Friends United Meeting |
 |
April 2004
Passages
Births
To Andrew and PennyJo Zellers, a son, Tristan Christopher, December 4, 2003, Wabash Friends Meeting, Indiana.
Deaths
BRAXTON Viola Andrew Braxton, 98, January 29, 2004, First Friends Meeting,
Greensboro, North Carolina. Viola was a member of First Friends Meeting
since 1942, where she was a Sunday school teacher, choir member and active
with various Meeting functions. She wrote the history of the First Friends
Choir and was the writer of memorials for Meeting members. She was also
Meeting publicity chairman for many years. She was a charter and life member
(more than 50 years) of the North Carolina Wildflower Society and wrote
their newsletter for 10 years. She was a member, past president, secretary
and project chairman for the Greensboro Wildflower Club. She was preceded in
death by her husband, Walter B. Braxton; her parents, Julius Weldon Andrew
and Nannie Zachary Andrew; three brothers and one sister. Survivors include
one niece, Edith Braxton Terry; one grandniece, Pearl Woellner; and other
nieces and nephews.
BROWN Edward T. S. Brown, 93, February 16, 2003, Plainfield Friends Meeting,
Indiana. Edward was born October 4, 1909 in Monroe County, Indiana where his
father, Oliver W. Brown, was professor of chemistry at Indiana University.
His family moved to a farm west of Plainfield and they joined Plainfield
Friends Meeting in 1913. Ed graduated from Indiana University in 1932 with a
major in chemistry and minors in botany and geology. He excelled as a member
of the track team establishing several school records. He returned to
Plainfield where he married Idrene Pickett, a birthright Quaker from the
Sugar Grove area. They farmed the family farm and became known for raising
and exhibiting purebred livestock at state fairs and International Livestock
Expositions across the country. Ed was named to the Indiana Livestock
Breeders Hall of Fame at Purdue University in 1984. Ed was a member of
Plainfield Meeting and was an active and faithful member. In his later years
he was best known as the “the door man.” Ed was preceeded in death by his
wife, Idrene. Survivors include two daughters, Alice Rebecca Brown and
Mildred Elizabeth Moore.
EDGERTON William B. Edgerton, 89, February 8, 2004, Bloomington Friends
Meeting, Indiana. William was born March 11, 1914, in Winston-Salem, North
Carolina. He received his B.A. from Guilford College, his M.A. from
Haverford College and his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He taught at
Indiana University from 1958 until his retirement in 1983. A member of
Bloomington Friends Meeting, Bill performed alternative service during and
following World War II, working in refugee camps in North Africa and Europe.
At the end of World War II, he helped organize the first large-scale program
to identify children forcibly relocated and return them to their families.
Following the normalization of U.S.-Soviet diplomatic relations in 1954, he
was among the first Americans to visit the Soviet Union, traveling at the
invitation of the U.S. State Department as a member of a delegation of
Quakers and other religious representatives. In 1968, he spent a sabbatical
year in Washington working on peace issues as a representative of the
Friends Committee on National Legislation. He was an active opponent of the
death penalty in Indiana. Following his retirement, he continued to support
a variety of causes in the areas of human rights, the environment and world
peace. He wrote for Quaker Life magazine (for example, see
http://www.fum.org/QL/issues/9905/edgerton.htm). He spoke eight languages
fluently and published numerous books, translations, and scholarly articles
on Russian literature and on relations between Russian literature and the
literatures of Europe and the Western Hemisphere. He was preceded in death
by his parents, Paul Clifton Edgerton and Annie Maude Benbow Edgerton; his
wife, Jewell Mock Conrad Edgerton; and two sisters, Ann Edgerton and Sara
(Sally) Whitley. Survivors include one daughter, Susan C. Edgerton; one son,
David C. Edgerton; five grandchildren, Elizabeth DiPasquale, Mary Margaret
Bradshaw, Eric Bradshaw, Jessica Edgerton and Hannah Edgerton; and three
great-grandchildren, Brandi, Nicole and Alexandria DiPasquale.
GIBBLE Bernice Tharp Gibble, 97, October 29, 2003, Portland Friends Meeting, Indiana. Bernice was born August 9, 1906, to Jesse and Cora (Parrett) Tharp. She was a long-time business teacher at Portland High School. She graduated from Ball State and earned a Masters Degree from George Washington University in Washington D.C. On June 11, 1941, she married Ralph M. Gibble. Active at Portland Friends, she served on the Christian Education Committee as well as the Music Committee. She was a pianist for the church for many years, accompanied the choir and played for special programs including Bible School. She also was an auditor for Portland Friends Monthly Meeting. She was active in the Jay Co. Retired Teachers Association, Jay Co. Arts Council, Eastern Star, Jay Co. Historical Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of American Colonists, Delta Kappa Gamma National Teacher’s Organization, American Association of University Women and Cincinnatus League, who named her Jay County Woman of the Year in 1990. Bernice was preceded in death by her husband, Ralph Gibble. Survivors include two nieces, two nephews and one brother, Albert.
HOLLISTER Barrett (Barry) Hollister, 89, February 6, 2004, Yellow Springs Friends Meeting, Ohio. Barry was born February 24, 1914 in Omaha, Nebraska. He entered Antioch College at age 16 in 1930, beginning a lifelong relationship with the College where he later taught and was a longtime faculty member and administrator. He did graduate work at Syracuse University. A conscientious objector during World War II, he was a dedicated pacifist whose work took him to Switzerland and New York City for leadership positions with the American Friends Service Committee, 1954-56, and the Quaker United Nations Office, 1969-78. He was clerk of Friends General Conference from 1959 to 1969. In 1968, he was one of two U.S. delegates representing the Religious Society of Friends at the World Council of Churches meeting in Uppsala, Sweden. After his 1978 retirement, he and his wife, Kay, moved back to Yellow Springs, Ohio. He volunteered with the American Friends Service Committee, Friends Committee on National Legislation plus other groups. The couple also traveled the world. Survivors include his wife, Kay; and their children, Rob, Don, Virginia Freeman and Joan Hollister and six grandchildren.
HUMMEL Garnet (Bubp) Hummel, 87, August 24, 2003, Portland Friends Meeting, Indiana. Garnet was born in Jay County, Indiana on December 16, 1915, to Clifford and Bertha (Garringer) Bubp. She was married on February 3, 1940, to Willard Hummel. She was a homemaker and co-owner and bookkeeper for Hummel Garage. Active in her Meeting, she patiently taught the wee ones in Sunday School and was an excellent Vacation Bible School worker. Garnet was preceded in death by her husband, Willard Hummel. Survivors include three sons, Joe, Herbert and Tom; one daughter, Carol Shears; one brother, Marion Bubp; one sister, Kathryn Shreeve; nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
KEFFABER Otis E. Keffaber, 83, January 11, 2004, Wabash Friends Church, Indiana. Otis was born August 22, 1920, to Harry and Marie Hippensteel Keffaber. He married Mary Katherine Schoby on June 19, 1942. He attended Purdue University and was a World War II Navy veteran. A retired farmer, he raised purebred Duroc hogs. He was also employed at Anaconda Wire, Marion, Indiana. He was a member of Wabash Friends Church and the Wabash Lions Club. Survivors include his wife, Mary; three sons, Stephen, James and Kerry Keffaber; three daughters, Kathleen Kellam, Kristine Dickinson and Lola Smith; two sisters, Ruthanna Christie and Maxine Brown; 16 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by one brother, Paul Keffaber, and one sister, Betty Dowling. The memorial guest book can be signed online at www.grandstaff-hentgen.com.
MORRIS Robert Josiah Morris, 77, January 4, 2004, Bloomingdale Friends
Meeting, Indiana. Robert was born January 20, 1926, the son of Ralph and
Mary Morris. He was a birthright member of the Bloomingdale Friends Meeting,
where his great-grandfather, Zachariah Morris, homesteaded the family farm
in the early 1800s. Upon graduating from Purdue University in 1948, he
worked in the California Lawrence Laboratories as an electrical engineer.
Survivors include his wife, Mary Jo (Darby) Morris; two sons Mahlen and
Clark; one grandson, Kyle; and two sisters.
WHITE Luella M. White, 99, February 9, 2004, West Richmond Friends, Indiana. Born in Jonesboro, Indiana on June 23, 1904, she was the daughter of Elwood H. and Amanda Luella Rush Garner. She attended Earlham College and was a member of West Richmond Friends, and the United Society of Friends Women. She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert W. White; three sisters, Wilda Henry, Adriene Arnett and Mary Ruth Collett; and two brothers, Murvel and Eldridge Garner. Survivors include one daughter, Esther White Sunderland.; two sons, Stanley Garner White and Edwin E. White; seven grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and nieces and nephews.
WORLEY Earl J. Worley, 92, February 5, 2004, Winchester Friends Church, Indiana. Earl was born November 4, 1911, the son of Booker and Ida Smith Worley. He married Alta M. Pierson. He was the owner and operator of Worley Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, and later went into a partnership as Worley and Barnes Refrigeration and Air Conditioning. Earl was a member of Winchester Friends Church, the Lions Club, and the Masonic Lodge and Scottish Rite. Earl was preceded in death by his wife, Alta M. (Pierson) Worley; and five sisters Sarah Worley, Irene Lacey, Ruth Osthoff, Virginia Taylor and Hazel Dickey. Survivors include one daughter, Sondra S. Barnes; two sisters, Marie Robbins and V. Marcile Jarrett; two granddaughters, Marcia Barnes and Stacey Williamson; five great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
Copyright (c) 2004 Friends United Meeting
Return to March 2004 Contents page