April 21, 2005

OBITUARIES

Katharine Maxwell Hollister

Katharine (Kay) Maxwell Hollister of Yellow Springs died peacefully at home on Wednesday, April 13, two days before her 91st birthday.

Born in Chicago on April 15, 1914, she was the daughter of Donald Heberd Maxwell and Virginia Senseney Maxwell. She grew up in Wilmette, Ill.

A longtime resident of Yellow Springs, Kay first came to town in the 1930s to study at Antioch College. After graduation she went on to get her MA in education from Northwestern University and taught elementary school in Winnetka, Ill., and the Antioch School in Yellow Springs. While teaching in Winnetka, she was visited by fellow Antioch alumnus Barrett Hollister. They fell in love and married in December 1941.

Kay was a devoted mother who focused on raising her four children. An active member of the Yellow Springs Friends Meeting since the early 1940s, she had a passion for religious education. She served on a national Quaker religious education committee for over 40 years, contributing to Sunday school curriculum development and teacher training. Though Yellow Springs was always home, twice she and Barry moved their brood for two-year Quaker service stints, once to Geneva, Switzerland, and once to Philadelphia.

Continuing her mother’s activism in the women’s right-to-vote move- ment, Kay was a member of the local League of Women Voters for 60 years, serving three times as chapter presi- dent. When she and Barry moved to New York City she spent nine years as the hostess of Quaker House while Barry directed the Quaker United Nations Office.

Kay was preceded in death by Barrett Hollister, her husband of 62 years. In their final years, Kay and Barry were cared for by their son Don.

She is survived by her children and in-laws, Robert Hollister and Catherine Donaher of Brookline, Mass., Ginny and Carl Freeman of Arcadia, Mich., Joan Hollister and Greg Finger of Wallkill, N.Y., and Don Hollister of Yellow Springs; grandchildren, Caitlin, Susannah, Emily and Rebecca Hollister, Brook (and Beth Atkinson) and Heather Freeman; two brothers, George Maxwell of Longmont, Colo., and Donald Maxwell of Redondo Beach, Calif.; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A memorial service is planned for Sunday, May 8, at 9:30 a.m., at Rockford Chapel on the Antioch College campus. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Friends General Conference (Religious Education Committee), 1216 Arch Street, Philadelphia 19107 or the Greater Dayton Area League of Women Voters, 131 North Ludlow Street, Talbott Tower, Suite 1208, Dayton, 45402-1703.

Gale D. Oswalt

Gale D. Oswalt of Troy died Monday, April 11, in Friends Care Community. He was 64.

Born Dec. 13, 1940 in Covington, he was the son of Charles W. and Bertha Kairchner Oswalt. He worked at RT Industries, the city of Troy and Ernst Gravel Company. He was a member of the Grace Brethren Church in Troy.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

He is survived by his son, Randy Weaver of Troy; brother, Dale Oswalt of Holly Lake Ranch, Texas; and sisters and brothers-in-law, Janet and Allen Burlile of Fletcher, Ohio, Betty and Donald Littlejohn and Lennett and Lester Francis, all of Troy.

Services were held Thursday, April 14, in the Baird Funeral Home in Troy, with burial following in Miami Memorial Park in Covington.