Memories

The Rev. Elizabeth “Bets” Wienecke, died on December 28, 2017 at the age of 81.

Bets was born on December 22, 1936 in Evanston, IL to Eliza Rittenhouse Wienecke and Robert Henry Wienecke. She married William Gourley Jr. in 1955, and they had three children together: Ann Michelle (deceased,) William, and Elizabeth. Bets graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Society; and in 1980 she earned a Master of Arts in Educational Psychology Counseling from California State University, Northridge. She worked for many years as an office manager, a Volunteer Coordinator for the Santa Paula, CA School District, and as Executive Director of the Santa Paula Youth Employment Service. During this time, she married the love of her life, Peter Haslund, becoming stepmother to Melitta and Christina. Inspired by her mentor the Rev. Marjorie N. Leaming, Bets felt a call toward ministry and pursued fellowship with the UUA, earning her Master of Divinity from California’s Claremont School of Theology in 1985.

Rev. Wienecke was ordained on May 25, 1986 by the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara, CA. In 1987, she began serving as the Extension Minister to the Live Oak UU Congregation of Goleta, CA, and in 1990 the congregation called Rev. Wienecke as their settled minister. Bets served Live Oak with passion and dedication for eighteen years, and upon her retirement in 2004 the congregation honored Rev. Wienecke as their Minister Emerita.

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Rev. Joan Kahn-Schneider passed away in June 2017 at the age of 86… Rev. Kahn-Schneider’s service on behalf of the denomination was extensive. She served as President of the Ministerial Sisterhood Unitarian Universalist, a forum for women clergy. While ministering in Michigan, Joan served as Good Offices Person for her UU Ministers’ Association Chapter. She was also Vice-Chair of the UU Council of Cincinnati Program Committee. Rev. Kahn-Schneider also served on the UUA’s Board of Review, and while a member of the UUA staff she held positions in several committees: the Continuing Education Committee, the Joint Theological Schools Committee, and the Theological Grants Panel…

More: http://www.uuma.org/blogpost/569858/283271/In-Loving-Memory-of-JOAN-KAHN-SCHNEIDER-1930--2017

Oct. 06, 1939 - Feb. 12, 2017

LAKESIDE, MI - Peggy C. Stevens, 77, residing in Lakeside, MI, passed away peacefully at 4:30pm Sunday, February 12, 2017 in Kindred Hospital, Mishawaka. She was born October 6, 1939 in Chicago, IL to the late Robert Adair and Francis (Blake) Hess.

On September 17, 1960 in the Unitarian Church in Chicago, Peggy married William “Bill” J. Stevens, who survives. In addition to her loving husband of 56 years, she is survived by two sons, Mark (Ananda) Stevens of Mt. Prospect, IL and David (Michelle) Stevens of Twin Lakes, WI; one granddaughter, Nicole Stevens; one sister, Dorothy (Jim) Guyot of Rangoon, Burma; and one brother, Robert (Linda) Hess of McDonough, GA.

Peggy earned her undergraduate degree in anthropology from the University of Chicago and her master's degree in ecological communication from DePaul University, Chicago. She taught photography at Sullivan House, a school for delinquent high school students, at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove, IL, as well as at Roosevelt University and DePaul University in Chicago. At DePaul, she designed and taught courses in spring wildflowers as well as a course on “Energy Population Growth-Sustaining a Livable World.” She completed a three-volume photographic field study of the plants of Warren Woods which is now part of the University of Chicago Library's Special Collection. She was a lifelong Unitarian and longtime member of the First Unitarian Church in South Bend. Her spiritual expressions include poetry, fine arts photography, collage and song lyrics. Her love of family led her to compile genealogy and family history. She had a passion for nature - living in a home surrounded by woods and wildflowers.

She was active in Central MidWest District Women and Religion, serving on conference planning committees from 2000 through 2008, and on the CMwD W&R Committee, as Treasurer and Chair. One of her songs was recorded by Peggy and her sisters in the Women's Drumming Circle of First Unitarian Church in 2000. "Women's Work"

A celebration of Peggy's life was held Saturday, February 25, 2017 in the First Unitarian Church, 801 E. Washington Street, South Bend, with Rev. Chip Roush officiating. Expressions of sympathy in memory of Peggy may be donated to First Unitarian Church, 801 E. Washington, South Bend, IN 46617.

(from http://theatrewomen.org/news/in-memoriam-laurie-james/)

Laurie James was born in Portland, Oregon on January 31, 1930 to Vernon and Welles Harper, with sister Gwen. From an early age Laurie was modeling and acting with The Portland Children’s Theatre and at school.

Following High School came to New York to pursue her dream of acting, and attended the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. She also attended Lewis and Clark College in Portland where she studied poetry and drama (she later received an honorary degree.in the Arts). She then returned to the East Coast where she apprenticed and then starred in many Summer Stock productions. It was there that she met Clifton James, her future husband. Summer ended and she returned to New York, married and had 5 children: Mike, Winkie, Hardy, Lynn and Mary, and step-daughter Cory . While raising five children she continued her creative ambitions including creating her own program called “Poetry Listen-In” which brought poetry to life for the children and which she performed it throughout New York.

A historian and researcher in heart she focused on women’s neglected place in history, notably Margaret Fuller but all women s place in shaping our society and world. Years of research and study produced a wealthy body of work on the forgotten life of this historic figure by Laurie. Four books: “Men, Women, and Margaret Fuller”, “The Wit and Wisdom of Margaret Fuller Ossoli”, “Why Margaret Fuller Ossoli is Forgotten” and “How I Got to Harvard, Off and On Stage with Margaret Fuller”. She also wrote “Outrageous Questions, Legacy of Bronson Alcott and America’s One-Room Schools.

Across the country and Asia she offered her award-winning one woman presentation about the life and influence of Margaret Fuller entitled “Men, Women, and Margaret Fuller. Other plays Laurie wrote and performed are: “Yellow Wallpaper”, based on an early feminist work by Charlotte Gilman, “O, Excellent Friend” on the friendship of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller, “Winter Wheat” an original work on Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Many other plays, including “Numb is a Freezing Point”, were written. Her final work “Heartblood” being one she was most proud of, dealing with the human rights issue of female genital mutilation was presented by the Actors’ Chapel at St. Malachy’s Church in June with a fall production scheduled for London.

Many will remember Laurie’s gifts as an actress, playwright and historian as well as her warmth, creatively and caring presence. She was a member of The Dramatists Guild, The Actors Studio P/D Unit, The American Renaissance Theater, The League of Professional Theater Women and the UU Women Organization [UUW&R core group and NY Metro].

Laurie passed away in her beloved New York City on July 22, 2015, leaving a rich legacy of a brilliant body of work, and a beloved family including her husband, her children, 14 grand-children and 4 great-grand-children who are blessed with the gift of having shared their lives with her.

Celebration Service for Laurie James
Sunday, September 13, 2015 at 1:30 PM
The Community Church of New York
40 East 35th Street – New York, NY 10016