The Rev. Dr. John S. Gilbert

John Gilbert

The Reverend Dr. John Gilbert, parish minister, gardener, storyteller, and lover of poetry, died on 28 June 2016 at the age of 84.

Friends and colleagues remember John for his love of words, books, cooking, and for growing vegetables (garlic, tomatoes, potatoes) and flowers (hollyhocks, sunflowers amaryllis). He was a war objector, conscientious (Korea) and otherwise. Other enthusiasms included calligraphy, drawing, origami, string figures, computer correspondences, drawing, word puzzles, trekking, pole-walking, biking, and baking bread.

John Stout Gilbert was born on 10 December 1931 to John Wendell Gilbert and Lula Mae Gilbert on a small family farm in Russiaville, Indiana. From Quaker beginnings, John found the Unitarian church in the late 1950s when he and spouse Nancy sought religious community for their young family. He became an active lay leader, earned a B.S. at UWisc-Milwaukee (WI), worked as a teacher and employment counselor, and eventually answered a call to ministry, completing work for a D.Min. from Meadville Lombard Theological School in 1977.

Mr. Gilbert was ordained in 1976 by the Unitarian Church West of Brookfield (WI) and was settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba, for ten years. A series of shorter ministries took him to Toronto (Ontario), Charlotte (NC), and the First UU Church of Rochester (MN), where he was elected Minister Emeritus upon his departure in 1992. Afterward he continued parish service with the UU Church of Meadville (PA) from 1992 to 1996.

John is survived by siblings Jane Hendrickson, Marge Lake Baurley, and Joe   Gilbert, children Victoria, Bart, and Sarah, and four grandchildren.

Memorial donations are encouraged to Friends of the Library, Multnomah   County, 919 SW Taylor Street, Suite 220, Portland, OR 97205, or via the following link:   www.friends-library.org/donate/#!form/Donate.

Notes of condolences may be sent to his daughter, Victoria Gilbert,   2832 SE Salmon St., Portland, OR 97214.

Carolyn Farr Gaebler

Carolyn Gaebler

Carolyn Farr Gaebler, 87, wife of the Rev. Max D. Gaebler, died, Aug. 21, 2009, at her home in Madison, WI. A graduate of Western College for Women in Miami, Ohio, she pursued graduate study in government at Harvard University, where she met and married the Rev. Max D. Gaebler, who was then Unitarian minister to students at the historic First Parish in Cambridge. They served churches in Westford, MA and Davenport, IA, and from 1952-1987 Madison, WI. A committed supporter of social justice issues, she never tired of recounting her experience in the summer of 1943 as a participant in a Quaker sponsored work camp on Chicago’s then heavily segregated south side. All her life she remained an ardent advocate for social justice. She loved good music, and for a number of years was a staunch member of the Unitarian Society choir and also of the Madison Philharmonic Chorus. She is survived by her husband, five children and their families.

The Rev. Elium Gault

The Rev. Elium Gault, 85, died suddenly Nov. 16, 2007, at his home in Hazlet, NJ. A committed Unitarian Humanist, he served the Woodstock, VT, church, then the Manchester, NH, church. He was active in the Civil Rights movement, and the Anti-Vietnam War movement. Ardently pro-choice, he was an active, vocal supporter of the separation of church and state. He leaves two sons, Jim and Bert, and daughter Patti. He was very close to his daughters-in-law and grandchildren. A Memorial Service was held in the Spring at Monmouth Country Unitarian Church in Lincroft, NJ.

The Rev. Joy D. Gasta

The Rev. Joy D. Gasta, 68, died of cancer October 2, 2005, in Nashville, TN. She taught English and humanities at colleges in IN, MI, PA and TN. She was also a part-time news and features reporter with the Philadelphia Inquirer and several other newspapers in Pennsylvania. She served the First Universalist Churches of Norway and West Paris, ME. She was assistant minister at the Church of the Larger Fellowship from 1994 to 1995. Surviving are two daughters, Rachel of New York and Catherine of Washington, D.C.; twin brother Jack Dedman; sisters Dale Wilson and Jean Dedman. Her husband, Carl Gasta, died in 1980.