Milestones February 2016

Deaths

Angell—Imogene Baker Angell, 91, on September 19, 2015, at home in Kendal at Longwood, Kennett Square, Pa., surrounded by family. Imogene was born on February 26, 1924, in Fairhaven, Mass., the third of four children of Emily and Lewis Baker, and grew up in Haverhill, Mass., where her father worked for the gas company and her mother taught school. She graduated from Haverhill High School in 1941 and entered Radcliffe College the next year with financial help from her sister, a Radcliffe junior who under an assumed name had won $100 in a Harvard Latin translation contest open only to men. Imogene worked for room and board as nanny for the children of Harvard professor Raphael Demos, receiving her degree in 1945 and working for Price Waterhouse and the Harvard comptroller’s office. The Demos family introduced her to graduate student Richard B. Angell, another boarder, and although Brad had a different girlfriend when they met, after a while he proposed. They married in 1949 and, while Brad taught at Florida State University, lived in Tallahassee, Fla., for two years, where they connected with local civil rights groups and started a lifelong support of racial equality.

They next lived in Washington, Pa., where Brad taught at Jefferson College. In 1954 he completed his doctorate, every day composing dissertation pages that Imogene typed at night using only index fingers. In 1954–1968 they lived in Delaware, Ohio, for his work at Ohio Wesleyan, with intermittent periods in Massachusetts and upstate New York. She and Brad were founders of Delaware (Ohio) Meeting, and Imogene was an advocate for their children in their education, bringing them up to be independent thinkers with high standards, strong voices, and generous hearts. When Brad took a job at Wayne State University in 1968, she saw that they moved to Birmingham, Mich., which had the best schools in the area. Active in the League of Women Voters and other civic organizations, she worked as a teacher’s aide and was elected to the Board of Education in 1976 and again in 1980, in spite of an unsuccessful recall effort resulting from her stand on necessary but unpopular school closings. She was clerk of Birmingham Meeting, on the board of Friends School in Detroit, and a founder with Brad of the Quaker Inner City School Endowment Fund (QICSEF).

In 1994 they moved to Kendal at Longwood, where they established the Pre-Kendal Memories programs and the practice of filling the birdfeeders for less mobile residents. Always looking for ways to help Kendal staff and residents, especially her sister-in-law, Helen, Imogene served on the Safety Committee and the Food Committee, working to reduce fat and provide vegetarian options. She was also responsible for preserving a patch of native trillium that grows just off the path in the woods. Always game for family adventures, she not only funded her children’s higher education, but supported college funds for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She leaves behind a legacy of love and graciousness.

Her husband, Richard B. Angell, predeceased her in 2010. She is survived by her children, John Angell (Emily Nahat), Paul Angell, Jim Angell (Cathy), David Angell (Monisa), and Kathy Angell; eight grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and a brother, Hayden Baker (Ruth). Messages to her family may be sent to John Angell at 4337 Valmonte Dr., Sacramento, CA 95864. Donations in her memory may be made to Kendal Staff Appreciation Fund, c/o Connie Dilley, Kendal at Longwood, PO Box 100, Kennett Square, PA 19348; or American Friends Service Committee, 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102.

Forrest—Lois Bonsted Forrest, 82, on November 1, 2015, in Medford Leas, Medford, N.J., surrounded by her family, after a long illness. Lois was born on November 20, 1932, in Philadelphia, Pa. She worked for over 14 years with the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in Bristol, Pa.; Cleveland, Ohio; and Philadelphia, Pa., where she was executive director. A pioneer and advocate in the retirement community industry, she was executive director of Medford Leas Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) for 21 years, leading the expansion of the main campus and the development of two additional campuses in Lumberton, N.J., and Mt. Holly, N.J. Her leadership embodied Quaker values with a strong devotion to the quality and dignity of the lives of residents and staff. She served on the New Jersey Health Planning Board; on the board of the New Jersey Association of Non-Profit Homes for the Aging, receiving its Distinguished Service Award in 1992; and on the American Association of Homes and Service for the Aging, for which she helped develop national standards for CCRC licensing and certification.

Lois was a member of Medford Meeting, serving on many committees and as clerk and treasurer. In 1981, she went with three other people to the Union of South Africa to confer with anti-apartheid leaders on behalf of American Friends Service Committee, for which she was a board member. She helped develop Philadelphia Yearly Meeting’s Committee on Aging and served as president of Friends Fiduciary Corporation and on the Friends General Conference (FGC) Personnel Committee. She and her husband, Harry, served as Friends in Residence at Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in Birmingham, England, three times.

An avid gardener and nature lover, she was a certified master gardener and was instrumental in developing the Medford Leas Lewis W. Barton Arboretum. In May 2015, the Nature Center at Medford Leas was renamed in her honor. An avid reader, a collector of art pottery, and a lover of classical music and the visual and performing arts, she loved to canoe and hike mountain trails near her vacation home in Sullivan County, Pa. With a rare gift for seeing the beauty and light in every person, she had an extraordinary life of service and caring for others, and she would first want to be remembered for her love of her family.

Lois is survived by her devoted husband, Harry Forrest; four children, Eric Forrest (Mary), Loyce Forrest (Hartley Goldstone), Jeffrey Forrest (Donna), and Karen Forrest; nine grandchildren; four great grandchildren; a sister; and a brother-in-law. Contributions may be made in her honor to the Alzheimer’s Foundation and the Medford Leas Reserve Fund.

 

Jones—Theodore Culver Jones Jr., 70, on September 21, 2015, at home in Gainesville, Fla., in the arms of his life partner. Ted was born on April 24, 1945, in Miami, Fla., to Sarah Horning and Theodore Culver Jones and lived in Jenkintown, Pa., from about six months of age. Although his mother insisted that the family attend the Presbyterian Church for social reasons, he had many Quaker friends. He married Sarah Bennett in 1966. After graduating from State University of New York at Alfred in 1968 with a bachelor’s in engineering, he entered the Army Corps of Engineers, and his duties as Victim Assistance Officer caused him to suffer for the rest of his life with vivid nightmares of the mangled bodies of dead teenagers sent back from Vietnam for burial. He and Sarah had one child, in 1972. He earned a master’s in secondary education from State University of New York at Cortland in 1978 and taught high school science and mathematics for several years. For Boy Scout merit badges in science and math, he taught subjects ranging from making and flying rockets and kites to geology and chemistry to first aid. He and Sarah divorced in 1979.

Ted began to attend Ithaca (N.Y.) Meeting regularly in 1980. That year he also began a relationship with Bonnie Zimmer, from Haddonfield (N.J.) Meeting. It blossomed and endured, and in 1982 they formally expressed the sanctity of their covenant in a meeting for worship held at their home in Ithaca. They chose not to get a marriage license, believing that marriage is a spiritual state in which the government has no business being involved. Bonnie’s son, Oolan, born in 1972, lived in Ithaca with them. They attended Ithaca Meeting until they moved to New Jersey in 1985, where Ted joined Haddonfield Meeting. He served on the Young Friends Committee and as a Friendly Presence at weekends and gatherings. His favorite holiday when the boys were young had been Halloween, and he enjoyed the Friendly Fiends Halloween weekends. Many young friends found him a source of patient listening and continued to seek him out after they had married and were raising families of their own.

In 1991 Ted and Bonnie moved to a house near the ocean, where they planned to live for the rest of their lives, and joined Barnegat (N.J.) Meeting. They participated in the meeting’s Spiritual Formation program, Ted helped with FGC Gathering committees, and he and Bonnie led FGC Gathering workshops on topics ranging from environmental issues to spiritual journaling. He was instrumental in setting up an Internet-based Beach Worship Group of about 12 Quakers from around the United States who met regularly online and sporadically in person at his home for over ten years. He was not afraid to confront the demons of his psyche, which helped others in the group to grow spiritually and emotionally.

Hurricane Sandy destroyed their home in 2012, and Ted never really recovered from losing his dream of living out his years there by the ocean that he so loved. He and Bonnie moved to Gainesville, Fla., to be close to family and transferred their membership to Gainesville Meeting. Ted was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in late August 2015. He is survived by his life partner, Bonnie Zimmer; one son, Theodore Daniel Jones (Emirza); one stepson, Oolan Zimmer (Amanda); and three grandchildren. His ashes will be scattered in the woods surrounding the Gainesville Friends meetinghouse.

 

Kaiser—Margaret Wolf Kaiser, 96, on August 21, 2015, at home in Atlanta, Ga. Peg was born on August 29, 1918, in Freeburg, Ill., to Edna Wilson and Andrew Wolf, whose ancestors had come over with William Penn. From the age of five weeks she lived on Greenlawn Farm in McNabb, Ill., and learned Bible verses and Quaker history in Clear Creek Meeting in McNabb. She graduated from high school in 1936 and attended George School for a year and Illinois State University for two years. After moving as a young woman to Chicago, she attended Fifty-seventh Street Meeting there, and later Oak Park (Ill.) Meeting. She worked as a telephone operator and in the credit department of Marshall Field’s before moving to an advertising firm, where she met John Kaiser. They married in 1946 in the Thorndyke Hilton Chapel on the University of Chicago campus, with Garfield Cox, a professor at the college and a Quaker minister, as clerk.

They moved with their children to Atlanta in 1951 and were founding members of Atlanta Meeting. Peg started the First-day school for children in 1952, served on the Board of Trustees and Ministry and Counsel Committee, volunteered as meeting secretary, helped with the News/Views publication, and participated in a women’s discussion and lunch group. In 1961, she began 40 years of community service volunteering at Dekalb Medical Center. She and Jack began meeting with Friends in Crossville, Tenn., in the early 1960s for the Southern Appalachian Association of Friends and were founding members when that group became the Southern Appalachian Yearly Meeting and Association (SAYMA) in 1970. She was lead teacher in an Atlanta Meeting project for one of the first Head Start programs in Atlanta, and carrying a sign reading “Quaker Peace Witness, 1660–1960,” she stood in silence at the Pentagon in November 1969 with Friends from Atlanta, 38 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and Costa Rica. In 1973, during the Watergate scandal, her letter as meeting clerk to President Nixon urged him to examine his conscience in the light of his Quaker upbringing; to do whatever was necessary to restore the nation’s faith in the executive, even to the point of resigning; and to stop the repeated use of military destruction in the world, adding “We pray that God will strengthen you in the very difficult days that lie ahead.” She and Jack represented SAYMA to Friends World Committee for Consultation triennial meetings in Australia in 1973 and Switzerland in 1976. She worked with other Friends to write and publish As Way Opened: A History of Atlanta Friends Meeting, 1943-1997.

Friends remember Peg as a warmly accepting and welcoming Friend: kind, inquisitive, plain speaking, with a wonderful sense of humor. As a lifelong reader with an excellent memory, she enjoyed discussing a wide range of subjects. After moving to a retirement community, she began a discussion group on current events with other residents who did not share her political views. In her last years, she spoke of being ready to die, of hoping to be with Jack again and to know that her family was well. Peg was predeceased by her husband of 39 years, John Kenneth Kaiser. She is survived by three sons, Michael Kaiser (Duanne), Kirk Kaiser, and Jeffrey Kaiser (Shelia); four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; a sister, Eleanor Harker; a sister-in-law, Betty Wolf; and several nieces and nephews.

 

Langford—Maris Clymer Langford, 74, on June 17, 2015, at home in Doylestown, Pa. Maris was born on January 15, 1941, in Philadelphia, Pa., to Louise Skerdlant and Harvie Maris Clymer. After graduating from George School, she earned a bachelor’s in education from University of Pennsylvania and a certificate from University of Paris, La Sorbonne. Living and working abroad for five years gave her the opportunity for extensive travel in Europe and Asia. She spent three years in Dacca, Bangladesh (then East Pakistan), where her then husband worked for Philadelphia architect Louis I. Kahn on the Second Capitol. She taught at the Dacca American Society School and at East Pakistan University of Engineering, in addition to designing interiors for the Ministers’ hostels at the Second Capitol.

Upon returning to the United States, she earned a master’s degree from Temple University and moved with her family to Doylestown, Pa., where she worked for the Courier Times as a reporter and for the Bucks County Free Library, establishing libraries in the prison system. Managing libraries in the Bucks County Correctional System led to her earning a law degree at Temple University School of Law, and she practiced law for 36 years in her own firm in Doylestown. She was a longtime member of Doylestown Meeting, serving on multiple committees and as clerk. Friends remember her as a terrific host who often invited the entire meeting to her home on Christmas Eve following a service at Plumstead Meeting in Doylestown.

She served on many nonprofit community boards and committees, including for performing arts, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, Doylestown Meeting, and George School. She was president and then chairman of the board of Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce when it was the third largest chamber in the area; was honored by the Bucks County Bar Association as the first recipient of the Mark E. Goldberg Award for Community Excellence; and took great pleasure in sharing, learning, and making personal connections with her service to others. She also enjoyed continued travel.

Maris is survived by her children, Louise Verstegen (Ian) and Gustav Langford (Mary Ellen); five grandchildren; and her sister, Eloise Clymer Haun.

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