The Reverend Carol Fincher—who came to parish ministry in mid-life and served mostly in her native Oklahoma—died peacefully on 22 December 2018, aged 86, after a brief illness.

Carol Fincher was born on 25 December 1932 in Fairfax, Oklahoma, to Dorothy Ellen (Prall) and Ed Armel Fincher, and was raised in the Disciples of Christ (Christian) church. She dropped out of college after her first year to devote herself to marriage and motherhood.

Some years later, as the family was living in Clinton NY, Carol discovered the UU church in nearby Utica. She became an active layperson there and later in Hamden CT, where her interest in ministry gradually matured. Carol liked to say that she felt “beckoned” rather than called to her ministerial career.

By the late 1970s, with her two children grown, Carol resumed college, earning a B.A. at Southern Connecticut State Univ. in 1980. In 1986 she earned her M.Div. at Starr King School.

Ms. Fincher was ordained on 27 April 1986 by her “home” congregation, the UU Church of Utica NY and over the next 12 years she pursued a mix of settled and interim ministries in Charlotte NC, Amarillo TX, Stillwater OK, Newark DE, Syracuse NY and finally a small church in Tulsa OK.

In partial retirement the Rev’d Ms. Fincher returned to the UU Church of Stillwater OK in a part-time position of “pastoral care minister.” After full retirement, that congregation named her minister emerita.

Carol enjoyed traveling, going to Mexico and the Caribbean, but also made a trip to Singapore, led by her interest in Kuan-Yin Buddhism. In her spare time, she enjoyed jewelry making, paper making, photography, music, and ballet.

At her death, Carol was survived by a sister Dorothy, children Dennis and Ellen DeGraad, and three grandchildren. A celebration of Carol’s life took place on 12 January 2019 at the UU Church of Stillwater.