Category: Obituary: H

The Rev. Kenneth C. Hawkes, 96, was our oldest living Universalist minister. He died July 26, 2009, having served at the parish, district and national level throughout his long career. He was a graduate of Gorham Normal School (now U of Maine) and Colby College. A board member of the Maine Council of Churches, he also was president of Massachusetts Universalist Convention, and a trustee of the UCA. He was the first executive minister of the Northeast District of the UUA, which encompassed Maine and the Maritime Provinces. He was proud that he was one of a very few State of Mainers who marched in Selma with the Rev. Martin Luther King. June Wheeler, his wife of 53 years, died in 1987. In 1989 he married Janet Hall Beiling, who survives. He is also survived by his children: Roland K. Hawkes, Carolyn Gaines and Margaret St. Pierre; a sister; two step-daughters, and 33 grandchildren, step grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Marion Wood Hatt, 86, widow of the Rev. Roy J. Hatt, Jr, died in Utica, NY on November 4, 2008. She was an English teacher, who volunteered with Literacy Volunteers. She was also interested in environmental issues and protecting wildlife. From 1950-1960 she and her husband taught at the Proctor Academy in Andover, NH. In 1985 two of her students, who are brothers, established a scholarship fund at the school in her honor. Marion personally reviewed scholarship applications each spring until this past year. She is survived by two sons, Andrew J. Hatt and Christopher R. Hatt, and a grandson. Her husband died in 1999. Her memorial service was held November 15, 2008, at Acacia Village Masonic Care Community of Utica.

The Rev. Dr. Ralph Norman Helverson, 95, died April 25, 2007, at Carleton-Willard Village, Bedford, MA.  He was minister emeritus of the First Parish in Cambridge, MA, which he served as minister from 1959 to 1977.  He also served UU congregations in Ithaca, NY, and N. Palm Beach, FL, as well as being interim minister for San Diego, CA, W. Hartford, CT, Naples, FL, and Dedham, MA.

He was a graduate of Anderson College (B.A.), Garrett Theological Seminary (B.D.) and Cornell University (M.A.), and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Meadville Lombard Theological School in 1969.

A distinguished preacher, thinker and writer, he was also a beloved pastor and colleague. He had served on several boards and committees of the UUA and related organizations, and was the author of several collections of prayers and meditations.

A memorial service celebrating Ralph’s life and ministry was held on Wednesday, May 9, at 1:30 p.m. at The First Parish of Cambridge (in Harvard Square). Letters of condolence may be sent to his wife of 67 years, Wynanda Helverson, 88 Falmouth Court, Bedford, MA 01730-2912.

The Rev. William D. Hammond, 89, died Nov. 17, 2005. He served in Asheville, NC, where he was later named minister emeritus. He also served at People’s Liberal Church, Michigan – Ohio Valley District, UU Church of Minnetonka, and Grosse Point Unitarian Church. Surviving are his wife Grace Lindquist; two sons Donald & Thomas Hammond of Michigan and a daughter, Gail Hammond-Stone, of Arkansas. A service was held Dec. 17, at the First Parish of Groton, MA.

The Rev. Dr. Donald Szantho Harrington, 91, died Sept. 16, 2005 in Szepsi–St. George, Romania. He served churches in Hobart, IN; Chicago; Darien, CT; and Community Church in New York, which named him minister emeritus. He was a leader in civil rights, social justice, theology and politics, and a co-founder of the Center for the Advanced Study in Religion and Science, and the American Committee on Africa. He served on the AUA and UUA Boards, the Unitarian, Universalist, and UU Service Committees, and the IARF. He helped found BAWA, (Black and White Action) He received the Holmes-Weatherly Award in 1983. Harrington authored several books. He married Vilma Szantho, the first woman to be ordained in Central Europe. She died in 1982. In 1984, he married Vilma’s niece, the Rev. Aniko Szantho. Surviving are his wife; two children, Loni Hancock of Berkeley, CA, and David Harrington of Santa Fe, NM; three stepchildren, five grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

The Rev. Robert William Haney, 70, died August 14, 2005. He served First and Second Church in Boston and the Theodore Parker Unitarian Church in West Roxbury, MA, which named him minister emeritus. He was an instructor at Emerson College, where he taught religion, philosophy and history. He published Comstockery in America: Patterns of Censorship and Control in 1960 through Beacon Press. For the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, he produced the exhibition guide The Historic Silver of the First and Second Church of Boston. He also wrote many reviews for the Christian Science Monitor and other religious periodicals.

Shirley Hadley died January 4, 2004. She was the widow of The Rev. Dr. J. Harold Hadley, minister emeritus at Plandome (Shelter Rock), NY, who died in 1994. Shirley leaves a son, Ronald Hadley, who is a member of the Shelter Rock congregation.