The Reverend Gertrude Lindener-Stawski—singer, pianist, scholar, and passionate gardener, whose interest in music led her to Unitarian Universalism and eventually to her calling to ministry—died peacefully on 12 June 2020 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, aged 89.
She was a longtime member of the Prairie Group of UU ministers (1974–2003). In retirement, she became known around Columbia, MO, as an “orchid guru.”
Gertrude Vutz was born on 4 April 1931 in Racine, Wisconsin, to Wilhelm and Mathilde Vutz. After a family move, she grew up in Ohio. and at high school graduation was ranked as the top student in the state.
After earning her B.Mus. in piano at Oberlin Conservatory, OH, in 1952, she and her husband Arthur Lindener lived near Montréal, Canada, but divorced in 1961. She became active in the Lakeshore Unitarian Congregation (SE of Montréal), and eventually earned her ministerial degree from Crane Theological School (Medford, MA) in 1968.
After parish settlement at the United Church of Bethel, VT (1968–73), where she was ordained on 27 October 1968, the Rev’d Ms. Lindener moved to the First Unitarian Society of Madison, WI, as Minister of Education (1973–80). She was called to the UU Fellowship [now Church] of Columbia, MO, in 1980, but took early retirement in 1986, having met and married Conrad Stawski during her tenure there. Twenty years later the church elected her minister emerita.
That church’s present minister, the Rev’d Molly Housh Gordon wrote, “Gertrude was a brilliant woman and a scholarly minister… a kind and welcoming colleague… [Her] legacies to our congregation and to Unitarian Universalism are profound.”
Gertrude Lindener-Stawski is survived by daughter Margo Lindener, son Peter Lindener, and stepdaughter Nina Stawski.
A memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations are encouraged to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, 322 Eighth Avenue, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10001.
Notes of condolences may be sent to Margo Londoner at 5908 Pine Hill Crescent, Halifax, NS Canada B3H 1E5.