Category: Obituary: W

The Reverend Bets Wienecke—deeply admired as a collegial mentor, especially to young women in ministry—died peacefully at her home in Carpinteria, California, on 28 December 2017, aged 81.

She was “a pioneer … who inspired six of us to become ministers and counseled countless among us in her many years in the parish,” recalls the Rev’d Carolyn Price. “She modeled for us what it is not only to live, but to die with intention, beauty, courage, and most of all, with love.”

Elizabeth Wienecke was born on 22 December 1936 in Evanston, Illinois, to Eliza Maurine Rittenhouse and Robert Henry Wienecke. As an army brat, Bets attended 19 schools before graduation from George Washington High School in Alexandria VA. Moving with her family to Okinawa, Japan, shortly thereafter, she met and married William C. Gourley Jr. (1955). The couple settled in Santa Paula, CA, where they had three children: Ann Michelle (deceased), William, and Elizabeth Ann.

Bets eventually resumed her own education, earning a B.A. in law and society from UC Santa Barbara in 1975 and an M.A. in educational psychology counseling from Cal State Northridge in 1980. Her marriage ended in 1976, and in 1982 she married Peter Haslund. With growing commitment to religious life in the Santa Paula UU congregation, and inspired and mentored by the Rev’d Marjorie Leaming, Bets headed off to the Claremont School of Theology, earning her M.Div. in 1985.

Ms. Wienecke was ordained on 25 May 1986 by the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara. After three years (1987–90) as extension minister to the Live Oak UU Congregation (Goleta, CA), that congregation settled her permanently in 1990. In 2004 they named her Minister Emerita.

At her death, Bets was survived by spouse Peter Haslund, sister Lynnie Wienecke, children Elizabeth and Bill, stepchildren Melitta and Christina Haslund, and five grandchildren.

The Reverend Dr. Bob West—parish minister whose career was unforgettably defined by his presidency of the UUA (1969–77)—died on 27 September 2017, aged 88.

Mr. West’s UUA presidency began at a time of great turmoil, with deep division over Black empowerment and the Vietnam War, and the UUA facing imminent bankruptcy. Though he faced painful and often resented decisions, Mr. West succeeded in eliminating the UUA’s debt within four years. “His conduct under fire was often heroic,” recalled the Rev’d Dr. John Buehrens, “but largely thankless.” Yet, he oversaw the development of the UUA’s ground-breaking sexuality program, created the Office of Gay Concerns, and, most boldly, supported Beacon Press’s publication of the Pentagon Papers.

Robert Nelson West was born on 28 January 1929 in Lynchburg, Virginia, to Samuel Washington West and Mary Evelyn Wells West. He served in the U.S. Navy (1946–48) and then was graduated from Lynchburg College in 1950 with a B.A. in English—originally hoping to become a poet. But heeding a call to ministry, Bob earned his M.Div. from Starr King School in 1957. Later he would twice receive a D.D.—one from Meadville Lombard Theological School in 1970 and another from his undergraduate alma mater, Lynchburg College, VA, in 2013.

Mr. West was ordained on 21 October 1957 by the Tennessee Valley Unitarian (now UU) Church in Knoxville, TN, serving there for six years, followed by another settlement (1963–69) at the First Unitarian Church of Rochester, NY. Then at the 1969 General Assembly, from a contentious field of seven candidates, the Rev’d Mr. West was elected the 2nd president of the UUA. After his presidency, he left ministry for the fields of finance and law. He was later seen as an “unsung hero” and in 2004 received the UUA’s Award for Distinguished Service to the Cause of UUism.

At his death, Bob West was survived by children Robert Jr., Charles, Thomas, and Mary Catherine, grandchildren Lila, George, Lily and Oliver, great grandchild Phoebe, and sister Rilla Krebbs. His wife of 65 years, Nancy, had died the previous year. A memorial service was scheduled for 11 November 2017 at the First Church in Boston.

The Reverend Dr. John Wolf—fearless, powerful orator and dominant public spokesman for social justice causes in Tulsa, OK, who guided his congregation to become one of the largest in the UUA and had his own Wikipedia entry —died on 19 September 2017, aged 92.

John Burton Wolf was born on 6 September 1925 in Bloomington, Illinois, to Walter & Helen Young Wolf. He was raised in his mother’s Presbyterian church and by his early teens was teaching Sunday School, but got into trouble when he added his own research into the lesson plan he was given to follow. “One of the first cracks in my Calvinism was right then and there.”

With a B.D. from Meadville in 1952, Mr. Wolf was called to the Church of
the Good Shepherd Universalist (now Olympia Brown Memorial UU Church) in Racine, WI, where he had often preached as a student; he was ordained there on 19 February 1953. His second settlement (1954–60) was Meadville, PA.

The Rev’d John Wolf began his ministry at All Souls in Tulsa, on the first of May, 1960. In his 35 years there, he made an indelible stamp on the life of the city with a public ministry reminiscent of that of A. Powell Davies in Washington, D.C. His sermons were quoted, often extensively, in the Monday newspapers and on television newscasts, and his activism ranged over women’s rights, funeral industry reform and, of course, racial justice.

On 13 March 1965, in the midst of the events in Selma, John arranged for his church to host Tulsa’s first ever interfaith and interracial worship service, with more than fifty local clergy serving as ushers for the crowd of over 700 crammed into the sanctuary and parish hall. It was followed by a solidarity march of more than a thousand people through the city’s downtown. See an interview with him about this (pp. 24-25; search by last name at www.voicesofoklahoma.com).

John had a “contest [with God] going on for [the] better part of sixty years” as he summarized it. He once began a prayer at a UUMA gathering with a drawn-out, and greatly affected southern drawl, “Well..ll, God, here we are again.” He recalled that “on one occasion I did call [God] an SOB from the pulpit. Two weeks after that, a tornado came through Tulsa and hit Oral Roberts (University). And I said, ‘See? Missed again!’” (More on this in the interview as above, p. 8.)

In 1976 he was named a Doctor of Divinity honoris causa by Meadville Lombard Theological School, and on retirement in 1995 All Souls elected him Minister Emeritus. In 2015 he was inducted into Tulsa’s Historical Society Hall of Fame.

John Wolf is survived by his spouse of 65 years Barbara N. Hudgins Wolf, son John David Wolf and daughter Catherine Elizabeth Wolf, a grandson, and a great-granddaughter.

The Rev. Carl Haycock Whittier, Jr. died on July 7, 2017 at the age of 87.

He is survived by daughters Sarah Whittier and Nancy Whittier (Kate Weigand); and grandchildren Jonah, Eva, and Isaac Weigand-Whittier.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to VNA and Hospice of Cooley Dickinson, P.O. Box 329, Northampton, MA 01060.

A memorial service was held on Tuesday, August 8, 2017 at the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence, 220 Main St, Northampton, MA 01060.

Notes of condolence can be sent to Sarah Whittier at 190 Chestnut St, Florence, MA 01062.

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

The Reverend Cynthia Ward—religious educator, parish minister, lover of arts and learning, and mother of five, three of whom are themselves UU ministers—died at the Brooks-Howell retirement home in Asheville, North Carolina, on 9 May 2017 at the age of 88.

She wrote of her commitment to “enabling persons to the challenge of creating a community of faith, hope, justice, and love,” and is remembered as a mentor to many women called to ministry at a time when so many were still meeting resistance.

Cynthia’s daughter, the Rev’d Lisa Ward, recalls that her mother “drank in poetry, and wrote it well. She loved art and deeply engaging conversations. Ever searching spiritually, she expressed her findings to the delight of others.”

Cynthia Johnson was born to Charles and Alice Libby Johnson on 11 August 1928 in Auburndale, MA. She reported feeling a call to ministry even as a five-year-old child. After college she worked as a journalist and editor (1950–53), and with spouse Jack Ward found a religious home for their growing family in UU churches. Cynthia then became active in religious education, eventually earning an M.Div. in 1984 and being ordained the next year by the UU Princeton (NJ) congregation.

Over the next 15 years, the Rev’d Ms. Ward served several parish and RE ministries in the greater New York area—Westchester, Brooklyn, and Orange (NJ). After retirement in 2000, she remained active with UU church membership in Florida, New Jersey, and lastly at the UU Congregation of Asheville, NC.

Cynthia’s spouse, psychiatrist Jack Ward, died in 2005. She is survived by children Mark, Keith, Terry, Lisa, and Scott, as well as by seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Barbara Wagner, 80, the widow of the Reverend William G. Wagner, died February 17, 2017, in Getzville, NY. Born Barbara McCarthy in Lockport, she earned a BFA from University of Buffalo, then went on to graduate studies at Westminster Choir College, and advanced organ study at the Munich Conservatory in Germany. She was noted for having both a wit and an ability to personally connect with people, and she employed those attributes as she pursued her passion – music, particularly choral music.

She was in her 50th year directing the choir of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo when she retired as the church’s music director in 2012. During her tenure, the church became known for the high quality of its music. The church choir made two European tours, recorded for American Public Radio, and performed locally with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Barbara also taught vocal music at Nichols School for 25 years and served for 12 years as music director at Temple Beth Am. She had shorter term positions directing other community choirs, but is especially noted as the founding director of the Buffalo Gay Men’s Chorus, which she led for 10 years. Her vision for that chorus was that they would not be known for “camp and schlock,” as many gay singing groups are, but would have a repertoire which included many challenging classics.

She was a founding member of the Unitarian Universalist Musicians Network, served on the Hymnbook Commission which produced “Singing the Living Tradition,” and chaired the Task Force which compiled the hymnbook supplement “Singing the Journey.” In 2002 she was awarded the Erie County Music Educator/BPO Award for Excellence in Choral Education. In recent years, as Wagner’s health declined, she was able to hold onto music. As long as she could, she played the piano at her care center residence.

Barbara is survived by a sister, Jeanne Gunby; two daughters, Carrie Martin of Hamburg, and Molly Wagner of Sydney, Australia; and six grandchildren.

Harriet Ruth Wyman, 92, widow of the Rev. Gerald K. Wyman, died March 26, 2011 in Torrance, CA. The Wymans had served Universalist congregations in Canton, Waterville and Caribou, ME, and the UU Church of Greater Lansing, MI. Her husband died in 1970. Harriet worked for the Attorney General’s Section of the Michigan Department of Transportation for 24 years, retiring as an office manager. After retiring in 1984, she enjoyed square dancing, swimming, walking and the company of her friends. She was a very loving mother to her son and daughter. Her son died in 1985, after a 20-year battle with multiple sclerosis. In 2003, she moved to California to be near her daughter and family.

The Rev. Robert James Wrigley, 75, died April 25, 2011 by his own act, after years of chronic pain. He acted in fear of increased pain and diminished personal autonomy. Bob described himself as a peace monger, social activist, trade unionist, and —he imagined—a stone mason. Born in Albany, NY, he gained a reputation for being very outspoken, losing his post as junior minister in Providence, RI, when he was reported to have compared Castro to Christ. He left the US and went on to serve First Unitarian in Toronto, ON and then First Unitarian in Edmonton, AB. He next worked as subsistence farmer on his quarter-section in Peers, AB. He is survived by his wife, Naomi Rankin, and their daughters Katherine Malka Wrigley and Elsa Magdalena Wrigley, and his two daughters from his first marriage, Elizabeth “Lise” Anne Wrigley and Jessica Susan Machado (Celso), two grandchildren, and his “twin” sister Susan Jane Pearson. He was predeceased by his grandchildren, Maya Tello-Wrigley and Flora Machado. He was a member of the Edmonton Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. He leaves us with these remarks: “The highest form of bliss comes from living with a certain degree of folly” – Erasmus. And finally, “That’s all she wrote.”

Amy Worthley, widow the Rev. Evans Worthley, is reported to have died in 2004, in Sterling, CO.

Pauline Rendall Woodman, 73, wife of the Rev. Richard M. Woodman, died February 27, 2012 in Dover, NH. She spent her early years in Cambridge MA and in Milton, NH. She attended U. Mass. and then married John Rosado. They settled in McLean, VA where she raised her family. Pauline was an active leader at the Unitarian Church of Arlington, VA and the regional denominational association. In 1984 she wed the Rev. Richard M. Woodman. They bought a house in Dover, NH. For more than a decade they traveled together to a number of communities in the Northeast while Dick served as interim minister to nine UU churches there. Following retirement, they returned to Dover and Pauline turned her attention to homemaking and doing extensive research on family history; she discovered that she and Dick were cousins, sharing several 17th century ancestors. She is survived by her husband; her son Jeffrey Rosado, his wife and stepson; by a granddaughter; by her daughter, Janet Rosado, her husband and their children; and her brother, Skip Rendall.