Category: Obituary: G

The Reverend Rudi Gelsey—Nazi refugee, thoughtful political scholar, parish minister, peacemaker, and lifelong crusader for liberty of conscience, religious diversity, and interfaith activity—died on 30 May 2018 at the age of 92.

In 56 years as a UU minister, he pursued civil rights, peace activism, environmental care, and interfaith work, with deep passion for intellectual, philosophical, and theological clarity. His belief in pluralism and openness to variety of religious expressions led him from Judaism to Catholicism and ultimately to UU ministry. Even after losing his sight in 2003, he continued to be a faithful and familiar presence at ministerial gatherings and General Assemblies.

Rudolph Czuczka was born on 24 February 1926 in Vienna, Austria, to Alfred and Erika von Gelse Czuczka. His affluent Jewish family fled Nazism in 1938 when he was 12 years old. He finished high school in Switzerland, earned a degree in political science from the University of Geneva, and became an activist in European federalist movements after World War II.

In 1949, Rudi emigrated to Canada, adopting a variant of his mother’s family name as being easier for English speakers. He resettled in the U.S. in 1959 and earned his B.D. from Meadville Lombard Theological School in 1962.

Mr. Gelsey was ordained on 1 January 1962 at the First Unitarian Church in South Bend, IN, where he served until 1964. He went on to serve a mix of called and interim ministries at Philadelphia’s Universalist Church of the Restoration (1964–69), the UU Fellowship of Northern Westchester (Mount Kisco, NY, 1969–73), First UU Church of Detroit, MI (1973–1983), UU Church of Buffalo, NY (1983–84), First UU Church of Niagara, NY (1984–1990), and the UU Fellowship of the New River Valley (Blacksburg, VA, 1996–99).

At the time of his death, Rudi was survived by his children Florence Pinfield, Andy Gelsey, and Alex Gelsey, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Virginia “Ginny’ Gross, the wife of Reverend Fritz Hudson, died May 26, 2018, at her home in Lincoln, NE. She was 68.

Ginny championed schooling, sports, and cultural exchange for all children. She was a passionate cook, gardener, art lover, and Chicago Cubs fan. She volunteered as an active church member, a leader at Lincoln’s Fresh Start Home for Women, and a language tutor for Iraqi refugees.

She was born on June 15, 1949, to Dale and Ruby Lindquist and raised on their farm east of Cambridge, Illinois. After high school, Ginny attend Augustana College and earned her journalism degree at Northern Illinois University, where she met and married Peter Gross, a fellow student.

The couple later moved to Iowa City, Iowa, to pursue graduate studies. Ginny earned a master’s degree in comparative education from the University of Iowa while directing their foreign student admissions. Her work took her to Romania, Germany, Korea, and Malaysia.

Ginny and Peter’s son, Eric, was born in 1978. Their marriage ended in 1981. In 1987, Ginny married Fritz, minister of Iowa City’s Unitarian Universalist Church, and gave birth to their daughter, Sally, the following year.

In 1991, ministry took the family to Phoenix, Arizona, where Ginny became volunteer coordinator at John C. Lincoln Hospital. She delighted in southwestern history, culture, and terrain.

In 1998, the family returned to the Midwest, as Fritz was called to serve the Unitarian Church of Lincoln. Ginny worked as director of graduate admissions at the University of Nebraska, then women’s services director of the YWCA, and training coordinator of Lincoln Literacy. She retired in 2013.

Ginny is survived by Fritz, Sally, Eric and his wife Amanda, and two grandchildren. Condolences may be sent to Fritz Hudson, 7901 Lake Street, Lincoln, NE 68506

Memorial donations are invited to Planned Parenthood of the Heartland (5631 S. 48th St. Suite 100, Lincoln, NE 68516).

The Reverend Kay Greenleaf—a late-career parish minister who became a fierce and widely celebrated advocate for marriage equality—died on 19 January 2018, aged 78, after a long illness.

Social justice was one of Kay’s lifelong passions. In 2004 Kay enlisted local clergy to help marry many same-sex couples, drawing widespread public attention. She and the Rev’d Dawn Sangrey were arrested for this work but the charges were later dismissed.

Katherine Anne Greenleaf was born on 23 December 1939 in Orlando, Florida, to Helen and Richard Greenleaf. At Ball State Teachers College (Muncie, IN) Kay earned a B.S. in education in 1962. Initially she taught high school drama and worked in criminology and social service but then moved to a small farm in Wooster, OH, where she renovated and lived in an 1820s log house and raised geese, chickens, and goats. During this time she began attending the UU Fellowship of Wayne County.

Kay moved to Columbus, OH, in 1987 to join her newfound life partner, Pat Sullivan. The couple became actively involved in the city’s First UU Church. With an ever-stronger call to ministry, she enrolled at the nearby Methodist Theological School and completed work for her M.Div. in 1996, meanwhile supplying many local UU pulpits.

Ms. Greenleaf was ordained on 20 April 1997 by the First UU Church of Columbus. After brief contract ministries, she was called to the UU Fellowship of Poughkeepsie, NY, where she served from 1998 until her retirement in 2009 and was later elected Minister Emerita.

At her death, Kay Greenleaf was survived by her wife of 31 years, Pat Sullivan, three cousins, and a sister-in-law. Of her beloved spouse, Pat wrote, “Kay took people at face value and always saw the good in them.”

The Reverend Jerry Goddard—second-career parish minister, fierce advocate for abortion rights, child protection, human dignity, religious freedom, and civil rights, and a scholar of Western religions—died on 15 October 2017, aged 87.

Well before his career transition to professional ministry, Jerry was already active in drug counseling, pro-choice advocacy, and litigation for religious freedom. Later he sat on national committees of both Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Homer A. Goddard III was born on 29 October 1929 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Jeannette and Homer A. Goddard Jr., and grew up in a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA. He was graduated in 1952 from Denison University (Granville, OH) with a B.A. in economics. After U.S. Army service, he worked for 17 years as a sales engineer for ALCOA. With active membership in the Main Line Unitarian Church (Devon, PA), he heard a call to ministry and earned an M.Div. in 1975 from Starr King School.

Mr. Goddard was ordained on 9 January 1976 by the First Parish of Sudbury, MA, where he served as minister until 1985, meanwhile discovering an ancestral connection to the Rev’d Israel Loring, who had served the same congregation in a near record length pastorate (1705–72). Jerry was subsequently settled at the UU Society of Greater Springfield, MA (1985–90) and then at the UU Fellowship of Poughkeepsie, NY (1990– 96), where he was honored as Minister Emeritus. Afterward, he served interim ministries in New Zealand, England, Australia, South Africa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

At time of death, survivors included his spouse of 64 years Margaret Goddard, children Linda Goddard, Kirk Goddard, and Jan Goddard-Taylor, and five grandchildren.

The Rev. Richard Rodda Gay died in Bend, OR on Aug. 13, 2017, at the age of 97.

Richard Gay began his career as a Methodist minister and educator. In Anchorage, Alaska, he served several local churches, including the Anchorage Unitarian Fellowship. He received affiliate status with the UUA and was a member of the UUMA.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 67 years, Averill. He is survived by his brother, Thomas Ward Gay Jr.; his daughters, Judy Blake (Greg Joannides), Patti Thorne (Ron), Sherry Ellis (Glenn) and Jerilee Drynan (Steve); son, Rick; 15 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; nieces and grand-nieces; and nephews and grand-nephews. He is also survived by his loving companion, Doris Lagging.

At Richard’s request, there will be no service.

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

Dr. Peter James George, CM, O.Ont, age 75, the spouse of the Reverend Allison Barrett, died April 27, 2017, at home in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. He had lived fully in spite of his cancer, making memories for his family.

Peter was born September 12, 1941 into a family which once kept the lighthouse on Toronto Islands. He attended a three-room school there before earning his B.A, M.A. and PhD in Economics at the University of Toronto. His work as an economist helped prove the economic value of an indigenous way of life.

He joined the faculty of McMaster University in 1965 and rose to become the President and Vice-Chancellor, where he served three five-year terms. He was named President Emeritus when he retired in 2010. The university had grown and developed many new and innovative programs during his tenure, and he had raised almost a billion dollars for its support. Peter will be remembered in the residence and student centre built in his honour; “The Peter George Centre for Living and Learning.”

Peter was a member of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honours. He was also honoured with the Order of Ontario.

Peter was widowed at age 55, but found new love with Allison. When they announced his proposal in church, he baked enough butter tarts for the entire congregation, to prove his commitment to being a great minister’s spouse. He remained a strong supporter and an inspiration to the end of his life.

Peter also welcomed with great joy their daughters, Lily Rose and Gemma who were adopted in China, and he participated enthusiastically in their care. He did everything for “his girls” including taking them around the world and introducing them to fly fishing and cottage life.

His memorial service at McMaster University on June 11, 2017 was a celebration of his life in words and music. The Governor General of Canada, the Honorable David Johnston, who had also been a university president and had observed Peter’s work, spoke as a friend and colleague.

Letters of condolence may be sent to the Reverend Allison Barrett at 20 Halson Street, Ancaster, Ontario L9G 2S3.

The Reverend Charles Grady—parish minister, interfaith activist, historian, and scholar—died at his home in Bloomington, Minnesota, on 19 January 2017 at the age of 91.

The Rev’d Mr. Grady was a biographer of the Transcendentalist Unitarian Minister Frederic Henry Hedge. He served on many UU bodies, including the Ministerial Fellowship Committee, the Council on Church and Staff Finances, and the James Luther Adams Foundation.

Charles Wesley Grady was born in Lima, Ohio, on 9 December 1925 to Wealthy Dedrick and Charles C. Grady. He began working in commercial radio broadcasting at the age of 16, a career which he would pursue for two decades. As a founder and lay leader in the Unitarian fellowship of Lima, he finally answered a call “to the service of values of lasting worth,” earning an M.Div. from Meadville Lombard Theological School in 1966.

Mr. Grady was ordained on 6 November 1966 by White Bear UU Church in Mahtomedi MN, where he would serve until 1969. He went on to a long ministry at the First Parish UU of Arlington MA (1969-90), and six years of half-time service to the UU Fellowship of Hendersonville NC (1990-96).

In the last of his annual holiday letters (December 2016), Charles offered a moving testimony to the realities of older age: “I have now passed the 91-year mark and am approaching that old darkening cloister. I now long to walk there, freed of today’s handicaps… Everything I see proclaims that not only is all life holy, but also that all being is holy. From each quark and boson, to the countless distant galaxies, something shouts “I, too, am here.” [Thanks to Rev’d Karen Lewis Foley for passing along these words.]

Charles Grady is survived by children Stephanie Grady and Michael Grady, sister Marjorie Walker, five grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

The Rev. Polly Laughland Guild, 85, died in hospice care November 7, 2009. She served Follen Community Church (Lexington, MA) from 1976-2009. She, Barbara Marshman and Louise Curtis — all ordained to Follen’s ministry — worked together for decades to rebuild the congregation offering strengths in worship, pastoral care, religious education, and music. Their collaborative work styles and professional skills built a strong and thriving congregation in an era when there were very few women in ministry. Polly’s ministry was both personal and institutional. Her husband Ted Guild died in 2001. She is survived by her three children: Drew Laughland, Linda Laughland and Lorna Laughland Winthrop and their spouses.

Gudrun Weber Gross, 87, wife of the Rev. Richard Gross, died April 17, 2009. Born in Berlin, she survived the bombing of her home and became a refugee fleeing the Russians. After working in the UK, as a secretary, assisting with interpretation and foreign correspondence, she married her American pen pal and moved to the US. She worked in public daycare in Asheville, NC and as a library assistant at UNC-CH, and in accounts receivable at the Big M of Middletown. PA. She ran Sunday childcare programs and organized countless church events. She is survived by her husband of 57 years and their daughter, Monika and their son-in-law, their son, Wolfgang, three grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Susan Leslie Grigg, PhD, 59, wife of the Rev. Justin G.G. Kahn, Sr., died 5 May 2007 at the Mayo Clinic of complications from lymphoma. Born in Chicago, she was the only daughter of the late Wallace and Loretta (Mittman) Grigg. She graduated from Oberlin College and earned an MA and PhD in American History from the University of Wisconsin. She later completed her MLIS at Simmons College.

She began her career as an archivist at Yale University. She was then appointed Assistant Professor and Curator of the Immigration History Collection at the University of Minnesota; next she became head of the Sophia Smith Collection and served as College Archivist at Smith College.  Since 1996 she had been head of the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections at the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a joint appointment as Professor of Library Science and Northern Studies; she had also served as Acting Director of Libraries and Interim Dean of Libraries.

She was elected a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists, in recognition of distinguished service to the profession, and was a longtime Certified Archivist, having served on the committee that developed standards for certification. She also served many years on the SAA Editorial Board, chairing it for four years. She was a board member of the Alaska Historical Society, Vice President of the Alaska Library Association, and member of the gubernatorially-appointed Alaska State Historical Records Advisory Board.  She developed and led the statewide program to present Alaska historical images online (VILDA).

Her dissertation on the dependent poor of Newburyport, MA before 1860 was published, and she contributed the section on managing archival collections to the standard handbook for college library administration. She published numerous journal articles and reviews in history and library administration and made frequent presentations at professional and scholarly conferences. She was an editor and contributor to the Oxford American National Biography and was a reviewer several times on national panels for National Endowment for the Humanities grants.

Dr. Grigg is survived by her husband; three stepchildren: J. Giles G. Kahn, Jr. of Wheaton IL; Tempe R.K. Vierck and husband, Benjamin, of Ballwin MO; and Peter R.T. Kahn of Olivette, MO. She was also survived by three stepgrandchildren, Rebecca Reeve Vierck, Douglas Alexander Vierck, and Magnus Oliver Vierck, all of Ballwin; and three cousins in Ohio.