging out with their Pop. He is preceded in death by his parents, Mary Ruth and Joseph Gaffney, by his brother, Joseph Gaffney, and by his sister, Margaret Kelly nee Gaffney.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Sierra Club, your local public broadcasting station, the National Association for Mental Illness (NAMI) or John would encourage everyone to travel and enjoy the great outdoors. UURMaPA will contribute $50 to the UUMA Endowment Fund in honor of our colleague’s ministry. 

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

The Rev. Roger “Rog” E. Greeley died on October 28, 2021, at the age of 98.

Rog is survived by his three children: Bethany Greeley, Timothy (Janet) Greeley, and Will (Mary) Greeley; his six grandchildren: Elliot (Ali) Kaiman, Emily (Brandon) Haugh, Theodore (Erika) Greeley, Patrick (Amy) Greeley, Nathan (Emily) Greeley, and Matthew (Alyssa) Greeley; as well as his seven great-grandchildren: Malcolm and Otto Kaiman, Lucy and Grady Haugh, Virginia and Finton Greeley, and Adalind Greeley. He was preceded in death by his wife of seventy years, Katherine Purcell.

A private family ceremony is being planned.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Marine Corps Veterans Association https://marinevets.org/. UURMaPA will contribute $50 to the  UUMA Endowment Fund in honor of our colleague’s ministry.

Notes of condolences may be expressed online https://www.fassbenderswansonhansen.com/obituaries/Roger-Elting-Greeley?obId=22822465#/obituaryInfo.

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

The Rev. Dr. William J. Gnagey, spouse of Reverend Dr. Ruth Jacquot Gnagey, died peacefully on 14 November 2020 at his home in Normal, Illinois, with loved ones nearby.

He was born on 16 August 1927 in Milledgeville, Illinois, the son of Leelo and Virginia Gnagey. He was educated at Manchester College, in Indiana, and Wayne State University, in Detroit, Michigan where he received his BS, M.Ed., and Ph. D in Psychology. He taught in the public schools of Detroit for four years. At the same time, he was ordained by the Church of the Brethren and was Associate Pastor of the Church of the Brethren of Detroit. In 1953, Bill began a career as a professor of Psychology at Manchester College, then at Butler State University and Illinois State University where he was a professor for 38 years. At Illinois State he also served as Director of Educational Research Services and Assistant Dean of the Graduate School. He received many honors at ISU: Distinguished Teacher, 1969, Outstanding University Teacher of the Year, 1985, among others. He loved being an educator. He retired as Emeritus Professor in 1999. 

He was an active member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington Normal from 1961, serving as President of the Board for two years and in many other capacities. His sense of humor was refreshing, and he kept it to the end of his life.

Bill married Marilyn Macey in 1948, but she died in 1973. He married Rev. Dr. Ruth Jacquot on 19 May 2003, and they spent many years as co-ministers during the winter months at Unitarian Universalist churches in Texas.

Beside Ruth, he is survived by three of his children: Leslie Roberts, of Bloomington, Timothy Gnagey (Vickie) of Leroy, IL and Jeffery Gnagey (Janice) of Northfield, MI; two step-children: Bruce Praul (Kelly) of Sunbury, Ohio and Kyle McCullough of Apopka, Florida; two brothers: Larry Gnagey (Regina) of Jonesboro, Arkansas and Thomas Gnagey of Fayettville, Arkansas; by seven grandchildren, five step-grandchildren, eleven great grandchildren and four great great grandchildren. 

The family expresses deep appreciation to the staff of the Carle Hospice program for their faithful and loving care of our dear Bill during his illness. Bill’s body was donated to science with support from the Carmody-Flynn Funeral home. A virtual memorial service will be scheduled by Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington Normal.

Johanna Godbey

Johanna Margaretha “Greta” Godbey, widow of the Reverend Dr. John Godbey, died June 30, 2020. She was born Feb 4, 1932, on the island of Java, Indonesia, to Bernard and Elisabeth Gratama. When the Japanese invaded the country in 1942, the family was separated for three years in Japanese concentration camps. At the end of the war, they were reunited and returned to The Netherlands.

Johanna, known as Greta, planned to become an air hostess for KLM. To improve her French language skills, she worked at a laundry near a United States airbase outside of Casablanca, Morocco. It was there that she met John Godbey, and after a whirlwind courtship, they were married on May 26, 1954, in Casablanca. In 1955 they moved to the United States, where Greta took up life as the wife of a graduate student. While John finished his doctorate at the University of Chicago Divinity School, she raised three sons and a daughter. She was a loving and involved mother who was active in her children’s lives, sewing unique Halloween costumes, and serving as a Cub Scout Den Mother and a Camp Fire Girls group leader.

Greta earned a B.S. and completed all course-work for an M.A. in Mathematics from Chicago State University. She taught math in the Chicago public high schools for several years and then became Assistant to the Graduate Dean of Humanities at the University of Chicago. She excelled in guiding students through the required paperwork. She also became a self-taught medievalist focused on Viking sagas and the writings of medieval women.

Greta and John were active members of the First Unitarian Church in Hyde Park for over forty years. Greta regularly opened their home to members of the faculty, staff, and graduate students of Meadville Lombard Theological School, where John served. As a couple, they celebrated forty-five years of marriage and never lacked for stimulating and invigorating conversations. She spoke her mind; he listened, valued, and challenged her opinions.

They enjoyed camping, tennis, and travel throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Greta was an avid naturalist, a bird-watcher, and a friend to all dogs. Music was an important part of her life. She enjoyed concerts and operas, chamber music and recitals, vocal and orchestral music of all kinds. No matter where she was, Greta sought a choir to join. Over the years she sang with several church choirs, university-affiliated choirs, and Renaissance choirs.

Following John’s death from Parkinson’s in 1999, Greta moved to Ardmore, PA to be near her daughter Margaret. She enjoyed the proximity to musical events in Philadelphia and the fellowship of the Main Line Unitarian Church in Devon, PA, where she served in a variety of capacities including choir-member and book store manager. She again followed Margaret to Hartsville, SC in 2015, making new friends in her remaining years.

Greta is survived by her sister, Mrs. Lucie Alberti of Colombier, Switzerland; son Charles (Helenna) of Chicago, IL; son Nicholas (Alice) of Grapevine, TX; daughter Margaret (David Hellen) of Hartsville, SC; five grandchildren:and seven great-grandchildren. Greta’s ashes will be interred with John’s at the First Unitarian Church in Chicago, IL.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to organizations Greta supported: Best Friends Animal Society, Kanab, Utah, https://bestfriends.org/; Darlington County Humane Society, Darlington, SC, https://darlingtonhumane.org/; or The Nature Conservancy, https://www.nature.org/en-us/.

Richard Geer

Richard Lansing Geer, rocket scientist and spouse of the Reverend Nan Geer, died April 17, 2019. He was born September 29, 1933 in Portland, Oregon to Willard and Mary Geer. After attending both Willamette University and the University of Southern California and graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Richard was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force. He was a member of two Engineering honorary societies, and earned master’s degrees both in Aeronautical Engineering and Systems Engineering.

During his Air Force career, he worked on a classified Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, which greatly improved reconnaissance/surveillance of the Soviet Union and was invaluable during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was pleased when this project was finally declassified, and he could tell his family about that work. The story of this program is now documented in a video, “The Satellite Men”.

Richard was an expert in moon dust research before the first Moon landing. He designed a gondola, now on display in the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force base, to research high altitude/velocity aircraft escape. For this research he was himself often a test subject for seat ejection evaluations. He worked on some of the first Air Force man-in-space programs, including military spacecraft. He also served on an inspector general team and later as part of the USAF Foreign Technology Division. He retired from the Air Force as a Lt. Colonel in 1981 and came to work for Boeing, in its space programs.

He married Alice Elizabeth Jackson in 1955, and they had two daughters, Marilyn and Elizabeth. That marriage eventually ended in divorce. In 1992 he met and married Nan, who was serving three congregations part time. They retired to Blaine. Washington, where she continued to serve Free Church Unitarian, and Richard became a devoted member.

Richard was a brilliant man of absolute integrity, great generosity and a wicked sense of humor, dearly loved by many. He is survived by his wife, Nan Geer, his brother and sister-in-law Charles and Lynne Geer, his daughter Marilyn Geer Vancil, her husband Travis Vancil, his grandchildren Andi and Megan, and Nan’s children Rob B., Tim, Moira, Heather, and Nan’s grandchildren Pierre, Inès, Zach, Eli and Henry.

Messages of condolence can be sent to Nan Geer, 4704 Sagebrush Lane, Blaine WA 98230.

The Reverend Dr. Max Gaebler—beloved pastor, community activist, and international advocate for liberal religion, whose snappy bow ties and cherubic smile made him instantly charming and recognizable—died on 7 September 2018, aged 97. His long-time friend and colleague, Rabbi Manfred Swarzensky, called Max “the most brilliant clergyman in Madison (WI).”

Max David Gaebler was born on 26 May 1921 in Watertown, Wisconsin, to Hans and Hele Gaebler, and grew up among German-American free thinkers. He earned an A.B. from Harvard College in 1941 and then an S.T.B. from Harvard Divinity School in 1944. Later he would receive two doctorates honoris causa—an S.T.D. from Starr King in 1968 and a D.D. from Meadville/Lombard in 1975.

Mr. Gaebler was ordained on 5 March 1944 by the First Parish in Cambridge, MA, and then served for a year as the American Unitarian Association’s Minister to Students in the Greater Boston Area. During that year, Carolyn Farr, then a graduate student at Harvard University, visited the First Parish in Cambridge and heard him preach. They were married in February, 1945.

After settlements at the First Parish Church United in Westford, MA (1945–48) and then the Unitarian Church of Davenport, IA (1948–52), the Rev’d Mr. Gaebler was called to the First Unitarian Society of Madison, WI, and 35 years later was named Minister Emeritus there on retirement in 1987.

His service to our national liberal religious movement was extensive and varied. Early on, Max served as president of the Unitarian Ministers’ Association and, in the late 1950s, as secretary for one of the joint interim committees leading to Unitarian and Universalist consolidation in 1961.

To the Rev’d Michael Schuler, his long-time successor in the Madison pulpit, Max was the ideal emeritus colleague, almost a co-minister, and “quite the gentleman…unfailingly courteous in speech and in his correspondence… He and I bonded very early over the Chicago White Sox.” Indeed, Max wrote an ode to Comiskey Park when it was torn down in 1991 for a new stadium.

At his death, Max was survived by five children (David, Mary, John, Ralph, Helen), a sister-in- law, three nephews, and his domestic partner Nancy Townsend and her family. His wife and a younger brother had died earlier.