Milestones November 2012

Cargill—Daisy Cargill, 99, on November 4, 2011, in Portland, Oreg., following a stroke. Daisy was born on February 18, 1912, in Garfield, Wash., the fourth of eleven children of Ella Williams and Walter Knight. Her mother died in the influenza of 1918, and her father raised his family by himself. When she was 17, Daisy moved to Oklahoma to live with her sister, witnessing the suffering caused by the Dust Bowl. Daisy met Ira Cargill at a baseball game and they married in 1941. In 1953 they moved to Portland, where Daisy worked as a bookkeeper. Throughout her life, Daisy loved entertaining, arranging flowers, praying, and cooking and eating a good meal. After 56 years of marriage, Ira died in 1997, and Daisy’s only daughter, Linda, took care of her. A lifelong Baptist, Daisy followed Linda into the Quaker community and in 1999 became active in the Religious Society of Friends, attending meeting for worship at Multnomah Meeting in Portland for the next 12 years. She was fortunate to enjoy the friendship of Friend Joe Miller and greatly inspired by his activism to save the Bull Run watershed. Daisy was a member of the meeting’s Peace and Social Concerns committee and worked on projects to oppose the Iraq war. In her mid-90s she took part in anti-war marches and then sat on the sidelines when age prevented long marches. Committed to saving the environment, she also came to meetings of the Multnomah Meeting Global Coolers. Open-hearted, outgoing, and loving, Daisy reached out to people wherever she went. During her last days at the hospital, she was surrounded by family, friends, and Multnomah Friends holding her in the Light. The last of eleven siblings to die, Daisy is survived by her daughter, Linda Cargill; many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great–nephews; and dear friends.

Dennis—Margaret Ardelle Dennis, 94, on December 5, 2011, at home in Oregon City, Oreg. Ardelle was born on June 11, 1917, in Klamath Falls, Oreg. Sometimes called Del, she came to Friends after spending a year at Pendle Hill following her graduation from Willamette University in 1939. She often spoke of the importance of her study and immersion in theological and political discourse at Pendle Hill in Wallingford, Pa. It was while living there, near Philadelphia, that she met her future husband, Walter Dennis, at a Socialist Party picnic at the Washington Monument. Walt had been raised as a Catholic and Ardelle as a Methodist, and together they came into the Religious Society of Friends, joining Portland Worship Group of Willamette Valley Meeting when they moved to Portland after World War II and helping to found Multnomah Meeting in Portland in 1958. When Walt suffered a serious heart attack in 1959, Ardelle, knowing she must be prepared to support herself and their three children, returned to college to qualify as a teacher. She taught English and Social Studies at David Douglas High School until her retirement in 1982. There she designed and directed the On-Campus Alternative program for struggling and disenchanted students, earning the respect of colleagues and students and a Teacher of Year award for Multnomah County in 1979. Active in Democratic Party politics, Ardelle served as a committee-woman and counted ballots for many years. She also gave lectures for the American Cancer Society. She served Multnomah Meeting for decades in many roles and was a gently welcoming soul for newcomers. She brought her compassion and love for all people into the religious community she had helped found. Her tenure as clerk of the Ministry and Oversight Committee taught many what it means to bring God’s love to the difficult situations the meeting and its members face in this life. Friends felt a sense of sweetness and acceptance in her presence, and at the same time they knew the firmness with which she could maintain a deeply held belief. The energy and growth of Ardelle’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren were a constant source of delight to her. Late in life Ardelle moved from the home she and Walt had built near Mount Hood into Oregon City to be near her children. Her sight failed and then her health, and knowing death was imminent, she said that she was ready. Ardelle’s husband, Walter Dennis, died in 1984. She is survived by her three children, John Dennis, Diane Dennis, and Emily Beeman Turnbow; four grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Gennett—Judith Gennett, 61, on November 24, 2011, in The Dalles, Oreg. Judith was born on November 15, 1950, in Birmingham, Ala. Growing up in Vestavia Hills, a suburb of Birmingham, Judith spent much time exploring the wooded hills near her home. She graduated from W.A. Berry High School in 1968 and from Earlham College in 1972. In 1974 she married Richard Day in Des Moines, Iowa. Her lifelong love of geology carried her through the geology program at University of Iowa, where she earned a Master’s Degree in Geology in 1977. After she graduated, she and Richard moved to Duluth, Minn., and she worked at University of Minnesota as a research specialist in the archaeometry laboratory investigating the archeology of Mediterranean coastal sites. With work primarily processing and identifying pollen from these archeological sites, she contributed to several publications the lab produced. Pursuing her interest in pollen and geology, she earned a PhD in Geology from Texas A&M University in 1993, her dissertation titled Palynology and Paleoecology of the San Miguel Lignite Deposit of Late Eocene Age, South Texas. In addition to geology, Judith studied genealogy and produced a volume of work related to her family history and provided information to the Find a Grave archives. She was a member of Live Oak Meeting in Houston, Tex. Judith began broadcasting a radio program called Raggle Taggle Gypsy in 1995, when she worked as a volunteer DJ at KEOS community radio in Bryan, Texas. After she moved with her family to The Dalles, Oreg., in 2000, she continued broadcasting her show through community radio KBOO and Portland State University student radio KPSU. She attended Mountain View Worship Group, which is under the care of Multnomah Meeting in Portland. She explored the geology of the Columbia Gorge, wrote stories and music, explored European folk music, and took her children camping in the British Isles several times. She studied the Finnish language and enjoyed most things Scandinavian. Her last radio broadcast was just two weeks before she died. Judith is survived by her husband, Richard Day; three children, Emma Workman (Jason), Ian Day-Gennett (Caitey), and Erin Alexis Day-Gennett; and one grandson, Victor Flores.

Hirabayashi—Gordon Hirabayashi, 93, on January 2, 2012, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Gordon was born in Seattle, Wash., on April 23, 1918. He was imprisoned in 1942, while he was a senior at University of Washington, for refusing to report as a person of Japanese ancestry for evacuation to an internment camp, instead turning himself in to the FBI to assert his belief that these orders were racially discriminatory. This case went to the U.S. Supreme Court. As an American citizen who was denied constitutional rights based on ancestry, he faced a dilemma: was it right to put his personal beliefs ahead of community anxieties and concerns? His conclusion, expressed in his statement to the FBI, was that the right to live and express oneself is over and above any man-made creed or law. Gordon hitchhiked to Arizona for his prison sentence. A member of Edmonton Meeting, Gordon was drawn to Friends emphasis on sincerity, the oneness of belief and practice, and pacifism, many of his parents’ beliefs and values being similar. He was the first chair of the Department of Sociology at University of Alberta and was the primary author of the book The Metis in Alberta Society, which influenced the government of Canada to establish a native friendship center. He also took part in the Edmonton Japanese Canadian Association. Gordon served on many committees in Canadian Yearly Meeting and Friends General Conference (FGC) and traveled frequently throughout North America to speak to students about his experiences and the importance of standing up for human rights. In 1985 he gave the Sunderland P. Gardner Lecture at Canadian Yearly Meeting entitled “Good Times, Bad Times: Idealism is Realism,” recounting his imprisonment experience and reflecting on the choices he had had to make. The challenge to seek the inner light is the essence of an idealism that is often the only realistic position, Gordon believed. He said, “We are always living in uncertain times. . . . Whence comes the light to guide us, particularly in heretofore uncharted waters? Whence comes the essential strength to follow the light, especially when [it involves] social risks?” He also felt that one of the realistic contributions Friends can make is to cultivate and practice silence, saying that “when we become truly at home with silence, it can be a healing and an interconnecting arm.” In 1987, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Court overturned his wartime convictions. He was interviewed on 60 Minutes, and PBS broadcast a documentary about him. The remnants of the prison camp buildings are used for a recreation area that was developed on the site and named after Gordon. In April 2012, after Gordon’s death, the U. S. government awarded him the American Medal of Freedom at the White House, with his wife, Susan Carnahan, accepting it for him. He is survived by his wife of 25 years, Susan Carnahan, and other family members too numerous to list.

Krisher—Frederick Dale Krisher, 74, on March 9, 2012, in Cincinnati, Ohio, shortly after going into hospice care. Fred was born on December 22, 1937, in Massillon, Ohio, to Harriet Wardell and Sheldon Krisher. He graduated from Wilmington College with a BA in 1959 and married Mary Ellen Hadley in 1961. Fred served as clerk of the Board of Trustees of Cincinnati Meeting for many years and also as Treasurer of Wilmington Yearly Meeting. After he retired from Cincinnati Financial Corporation in Fairfield in 2004, he and Mary Ellen moved to Clarksville, Ohio, her childhood home, but remained active members of Cincinnati Meeting, and after he retired, he worked on several Friends Disaster Service projects. Throughout the years, he was an active alumnus of Wilmington College, serving on the Board of Trustees and the Presidential Search Committee. Passionate about gardening, he was president of the Cincinnati Daylily and Hosta Society and was involved from the beginning with the Grow Food, Grow Hope Community Garden Initiative on the Wilmington College campus, serving as a gardening mentor for participants. The Grow Food, Grow Hope blog said that he “imparted his love for gardening and his community with unrelenting enthusiasm.” After his death, his family created the Fred Krisher Grow Food, Grow Hope Endowment Fund to promote community gardens, educational initiatives, and gardening workshops. Fred is survived by his wife, Mary Ellen Krisher; three daughters, Rebecca Krisher (Jason Herrick), Rachel Miller (Jeffrey), and Sarah Wyckoff (Chad); four grandchildren, Ellen Miller, Andrew Wyckoff, and Seth Wyckoff; and one brother, James Krisher (Donna).

Leuze—Sarah Strong Harwood Leuze, 71, on October 17, 2010, in New York City, from multiple myeloma. Sarah was born on December 13, 1938, in Washington, D.C., to Jessie Cutler and Paul Harwood, biologists who lived in College Park, Md. She grew up in Ohio, moving to New York after graduating from Ohio State University. Sarah married Robert Leuze in 1969 at Union Theological Seminary in a service conducted by the Rev. Walter Wink. They moved to an apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in 1970, and she worked as a psychotherapist in private practice for over 20 years. She began regularly attending Morningside Meeting in New York City in the early 1980s and soon joined the meeting. She served as clerk, as a member of the Ministry and Counsel Committee, on the Nominating Committee, and on many clearness and support committees. She was also a member of one of the meeting’s Spiritual Nurture groups. Always alert to the needs of others, she made special efforts to welcome new attenders and help them to feel at home. She saw deeply, spoke her truth clearly, and loved and accepted Friends for who they were. She was a gifted psychotherapist, poet, and adventurer. Although she was diagnosed in 2000 with a prognosis of five years of life remaining, she lived ten more years with grace, joy, courage, and love. Sarah is survived by her husband, Robert Leuze, and her sister, Ann Minot Harwood.

Parker—Helen Borton Parker, 95, on June 29, 2012, at Friends Homes Guilford. Helen was born on December 1, 1916, in Waban, Mass. She was a member of the class of 1934 at Westtown School, and she received a Bachelor of Science in 1938 and a master’s in Textile Chemistry in 1939 from Pennsylvania State University. She and Clarence M. Parker married in 1943. A member of Willistown Meeting in Newtown Square, Pa., she also sojourned at Friendship Meeting in Greensboro, N.C. She was active in Chester County Girl Scouts and enjoyed the outdoors, gardening, hiking, and camping with scouts and family. Helen taught in and led the departments of Home Economics at West Chester High School and Downingtown High School. She taught early childhood development and was a master teacher at Immaculata University. A founding member of QUIP (Quakers Uniting in Publications), she served as treasurer in the 1980s and traveled to meetings in the United States and Great Britain into the 1990s for the organization. Helen assisted with preparations to create the Quaker Tapestry, organizing and leading a stitching skills workshop for a panel to be stitched in Pennsylvania. Later, in Greensboro, she arranged for the tapestry to be exhibited at Guilford College. She was clerk of the board of trustees of New Garden Friends School, and the board recognized her for six years of spirit-led service to the school, citing her clarification of the school’s organizational structure; her identification, hiring, and support of new co-heads; and her fostering of the school’s Quaker identify by the example of her character. A convinced Quaker, Helen embraced plain speech: Friends were often greeted with: “It is wonderful to hear thy voice / have thee here.” Helen is survived by her husband, Clarence M. Parker, a son, Murray B. Parker; a daughter, Janet Parker DeLaney; a grandson, Robert M. Parker; and a granddaughter, Catharine Parker Reusch.

Porter—Virgil R. Porter, 88, on March 10, 2012, in Wilmington, Ohio, after a brief hospital stay. Virgil was born on October 8, 1923, in Silverton, Ohio, to Jennie Hadley and Walter H. Porter. Growing up in a Quaker family, he attended Cincinnati Meeting all his life, starting as a child when the meetinghouse was on Eden Avenue. He graduated from Sycamore High School and Wilmington College, majoring in math and minoring in chemistry. After college, he worked first for Ashland Oil and later as a chemist at the Hilton Davis Chemical plant in the Pleasant Ridge neighborhood in Cincinnati. He married Ruby Edwards in 1949, and they lived for a while in Loveland, Ohio, before moving into the house where his parents had lived since 1926, off Cornell Road in Montgomery, Ohio. In the early 1960s, Virgil was on Cincinnati Meeting’s Board of Trustees and on the Building Committee, facilitating the construction of the meetinghouse on Keller Road. He also served for many years on the meeting’s Burial Committee, arranging burials for Cincinnati Friends in the Quaker section of Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. He was active in Miami-Center Quarterly Meeting and Wilmington Yearly Meeting, serving on the Finance and on the Evangelism and Church Extension Committees. He retired from 37 years of work at Hilton Davis in 1985, and although he and Ruby moved back to Wilmington, they continued to attend Cincinnati Meeting. Virgil is survived by his wife, Ruby Edwards Porter; one son, Jerry Porter (Sheila); two daughters, Bonita Porter (Robert LaGesse) and Kathy Haggerty (Bruce); one brother, Hershel Porter (Angela); one sister, Eleanor Muchmore; one grandchild, Krista Porter Henson; and three step-grandchildren, Lilia LaGesse, Nicholas LaGesse, and Joseph Walker.

Potter—Stanley A. Potter, 99, on January 13, 2012, in Portland, Oreg. Stan was born on January 6, 1913, in Stamford, Conn. Growing up in difficult circumstances, as a teenager he provided fish and eels for family dinners from the 16-foot flat-bottomed sailboat that he had built. Graduating from the local public high school, he could not afford to go to college, and after a short period in the 1930s working as a caregiver and companion to a young disabled man, his life and work were tied to the sea. In 1936, he signed on as an apprentice draftsman at Luders shipyard in Stamford. During World War II he designed hulls for navy ships, winning a first and second prize. From 1946 to 1952 he designed eight boats for Sparkman and Stephens, including a 95-foot motor-sailer for Harold Vanderbilt. For the next 20 years, he designed and supervised construction of working boats, including many ocean-going fishing vessels, one steam-powered ferry (Woods Hole-Nantucket), and three oceanographic research vessels. One ship for Antarctic research, the Hero, was powered by diesel with auxiliary sails, and its shakedown cruise in the broken ice, 50-knot winds, and heavy seas of the Arctic and Greenland is described on the site, www.palmerstation.com/hero/newship.html. Early in his life ,Stan and his wife, Jean Parker Waterbury, were members of meetings in Lynn, Mass., and Cambridge, Mass. When he lived in North Carolina, he established a worship group in Beaufort, N.C., and was a member of the Guilford College Board of Visitors. In 1972, soon after retiring, Stan and Jean served as resident Friends at the Quaker Center in Mt. Eden, New Zealand. After that they moved to Damariscotta, Maine, joining Midcoast Meeting. In 1988, Stan designed the Elizabeth II, a full-size replica of Sir Walter Raleigh’s ship that had been sent to establish a colony in coastal North Carolina, and the Susan Constant, a 100-ton replica of the largest of three ships that had established the Jamestown colony. He moved to Oregon in 1992 to be near his daughter and in 1993 transferred his membership to Multnomah Meeting in Portland. As long as his health permitted, he was active in the meeting, serving on the finance committee and the property committee. In 2003, he sketched out possibilities for a remodeled and expanded meetinghouse. He was a warm supporter of families with small children, making dollhouses and other toys at Christmas. He had read all 20 of Patrick O’Brian’s Jack Aubrey series of British naval history novels. In his last year, he read and discussed Winston Churchill’s six-volume The Second World War, Shelby Foote’s three-volume The Civil War: A Narrative, and Daniel Yergin’s The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power. Until a month before he died, he continued to read and express his reactions to what he read, particularly to articles in the Economist. He was preceded in death by his wife, Jean Potter, and one son, David Potter. He is survived by his daughter, Ann Jalo; one son, Jonathan; six grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

Thompson (Berleman)—Gregory Thompson, 62, on October 23, 2011, in the United Kingdom, of liver failure related to kidney cancer. Greg was born on July 17, 1949, in Portland, Oreg., to Rosemary Lapham and Leslie Thompson. After his parents separated, Greg spent time in foster care, and when his mother married William Berleman, the family moved to Seattle. His stepfather adopted him, and Greg’s last name was Berleman for much of his life. Greg found Quakers through a friend while in high school. He was active in the Junior Friends Program and the adult meeting. After he graduated from high school, he spent a year in California with his biological father and stepmother, joining Marloma Long Beach Meeting. He returned to Seattle, earning a degree in history from University of Washington and a master’s in Eduational Counseling from Lewis and Clark College. He transferred his membership to University Meeting when he returned to Seattle. In 1973 Greg married Janet Jump under the joint care of University Meeting and Multnomah Meeting in Portland. Over the years he served Friends at both the local and Yearly Meeting levels. As a young adult, he coordinated the NPYM Children’s program for several years and worked with the Junior Friends. After a brief time in Seattle, the couple moved to Portland, and he transferred his membership to Multnomah Meeting, serving as recording clerk. Greg worked for Portland Public Schools as a school counselor in middle school and high school, retiring after 30 years of service. As part of his coming out and finding himself, Janet and Greg divorced in 1999, and he reassumed his biological father’s last name. He found companionship with Doug Michaels from 2003 to 2010 when he moved to England to be with Mark Jordan. In England he reconnected with Friends and attended a local meeting in Canterbury. In the spring of 2011, he was diagnosed with cancer, and surgery in August revealed that it was much more pervasive than had been expected. Greg is survived by two children, Ethan Berleman and Rachel Berleman, and two half-sisters, Kaija Berleman and Mara Berleman.

Welch—Toni Lynette Welch, 43, on June 30, 2012, in Philadelphia, Pa. Toni was born on October 21, 1968, in Shreveport, La., to Barbara and Buddy Welch. Her mother was a teacher, and her father was an agent for the FBI. She grew up in Somerdale, N.J., in Baptist and Presbyterian churches. After attending Paul VI Catholic High School, She earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Psychology and a doctorate in Neuropsychology from Drexel University, completing a PhD Clerkship in New York. She lived in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Toni and Michael Moulton met at Drexel in 1988, and they married in the Unitarian faith in 1994. She later became a member of Germantown Meeting in Philadelphia. Toni and Michael chose the name for their daughter, Evangeline, for its roots in the literature and lore of Louisiana, and the name for their son, Elias, for its connection to Quaker history. Interested in religion and spirituality, especially mindfulness and Native American beliefs, Toni shared love, time, laughter, and opinions freely—drawing into her circle many people who shared an affinity for her honest, direct, and caring way. Her level of gusto on evenings out with the girls led Michael to joke with her that she should take bail money just in case. She read widely, and she especially liked fantasy, science fiction, and forensic brain research. She found other book lovers wherever she went and liked to trade authors and titles with them. In her last years she wrote outlines for two books: an autobiographically-based story set in 1984 South New Jersey called Not Being Juliette, and a paranormal thriller/romance called Velvet Sky: Seduced by Shadows. Reflecting on her parents before she died, she wrote about the love, joy, and self-confidence they had taught her. Friends held a prayer group in the manner of Quakers at home with her on many Fridays. She picked up archery late in her illness, saying that it was a way for her to stretch her upper body to help with the complications from her chest wall resection surgery. She was greatly buoyed by the outpouring of love at two benefits held in her honor that raised over $12,000 for the Cancer Support Community of Philadelphia: one a performance of Little Women at the Old Academy Players, organized by friends the Pifer-Hobbs family, and the second a row-a-thon fundraiser, organized by the rowing team at William Penn Charter School, where Michael teaches and coaches. Never blind to the grim statistical reality of her kind of aggressive cancer, when she discovered the cancer had spread to her brain, and gamma knife surgery in early May 2012 didn’t restore the energy needed to continue treatment, she decided to enter into hospice care at home. Michael kept an account of Toni’s struggle with cancer at www.twitter.com/ourtoni. At the time of her death, along with Entertainment Weekly, she was reading a text titled “Acalculia Outline” from researcher William MacAlister as well as the Psychology Press paper, “A Case of Unusual Autobiographical Remembering.” She wrote in her journal about her care and urged the same dignity and rights for more marginalized people struggling with brain disorders and chemical dependencies. The last thing she wrote was left on a pad of paper by her chair at a time when she couldn’t move or speak much, with only her name on the top and the line, “They will take care of me.” Toni was preceded in death by her sister, Kim Welch, in 1987. She is survived by her husband, Michael Moulton; two children, Evangeline and Elias Moulton; and her parents, Barbara and Buddy Welch. For those desiring, donations in Toni’s memory may be given to the Cancer Support Community of Philadelphia, 4100 Chamounix Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19131.
Winchester—Robert Stine Winchester, 86, on February 16, 2011, in Tucson, Ariz. Bob was born on August 30, 1924, in Albany, N.Y., to Lois and Harold Winchester. He graduated from Albany High School and entered Wesleyan College, interrupting his education to serve in World War II as a pilot in the 9th Army Air Force, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross Air Medal. After the war he returned to Wesleyan and went on to graduate studies in Public Administration at Syracuse University. He married Ann Robinson in 1949 and served in the Air National Guard from 1950-53. His career as a management consultant in human resources, budget and fiscal matters, and organizational development took him to several cities, including Chicago, where he met Louise David, whom he married in 1967. Bob and Louise were active with the Reevaluation Counseling community in the Washington, D.C., area. As a member of Friends Meeting of Washington, Bob shone with positive light, and life and music flowed through and around him. He sang with major choirs and orchestras, including performances at the National Cathedral with Leonard Bernstein directing and at the Lincoln Memorial for Robert Kennedy’s memorial service. A reaction to chemical overexposure in 1976 necessitated moves to other parts of the country in search of a non-toxic environment, and in 1981, Bob and Louise moved to Patagonia, Ariz., where despite lingering chemical sensitivity he was active in the community. Bob transferred his membership to Pima Meeting in Tucson in 1983. In 1990, after obtaining an master’s degree in counseling from University of Arizona, he established a counseling practice. Bob served on the boards of the Pima Council on Aging and the Southeastern Arizona Behavioral Health Services and worked with the Veterans Administration to set up a counseling program and PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome) support group at Davis Monthan Air Force Base. Bob and Louise eventually moved from Patagonia into a retirement community in Tucson. In meeting for worship at Pima, his vocal ministries, spoken with a resonant voice, were a joyful inspiration. During a program of spiritual storytelling, he spoke movingly of how music had sustained him and had become part of his own reconciliation with difficult wartime memories. Despite the difficulties he faced, he looked for the joyful aspects of life and was a positive, empathetic presence among Friends. In 2006, he was diagnosed with bone cancer. Bob was preceded in death by his first wife, Ann Robinson, and his son, Richard David. He is survived by his wife, Louise Diane Winchester; a son, Dennis David; three daughters, Robin Winchester Burchfield (Robert), Starrly Winchester, and Libby Winchester McDowell (Michael); five grandchildren, Carl Yetter III, Korena David, Brian Yetter, Emily McDowell, and Andrea McDowell; and two great-granddaughters, Natalie Szerszenski and Emily Burchfield.