The Reverend Rudi Gelsey—Nazi refugee, thoughtful political scholar, parish minister, peacemaker, and lifelong crusader for liberty of conscience, religious diversity, and interfaith activity—died on 30 May 2018 at the age of 92.

In 56 years as a UU minister, he pursued civil rights, peace activism, environmental care, and interfaith work, with deep passion for intellectual, philosophical, and theological clarity. His belief in pluralism and openness to variety of religious expressions led him from Judaism to Catholicism and ultimately to UU ministry. Even after losing his sight in 2003, he continued to be a faithful and familiar presence at ministerial gatherings and General Assemblies.

Rudolph Czuczka was born on 24 February 1926 in Vienna, Austria, to Alfred and Erika von Gelse Czuczka. His affluent Jewish family fled Nazism in 1938 when he was 12 years old. He finished high school in Switzerland, earned a degree in political science from the University of Geneva, and became an activist in European federalist movements after World War II.

In 1949, Rudi emigrated to Canada, adopting a variant of his mother’s family name as being easier for English speakers. He resettled in the U.S. in 1959 and earned his B.D. from Meadville Lombard Theological School in 1962.

Mr. Gelsey was ordained on 1 January 1962 at the First Unitarian Church in South Bend, IN, where he served until 1964. He went on to serve a mix of called and interim ministries at Philadelphia’s Universalist Church of the Restoration (1964–69), the UU Fellowship of Northern Westchester (Mount Kisco, NY, 1969–73), First UU Church of Detroit, MI (1973–1983), UU Church of Buffalo, NY (1983–84), First UU Church of Niagara, NY (1984–1990), and the UU Fellowship of the New River Valley (Blacksburg, VA, 1996–99).

At the time of his death, Rudi was survived by his children Florence Pinfield, Andy Gelsey, and Alex Gelsey, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.