The Reverend Dick Norsworthy—parish minister, civil rights activist, woodworker, and outdoorsman—died on 10 September 2018, aged 86.

Richard Jasper Norsworthy was born on 31 July 1932 in Caribou, Maine, to Marion Rose (Bowden) and Jasper Ellsworth Norsworthy. After service in the US Air Force (1950–54), the USAF Reserve (1954–1958), and the US Army Reserve (1958–1960), he completed a joint undergraduate and seminary program in 1962 with a B.A. in English from Tufts University (Medford, MA) and a B.D. from Bangor Theological Seminary (ME). Meanwhile, in the early 1950s, he had married Glenna Henderson, with whom he raised three children.

Mr. Norsworthy was ordained on 10 June 1962 by the Third Universalist Church in North Weymouth, (MA), where he served until 1966. That was followed by settlements at the Unitarian Church (now UUs) of Clearwater, FL (1966–72), the First Unitarian Church of Victoria, B.C. (Canada, 1972–76), the First Universalist Church of Woonsocket, RI (1977–84), and retirement from active ministry in 1985. In 2013 he was retrospectively named minister emeritus by his former congregation in Clearwater.

Beyond the parish, the Rev’d Mr. Norsworthy served multiple roles in the local UUMA chapter and represented both the Ballou-Channing and Florida districts as a UUA Trustee. In various local communities his activity was focused on human relations agencies and civil rights activism, including travel to Selma on the morning after “Bloody Sunday,” along with many other UU clergy. Dick enjoyed a wide variety of outdoor activities and sports, and from the early 1960s he and his family summered at their cottage on Lake Wassookeag in Dexter, ME.

At his death, Richard was survived by his second wife Janice Kazlauskas, and sons Dane and Scott. His first wife, Glenna, had died in 2007 and his eldest son, Richard, in 2011. Memorial donations were encouraged to the UU Society for Ministerial Relief.