Stephen Wallace Collett

Collett—Stephen Wallace Collett, 78, on July 29, 2024, in Norway. Stephen was born on March 16, 1946, the youngest of three children of Wallace Tibbals Collett and Carrie Ellen Hudson, both of whom were active Quakers, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Stephen’s paternal grandmother, Mary Stokes Tibbals, was descended from a large group of Quakers who, in 1677, escaped from religious persecution in England on the ship Kent to New Castle, Del.

In 1966, Stephen began his studies at Haverford College in Haverford, Pa. An active pacifist, Stephen was a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. During his sophomore year, he left Haverford College and traveled to Europe, where he met and married Inga Berit Kyllingstad. Berit was a single mother of three, and at 21, Stephen became a father to the new family. Together, Stephen and Berit had four more children.

After time in Norway, they moved back to the United States, where, in 1970, Stephen completed his bachelor’s degree at Wilmington College in Wilmington, Ohio. The family moved to Boulder, Colo., where Stephen earned a master’s degree in human geography at the University of Colorado. In 1973, the family moved to a small farm in Lyngdal, Norway. Between 1977 and 1985, Stephen established the first developmental studies program at Agder District College, now the University of Agder.

In 1986, Stephen took a teaching position at Earlham College in Richmond, Ind., to be close to his mother, as she had fallen ill. Later that year, Stephen was engaged by Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC) to lead their work in the Quaker United Nation Office (QUNO) and moved with his family to New York City, where they lived and worked for 11 years until 1997. In 2007, Stephen wrote an article titled “Sixty Years with the UN in New York: A History of the Quaker UN Office.” From 1987 to 1992, Stephen was a member of the Executive Committee of Friends Association for Higher Education in Greensboro, N.C. He served on the boards of Wilmington College, Guilford College, and Earlham College.

The family moved back to Lyngdal. Following Berit’s untimely death in 2009, Stephen moved to Lista peninsula with a wide open view of the sea. Stephen faithfully came to Kristiansand and Farsund/Mandal Meeting. He was the Quaker theologian, and always managed to create a good, warm, and trusting atmosphere with his clear presence, good questions, and warm sense of humor.

The book Faith and Life (Norwegian Faith and Practice) would not have come to fruition without Stephen’s determined effort. He was a member of the editorial committee, and wrote a large portion of the text. During the years in Norway, he served as clerk of Norway Yearly Meeting and on other committees. He was crucial to Norway Quaker Aid’s work for peace and development in the Great Lakes region of Africa, where he was the program coordinator for the CAPP project from its inception in 1998 until 2006. Stephen was an important source of inspiration for his collaborators and is fondly remembered by many, not least in the countries in Africa where he worked.

Stephen was predeceased by his wife, Berit Collett. He is survived by his children and grandchildren.