Category: Obituary: G

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 on June 27, 1947 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.

Claudine Marilyn Renz Grady, 89, wife of the Rev. Charles W. Grady, died March 15, 2013. She lost her vision at an early age. As a child she became an expert knitter, fluent in Braille, and a gifted pianist. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. When she married Charles he was a radio announcer. As a young wife, she reared two children, took care of the house, and participated in civic and musical affairs. It was Claudine’s influence that brought the Gradys to Unitarianism. She loved making friends, and was a dedicated bridge player, aided by Braille-marked cards and a phenomenal memory. For Claudine “life began at 40,” when she learned to work with a guide dog for greater independence. It was a successful venture, and she owned and loved a series of dogs for the rest of her life. In 2010, increasing ill health forced them to move to Minnesota to live with family. Claudine was afflicted by dementia and declining health. The Gradys were together for more than 65 years. Notes of remembrance may be sent to Charles W. Grady, 8714 Second Ave. South, Bloomington, MN 55420.

The Rev. Clifton B. Gordon, 91, died September 22, 2004 from the aftereffects of a stroke. He served churches in Sterling, MA; Wilton Center and Milford, NH; and Modesto, Yuba City and Bakersfield, CA (emeritus). He was a high school teacher and guidance counselor in Milford, NH, and taught Psychology at Sacramento State College. He served in the Army Medical Department and the Transportation Corps during World War II, in New Guinea, Philippines, and Japan. Survivors include his wife, Helen Gordon, and three stepchildren, Bruce Winn, Brent Winn, and Holly Winn Wilner.

Madlyn Hunsberger Gold, 87, widow of the Rev. William J. Gold, died June 28 2005. She was Program Director of Carver Community Center in Schenectady, Director of the Schenectady County Volunteers and Director of the Senior Citizen Center in Richmond. She is survived by sons L. Gold of Montgomery Village, MD and James P. Gold of Saratoga Springs, NY.

The Rev. Jo-an Glasse, 87, left our Earth August 3, 2011. She graduated from Berea College and Yale Divinity School. At Yale she met and married the Rev. James D. Glasse, who predeceased her. They settled in Nashville where Jim taught at Vanderbilt University and Jo-an reared four children. Jim was appointed president of the Lancaster (PA) Theological Seminary. In addition to supporting the local community with teaching, healing and spiritual development groups, Jo-an served the national community as a chairperson for Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship. She was ordained by the Lancaster congregation at age 59. She touched many lives performing christenings, weddings and funerals. With her business partner, Sheila Audet, Jo-an produced an original musical of Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, which traveled all over the country. Her boundless energy and twinkling blue-green eyes belied her age. Her generous, open heart and deep compassion defined her. All who knew her, even briefly, were touched by her loving presence. She is survived by her sister Alice Wulff, her children J. Daniel, Janet, Judith and Julia, their spouses and four grandchildren.

Thomas Vance Gilpatrick, 81, husband of the Rev. Jean W. Gilpatrick, died in Rockville, MD Jan. 18, 2005. After serving in World War II, he received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago. He taught at Pennsylvania State College then at Sweet Briar College for more than 30 years. He was an active member of the First Unitarian Church of Lynchburg, VA, the Jefferson Choral Society, the ACLU, and the Lynchburg Council on Human Relations. He was a founder of Lynchburg’s emergency fuel project. He is survived by Jean, his wife of 55 years, of Potomac, MD; two daughters, Diana Gilpatrick of Potomac and Morgan Gilpatrick, of Bowie, MD; three grandchildren; three brothers and a sister. Services were held March 26 in Bethesda, MD and April 9 in Lynchburg.

The Rev. Dr. Jean Lois Witman Gilpatrick, 84, died June 4, 2009, after a 10-year struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was born in East Orange, NJ. She was educated at Connecticut Valley College for Women and Meadville Lombard. She won a Danforth Graduate Fellowship to do interdenominational work at University of Illinois. There she met and married Thomas Vance Gilpatrick. They worked as a team on programs empowering people to improve their lives. In the 1960’s the Gilpatricks worked tirelessly for civil rights in Lynchburg, VA. Black leaders said their efforts were the first tangible sign of support from area whites for local struggles for justice. Jean taught at Virginia Theological Seminary and College, an historically black college, and at Central Virginia Community College. After her ordination in 1981, she served congregations in CT, IL and VA. She advocated for women’s rights and attended the International Women’s Conference in Nairobi, Kenya in 1985. She was a poet and a painter, who enjoyed singing in the choir. Jean is survived by two daughters, Morgan Gilpatrick and Diana Gilpatrick, three grandchildren, a brother and many nieces and nephews.