February 12, 2004

OBITUARIES

Barrett Hollister

Barrett Hollister of Yellow Springs died on Friday, Feb. 6, at Greene Memorial Hospital, just short of his 90th birthday.

Born on Feb. 24, 1914, in Omaha, Neb., he was the son of Dr. Robert R. and Susan Holdrege Hollister. He grew up in Irvington, Neb., and entered Antioch College at 16 in 1930. One of three brothers who studied at Antioch, he graduated in 1936 and did graduate study at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. His experience as an Antioch student shaped his lifelong commitment to community government and resolving international conflicts.

Barry Hollister devoted his life to his family and to Antioch College and a wide range of Quaker activities. He married Katherine (Kay) Maxwell in 1941. They raised their four children in Yellow Springs. They spent occasional periods elsewhere, but the strong magnet of Yellow Springs always pulled them back. Yellow Springs was the focus of their lives, their community and spiritual anchor.
His brothers also settled in the area, Russell in Yellow Springs and Nathaniel in Dayton. Their parents retired here, living much of the time with Barry and Kay’s family.

Barry’s extensive participation in town affairs included four years on the school board, of which he was president for a period. He took great pride in having served as drafting secretary of the Yellow Springs Charter Commission. He imbued his children with his passion for civic work and building community.
In recent years, he enjoyed discussing world problems and local issues with the group of village residents he called the “Board of Directors,” who convened each day over coffee at The Emporium.

He was hired as an instructor at Antioch in 1937 and for the next 30 years worked there as a professor and an administrator. As professor of political science he relished teaching courses in both local government and international relations. He served on the staff of the work/study co-op program, as dean of students, as associate to the president under President Douglas McGregor and director of international education.

One of the generation of World War II pacifists, he devoted his life to promoting world peace. During the war he worked for the National Service Board of Religious Objectors and did civilian public service as a conscientious objector. He was an active Quaker since 1940, and served as clerk (chairman) of the Friends General Conference, a national organization of Quakers, from 1959 to 1969.
During two leaves of absence from Antioch he worked for the American Friends Service Committee to resolve and prevent international conflicts. From 1954 to 1956 he directed the AFSC’s office in Geneva, Switzerland, organizing conferences of diplomats from different sides of the Cold War. From 1961 to 1963, he directed the international affairs office of the AFSC in Philadelphia. In 1969 he moved to New York City to direct the Quaker United Nations Office, where he was a leader in the large group of nongovernmental organizations that have formal status with the United Nations. At Quaker House in New York, he and Kay hosted over a thousand off-the-record meetings of U.N. delegates and NGO representatives.

After retiring in 1978, he moved back to Yellow Springs and was a volunteer leader in Quaker activities, serving on the board of directors of the American Friends Service Committee, Friends Committee on National Legislation and other groups. He was on the board of directors of the Dayton Council on World Affairs and active in the League of Women Voters.

He and Kay traveled abroad frequently, often to participate in international Quaker gatherings. Over a 50-year period, Barry’s passports show entry stamps for 30 countries in six continents.

In his retirement years, he took special pleasure in following his son Don’s community initiatives in Yellow Springs. He commented more than once, “When he was growing up, Don was known as Kay and Barry’s son. Now it’s fun to be known locally as Don Hollister’s father.”

He is survived by his wife, Kay Hollister; his sister, Marjorie Wilson of South Bend, Ind.; and his brothers, Russell Hollister of Santa Barbara, Calif., and Nathaniel Hollister of Miami; his son Rob Hollister and daughter-in-law Catherine Donaher of Brookline, Mass., and their daughters, Caitlin and Susannah Hollister; his daughter and son-in-law Virginia and Carl Freeman of Arcadia, Mich., and their son, Brook, and daughter, Heather; his daughter Joan Hollister and son-in-law Greg Finger of Walkill, N.Y.; and his son, Don Hollister of Yellow Springs and his daughters, Emily and Rebecca Hollister; and 19 nieces and nephews.
A memorial service is planned for Saturday, Feb. 28. In lieu of flowers, people are invited to contribute to the Chatterjee Fund for peace education activities at Antioch College, c/o Development Office, Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387.

Eleanor Keats

Former local resident Eleanor Keats, an artist and writer, died on Saturday, Jan. 31, following a lengthy illness. She was 73.

She was born in New York City on Aug. 6, 1930, and educated at Cornell University, the University of Denver, Juilliard School of Music, Staatliche Hochschule fur Musik in Hamburg and the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris.

She lived in Yellow Springs from 1957 until 1975. She was instructor of voice at Antioch College and Central State University. While she lived in Yellow Springs, she sang in public many times at Antioch, Springfield and Dayton. Her husband, Donald Keats, taught music at Antioch.

The Keatses have lived in the Denver area since 1975. She taught writing at the University of Denver and creative writing at the Community College of Aurora.
Her poetry appeared in such publications as The Antioch Review, Denver Quarterly, Bloomsbury Review and Paris Tribune. She published two books of poetry, A Water Cycle, published in 1986 and An Olive Tree Cycle in 2003. She was nearing the completion of her third collection of poetry at the time of her death. Her articles appeared in the Rocky Mountain News, The Los Angeles Times and Boston Globe.

Mrs. Keats was predeceased by her son, Jeremy.

She is survived by her husband, Donald; children, Gigi and Oscar Pagani, Jeffrey and Lynne Keats and Jocelyn and Todd Upton; and four grandchildren, Allegra Michael, Alessandra and Julian.

Services were held Thursday, Feb. 5, at Temple Emanuel, Denver, with interment at Emanuel Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Marin and Cure Autism Now.

Cleola J. Ames

Cleola J. Ames died on Saturday, Jan. 31. She was 67.

Born on Aug. 18, 1936, in Birmingham, Ala., she was the daughter of Cleadus T. and Lula L. Jones.

She graduated from Brighton High School in 1954 and went on to further her education at West Virginia State in Charleston, W.Va., and Dayton School of Practical Nursing, where she graduated in 1964. She also received a bachelor’s degree in Christian education from International Apostolic University of Grace and Truth in July 2003.

She joined Middle Run Baptist Church in Xenia and became a member of First Baptist Church in Yellow Springs in 1980. She also belonged to Greater Grace Temple.

Mrs. Ames was employed as a nurse at Miami Valley Hospital and Greene Memorial Hospital. She volunteered for the American Cancer Society, the National Day of Prayer World Vision-Bread Baskets, prison ministry at the Mon-Day Center of Dayton and Women’s Aglow.

She proposed establishing a library at Greater Grace Temple in 1985 and became director of the temple’s library department. She was also involved with many other ministries at Greater Grace Temple, such as alter ministries, park ministries, prison ministries, nursing home ministries, senior citizen choir and the leadership staff.

She also sang with the InFlamatur Singers of Springfield. She had a green thumb, and was a creative artist.

She is survived by her husband of 47 years, Quinn E. Ames Jr., with whom she had three children, Quinn E. Ames III, Fay L. Ames and DeWayne M. Ames.
Funeral services were held Friday, Feb. 6, at First Baptist Church in Yellow Springs with burial following in Dayton National Cemetery.

Mary Lacy

Mary Elizabeth Lacy of Enon died Friday, Feb. 6, in Friends Care Community. She was 82.

Born March 22, 1921 in Elyria, Ohio, she was the daughter of Jaspar and Mary (Havris) Ballas.

Mary married Lt. Andrew C. Lacy, a lifelong acquaintance, on July 8, 1944, during World War II. She almost became a widow before she had a chance to become a mother. Andrew was shot down and was missing for two months before Mary was notified that he was alive and had been returned from POW captivity to Allied control.

She devoted her life to being a wife to her husband and a mother for her family. She was a proud and skilled homemaker.

She was a longtime member of the Knob Prairie United Church of Christ in Enon.
She was preceded in death by her parents and two brothers.

She is survived by her husband; children, Dennis Gene Lacy of Memphis, Lynette Sue and Bruce Buchanan of Hutchinson, Kan., and Cynthia Ann and Ron Culbertson of Springfield; and six grandchildren, Marda, Wyatt, Laura, Kelly, Sean and Benjamin.

Funeral services were held on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Adkins Funeral Home in Enon, with interment in the Enon Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 2634 Lexington Avenue, Springfield, Ohio 45505.

Mary FitzSimons

Mary FitzSimons of Yellow Springs, formerly of Euclid, died on Saturday, Feb. 7, in Friends Care Community. She was 83.

She was born on June 12, 1921, in Chicago. She was a member of Holy Cross Parish in Euclid for many years.

She was preceded in death by her husband, William.

Mary is survived by her children, Philip and Dana FitzSimons, Brian and Frances FitzSimons, Mary Ellen and Patrick Graham, Marcia and Eliot Christian, Peggy and George Kalkas, Sheila and Rich Miller and Michael FitzSimons; and 18 grandchildren.

A funeral mass was held on Monday, Feb. 9, in the Holy Cross Church in Euclid. Memorial donations may be made to Friends Care Community.