Category: Obituary: H

The Rev. Heather Lynn Hanson died on November 24, 2019, at the age of 81.

Heather is survived by her sons Trevor and Shane; her brothers, Kirk Campbell and wife Janet, and Doug Campbell and wife Ellen.

In lieu of flowers, donations are encouraged to the UU Fellowship of Corvallis, 2945 NW Circle Blvd, Corvallis, OR 97330.  UURMaPA will contribute $50 to the UUMA Endowment Fund in honor of our colleague’s ministry.

A memorial service will take place at 11 am on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 at the UU Fellowship of Corvallis, 2945 NW Circle Blvd, Corvallis, OR 97330.

Notes of condolence may be sent to Trevor Hanson at 1232 Crescent Dr, Albany, OR 97321.

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

The Rev. Dr.  Hugo “Holly” J. Hollerorth died on September 22, 2019, at the age of 94.

Holly is survived by his daughter Rachel Buerlen and his grandchildren Holly Buerlen, Jason Buerlen, and Nicole Hunter. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the ACLU; to Planned Parenthood; and to the Head Start-South Middlesex Opportunity Council. 

UURMaPA will contribute $50 to the UUMA Endowment Fund in honor of our colleague’s ministry.

A celebration of Holly’s life will take place at 1 pm on Saturday, November 16, 2019, at the First Parish in Framingham, 24 Vernon St, Framingham, MA 01701.

Notes of condolence may be sent to Rachel Buerlen at 33 Thurston Hill Road, Rutland, MA 01543-1626.

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

The Reverend Dr. Richard Henry—parish minister, scholar of Czech Unitarianism, avid sailor and mountain climber, and vigorous social activist—died in Seattle on 6 August 2018, aged 97.

In retirement, Dick traveled to Prague six times for research in the Čapek archive at the Unitarian church, eventually publishing Norbert Fabián Čapek: A Spiritual Journey (Skinner House Press, 1999), the first book-length biography of that liberal religious martyr. His second book was Eleanor Roosevelt and Adlai Stevenson (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).

Besides scholarship, the Rev’d Mr. Henry was actively engaged throughout his parish career in social service causes, including Planned Parenthood and the Clergy Council on Abortion. He was an active leader in mental health issues and was twice a delegate to international mental health congresses in London and Toronto. In Denver, CO, he was the founding president of the Good Death Fellowship, promoting death with dignity.

Richard Henry was born on 5 February 1921 in Boston to Richard Henry and Dorothy Miller. He earned an A.B. in philosophy at Harvard University in 1943 and a B.D. at Union Theological Seminary (NY) in 1946. Mr. Henry was ordained on 17 February 1946 by the First Unitarian Society of Brooklyn, NY, where he served as assistant minister (1945–49) under the Rev’d John Howland Lathrop. He moved on to senior ministries at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Church (Knoxville, 1949–57), the First Unitarian Society of Denver (1957–77), and the First Unitarian Church in Salt Lake City (1977–86), from which he retired on 1 August 1986 as Emeritus Minister, having meanwhile, in 1979, been awarded a D.D. by Meadville Lombard Theological School.

At his death, Dick Henry was survived by his wife Pat, and his sons Seth and Evan. A Celebration of Life was held on 15 September 2018, at Horizon House, Seattle, WA.

Hollis Wilburn Huston, Jr., the spouse of the Reverend Carol Huston, died peacefully at home in his Manhattan apartment on 2 August 2018. His wife, Carol, daughters Vanessa and Linnea, and Linnea’s fiancé Scott Will, were there with him in the last days. He is also survived by his mother, Annie Laura Cotten, sisters Becca and Laura, and nephew and nieces

He was born on 10 April 1947, in Durham, North Carolina. His family relocated frequently during his youth. After attending Loomis School in Windsor, CT, he attended Oberlin College and graduated with honors in June 1968.  Hollis earned a Master’s Degree in Theatre from Tufts University and a Ph.D. from Ohio State University.

Hollis and Carol were married in 1968. Carol pursued careers as a teacher and a Unitarian Universalist minister. Hollis taught acting and theater courses at several universities, and was also active as a producer, director, and performer.

In St. Louis, he founded the Holy Roman Repertory Company (“Not holy, not Roman, just damn good radio”). In collaboration with others, he produced radio programs featuring performances of historical writings and music. The programs were recorded in live performance and then broadcast on NPR. 

After moving to metro New York, where Carol served as minister of Community Unitarian Church in White Plains, Hollis followed his own call. He earned a Masters of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in 2006. Even before graduation, he began work as a hospice chaplain. He is fondly remembered for his 13 years of work as a chaplain through early April 2018. He also preached at local UU churches, and maintained a blog entitled “The Next Circle.”

Hollis had been treated for prostate cancer in 2007, but his symptoms reappeared in 2015. He was able to keep working, reading and writing, but the disease worsened in 2018. He fractured his hip at the end of May, which led to hospitalization and rehab. On 21 July, he returned home for hospice care.

Memorial donations are encouraged to the Living Legacy Scholarship Fund, to support participation of people with limited funds in a Pilgrimage to Civil Rights Movement sites.  Send contributions to John W. Harris, Treasurer for the Living Legacy Project, 9050 Fathers Legacy Unit 253, Ellicott City, MD 21042-5195.

Notes of condolence can be sent to Carol Huston, 940 St. Nicholas Ave SE, New York, NY 10032  revcarol@earthlink.net

Michael K. Hubner, the wife of the Reverend Dr. David Hubner, died peacefully at home on April 6, 2018, surrounded by family and friends. She was 70. 

Having grown up in New York and Albuquerque, Michael graduated with a B.A. in French from Smith College in 1969; obtained an M.T.S. from Harvard Divinity School in 1974; and returned to Smith for an M.S.W. where she was elected class speaker in 1980. She also received a certificate in health care administration from Simmons College. 

She tried other employment, but found her calling in social work. As an oncology social worker for more than 30 years, Michael dedicated herself to providing material and psychosocial support for cancer patients and their families through diagnosis, treatment, recovery, and end of life. She worked at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center from 1982-2001, then served as director of social work at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute from 2001-2013, where an annual lecture is named in her honor. 

Michael and David met at Harvard Divinity School in the fall of 1971, and were married in June of 1972. In 1974, David was called to serve the Unitarian Church in Hudson, MA, so that became their home. In Hudson, Michael was attendance officer for the local school system. They moved to First Church and Parish in Dedham, M.A. in 1980, and their son Benjamin was born there in 1985. Michael participated in the life of the congregations David served, and particularly liked singing in the choir. Although her own work was quite demanding, she made time for rehearsals and Sunday services every week.

In the last three years of her life, Michael faced the challenges presented by A.L.S. with exceptional grace and courage. She found that the physical limits it imposed on her had given her the gift of time and mental space to meditate on the nature of existence, truth, goodness, and beauty. Most importantly, she wrote: “I have time to love and be loved.”

Michael deeply loved her “small but important family,” her friends and colleagues, gardening, art, music, travel, language, and thinking seriously about life and how to live it with purpose and meaning.

Memorial gifts may be sent to Compassionate Care ALS (www.ccals.org), P.O. Box 1052, West Falmouth, M.A. 02574.

The Reverend Philip Hewett—as passionate about Unitarian history in both modern Canada and 16th-century Poland as he was dedicated to hiking, skiing, and mountain climbing—died on 24 February 2018, at age 93, vigorous in mind and body to the end. His refined demeanor, thoughtful intelligence, and sly wit were the marks of a gentleman and a scholar.

During his long ministry (1956–91) at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver (Canada), the Rev’d Mr. Hewett helped to start three new local congregations, wrote multiple books on Unitarian theology and history, including Unitarians in Canada. All the while he advocated for reproductive rights, sheltered Vietnam War draft resisters, promoted LGBT rights, and helped to found the BC Memorial Society and the BC Civil Liberties Association. For his final book, Racovia, he acquired respectable competence in Polish.

Phillip’s physical stamina was legendary. The Rev’d James Kubal-Komoto recalls, as a 29- year-old intern, accepting Phillip’s invitation to hike up a local mountain: “I thought, ‘How hard could it be with this 70-something-year-old man?’ Nobody had told me that Phillip had hiked across Scotland the previous summer. Phillip practically flew up the mountain on those long lanky legs of his. Several times, huffing and puffing, I asked him if we could stop for a few minutes to admire the view, and he reluctantly agreed.”

Austin Phillip Barton Hewett was born in 1925 in Dorset County, England. He earned a B.A. (1949) and M.A. (1951) from Oxford University, and an S.T.M. from Harvard Divinity School (1953). In 1951 he married Hilda Margaret Smith, with whom he raised two children, Barton and Daphne. Later honors included an honorary doctorate in Sacred Theology from Starr King (1969) and distinguished service awards from the International Association for Religious Freedom’s American chapter (jointly with his wife Margaret, 1983) and from the UUA (1992).

Phillip’s life was celebrated at the Unitarian Church of Vancouver, on 23 March 2018.

The Reverend Al Henriksen—parish minister, anti-racist activist, lover of dance, jazz, theater, and travel—died on 24 June 2017, aged 95.

Early in his ministry the Rev’d Mr. Henriksen showed himself to be a hands-on pioneer in “walking the talk” of social justice rhetoric. During his ministry in Iowa City in the mid-1950s, Al is remembered for accompanying African-American college students to local barber shops that practiced segregation.

Alfred James Norman Henriksen was born in Boston on 21 January 1922 to James and Anna Syversen Henriksen and grew up in nearby Quincy, MA. He attended Baptist and Lutheran churches as a child but in his teens discovered Quincy’s Wollaston Unitarian Church. After a B.A. from Tufts in 1945, he completed his ministerial degree in 1947 at Crane Theological School with a thesis on religious humanism.

In 1946 Mr. Henriksen was called to All Souls Church of Augusta, ME, where he was ordained on 10 October 1946 and served until 1951. He was then settled at the First Unitarian Society of Iowa City, followed by the Unitarian Fellowship of Corpus Christi (TX), and finally at the Pacific Unitarian Church in Rancho Palos Verdes (CA), where he would remain for 24 years. The congregation named its auditorium in his honor and elected him Minister Emeritus in 1987. In retirement, the Rev’d Mr. Henriksen capped his parish career with four interim ministries (1987-91).

Al Henriksen is survived by his second spouse (of 23 years) Georgianne Declercq, three children, six grandchildren, two stepdaughters & their children, and four great-grandchildren. His first spouse, Ruth Baxter Henriksen, died in 1987.

The Reverend Dan Higgins—military officer and chaplain, beloved parish minister,  community servant and activist—died on 9 June 2017 at the age of 90.

Daniel Greeley Higgins Jr. was born in Easton, Maryland, on 27 February 1927 to 
 parents Anna and Dan Higgins. After high school Dan served in the army (1944-46) and 
 was graduated with a B.A. in political science by the University of Maryland in 1951. 
 He went on to Temple University (PA), earning an S.T.B in 1954.

With what he called a “religious instinct” since childhood, Dan preached his first sermon at his family’s Methodist church at age 15. After Methodist ordination in 1955, he returned to army service as a chaplain in post-war Korea (1956-59), followed by brief parish service in Methodist churches.

In the early 1960s the Rev’d Mr. Higgins sought UU affiliation, returned to Temple University for an S.T.M. in 1965, and was settled (1965-69) as associate minister to (and ordained a second time by) the First Parish in Lexington, MA. In 1969 he took a call to Lubbock, TX, but left in 1972 to work as BAWA’s programming director (Black and White Alternative/Action, UU). In 1975 Dan was called to the First Parish in Malden, MA, serving there until formal retirement in 1987, when he was named Minister Emeritus. Meanwhile he completed study for a D.Min. at Meadville Lombard Theological School in 1977.

Post-retirement, Dan moved back to the Chesapeake Bay, began pulpit and pastoral work at local UU congregations in Easton and Salisbury (MD) and helped start a new congregation—UUs of the Chester River (MD). A former president of that congregation remembers him as “the most unassuming person, perhaps the most humble person I have ever known. But his presence and dignity immediately filled a room.”

Dan is survived by children Daniel G. Higgins III, Cynthia Westlake, Ann Spicer, and Kim Clark, four grandchildren, and a great-grandson.

The Rev. Kenneth R. Hutchinson, 95, died April 21, 2005. He served congregations in Edwards, NY; La Crescenta, Pasadena, and Santa Monica, CA; Brattleboro, VT; Dexter, ME; and Cincinnati, OH. Upon his retirement in 1979, the UU Church of the Verdugo Hills in La Crescenta named him minister emeritus. He is survived by his son Stanley of Temecula, CA, and a daughter, Kimberley. He was predeceased by his wife, Pearl Knott Hutchinson, in 2004.

The Rev. Dr. James D. Hunt, 79, died January 12, 2011. He was a graduate of Tufts, Boston and Syracuse Universities. His first career was as a Universalist minister. The parts of being a minister he liked the best were studying and preaching. This led him to pursue a second career in teaching. He was a professor of ethics and religion at Shaw University, Raleigh, NC for nearly 30 years. His first major publication was a comparison of the lives of Martin Luther King and Mohandas K. Gandhi. He went on to write about the early life of Gandhi, an interest which culminated in the publication of four books. Jim had a passion for fairness and justice. He worked with Amnesty International, ACLU, Witness for Peace, Peace Action, CITCA, People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, and CORE. A devoted family man, Jim found time to enjoy cycling, reading, hiking, folk dancing, playing the recorder, singing and traveling. He is survived by his wife, his children, their partners and grandchildren.