Yale Divinity School

Notes from 2008

H. Verdain Barnes ’61 B.D.  Retired from academic medicine, Verdain continues to be active in the medical profession.  He is University Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Pediatrics at Wright State University where he had served as Chair of the Department of Medicine for eleven years.  Currently he is Clinical Professor of Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine and the Medical College of Georgia.  Verdain wrote, “My main activities include golf, serving as a peer reviewer for Annals of Internal Medicine and Archives of Internal Medicine, serving on the editorial board and reviewing articles for Diabetes Care, volunteering at the Good Samaritan Free Health Clinic in Greensboro, and covering the Medical College of Georgia internal medicine practice located at Lake Oconee.”  A computer programmer, he has written several personal medical history programs. Joyce, his wife of fifty-one years, has retired as an elementary school teacher.  In 2007 Verdain and Joyce traveled to their alma mater, McMurry University, where Verdain delivered the Commencement Address.  In 1988 Verdain was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus of McMurray, and he has served on McMurry’s Board of Trustees. Verdain and Joyce have four children and nine grandchildren.  All are healthy and doing well. Since 2002 Verdain and Joyce have lived at Reynolds Plantation - Great Waters, Eatonton, GA.  From their house, they can view the eleventh fairway of the Nicklaus-designed Great Waters golf course and Lake Oconee.  They “are always delighted to have visitors.”

George W. Braswell, Jr. ’61 B.D.  After leaving Yale, George continued his studies and has been awarded three doctoral degrees: Ph.D., D.Min., and the D.D.  George and his wife Joan, with their children, served as the first Southern Baptist missionaries to the people of Iran (1967-1974).  While there, he was the only Christian to be appointed by the Iranian government to the Faculty of Islamic Theology of the University of Teheran.  He also served as Associate Director of Armaghan Institute, a cultural center operated by the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. In 1974 George joined the faculty of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.  He was awarded a study grant by ATS in 1980 and developed for the Southeastern curriculum the Practicum in World Religions, through which thousands of students have engaged world religious leaders in dialogue.  George retired from Southeastern in 2004 as Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Missions and World Religions.  He is now Senior Professor of World Religions at Campbell University Divinity School and founding director of its World Religions and Global Cultures Center.  George has received an excellence in teaching award from both Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Campbell University Divinity School. Among his ten books are Islam and America; What You Need to Know About Islam and Muslims; and Islam: Its Prophet, Peoples, Politics, and Power. Joan has taught children in the Wake County school system and has served as a volunteer counselor with Hopeline, Inc.  Parents of four, George and Joan live in Wake Forest, NC.

Fred R. Brooks, Jr. ’61 M.Div. retired in 1999 after seven years in parish ministry of The United Methodist Church in New York and Oregon and thirty years in higher education administration.  He then served a parish in Ithaca, NY, part-time for five years.  Fred is active in reform politics, focusing on the living wage, clean elections, and health care policies.  In 2008 he completed six years on the YDS Alumni Board.  Fred and his wife Alice reside in Vestal, NY, and have two married sons and two beautiful grandchildren.  Their older son Thomas and his wife Erica met while students at YDS; both graduated in 1990.  Their younger son Martin met his wife Lu Lan at Wesley Theological Seminary, from which they both graduated.

David E. L. Brown ’61 M.Div. and his wife Anne live in Vermont, moving in 2006 from Peacham to Shelburne, a suburb of Burlington, to be closer to their daughter and her family.  David reports that Anne and he are now better prepared to “age in place” and are enjoying the area’s abundant educational and cultural opportunities, particularly those offered by the University of Vermont and the Shelburne Museum.  David’s volunteer activities include walking shelter dogs, advocating for low income Vermonters, and chairing the State Board of Libraries.

Warren Malcolm Clark ’61 B.D. ’63 M.A. ’64 Ph.D.  Following graduation from YDS and ordination, Malcolm remained at Yale to earn his Ph.D. in Old Testament.  After a year in Jerusalem studying Semitic and ancient Egyptian languages, he taught at Princeton Theological Seminary for six years.  His remaining thirty years in academe were invested at Butler University, Indianapolis, IN, where he taught courses in Bible, world religions, American religion, new religious movements, Islam, and general education courses.  Malcolm and a female colleague in the Department of English co-taught Butler’s first gender studies course and helped develop Butler’s gender studies program.  With other faulty members of a world cultures course, Malcolm and his wife Sharon have traveled to several countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. In 2002 Malcolm retired from teaching at Butler University and then wrote Islam for Dummies.  In 2004 Sharon and Malcolm completed building their retirement home in Mammoth Lakes, CA, in the eastern Sierras, conveniently close to their two daughters and three grandchildren.  Malcolm and Sharon travel, hike, cross-country ski, kayak, and bird.  Both are heavily involved in conservation activities and political battles trying to preserve the character of Mammoth Lakes and the Sierras.  Their newest volunteer activities include monitoring stream water quality and participating in the local Citizens Emergency Response Team.  Their first emergency event in August 2008 involved staffing phone information lines and serving food to children evacuated from a YMCA campground during a forest fire.

Charles E. Cole ’61 B.D. and his wife Clarice live in Santa Fe, NM, and celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary on June 22, 2008.  To honor them, Charles and Clarice were hosted by their three sons and their families at a retreat at Berea College, Kentucky.  In 2008 Charles was a delegate from the New Mexico Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church to two major United Methodist conferences: the General Conference, in Fort Worth, Texas, and the South Central Jurisdictional Conference, in Dallas, Texas.  At the latter, Charles was elected to, and is currently serving, a four-year term on the General Board of Church and Society.

James G. Estes ’61 B.D. retired after more than forty years in parochial and teaching ministries in New Hampshire, New Mexico, California, Hong Kong, and Sabah.  He is now an active member of a board of directors of a community clinic serving 65,000 patients through ten sites in six communities.  Jim and his wife Virginia Darneille, a YDS alumna, live in Escondido, CA, and travel to Beijing, China, twice annually to visit their youngest grandchildren.  With five of their eight grandchildren being Amerasian, their interest in China is intense.

Reid D. Huntley ’61 M.Div., not yet retired, wrote of his many reasons for being thankful, highlighting his family, friends, and acquaintances; his rich educational experiences; his work as a clergyman, professor of English, and photographer; his ten physicians and his good health; and his participation in many current interest groups and activities.  The latter include two literary groups (Thomas Wolfe Society and the Presbyterian Ministers’ Book Group); two psychology groups (Jung Associates and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator group); four theological, religious, and church groups; three health activities (daily yoga, meditation, and fitness); and two photographic societies.  Reid invites all to visit his website.  Reid lives in Columbus, OH.

Bill Huntley ’61 B.D. writes, “It was a joy to read the Cluster Reunion documents and especially to see many of your faces, aged but recognizable!” During a Sabbatical in 2007 Bill tried to remember his involvement in about 100 weddings.  Google found his web page at the University of Redlands, and classmates can visit the page Annotating an Album: 50 Years, 100 Weddings, and Still Counting… Under Decades on the web page, one can click l960's to find Bill’s own wedding (and those of his brothers), and by scanning over to Conclusions you will find Bill’s comments about the project and his most recent portrait! Bill lives in Redlands, CA, and may be reached by email. He concluded, “God bless you all! Stay in touch!”

Notes from 2007

As an individual nurtured in a non-creedal, Marcionite leaning Church, Bob Neff ’61 B.D., ’64 M.A., ’69 Ph.D. came to YDS planning to do graduate study in Church History. After hearing the lectures of Brevard Childs, however, he developed a lifetime interest in Old Testament. He remembers fondly and with gratitude his three years at YDS that defined his life in many ways. His career has since had four separate chapters: seminary faculty member; church executive, college president; and a staff consultant for fund raising and chaplaincy services. He was a professor at Bethany Theological Seminary in Chicago (1965-77), Chair of the Old Testament Faculty of the Southside Cluster of Theological Schools (1973-77) and remains an adjunct faculty member. From 1977 to 1986 he served as General Secretary of the Church of the Brethren and executive for Committee on Interchurch Relations and was active in the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches. In 1986 he became President of Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, retiring in 1998. He consults for fundraising and organizational development, serves on the staff of The Village at Morrison Cove, and writes for two educational series from The Church of the Brethren.

Paul W. Zeckhausen ’61 S.T.M. past president of Wilbraham United Church, recently celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination.  The commemoration took place at the First Church of Christ in Suffield, CT., where Dr. Zeckhausen presently serves as Minister of Parish Care. A graduate of Williams College, MA, and Union Theological School in NYC, Dr. Zeckhausen was in the Manhasset Congregational Church (UCC) before earning his S.T.M. at Yale Divinity School and his doctorate at Andover Newton. Having held several pastorates around Connecticut, in 1967 he was called to Wilbraham United Church, where he was senior pastor for thirty years.  During his time in Wilbraham he established the Wilbraham Counseling Center, was instrumental in the founding of the Ecumenical Clergy Group, and published a book of sermons entitled “When Things Don’t Go Your Way.”  He served on many boards and committees in the greater Springfield area.  From 1983 until 2001, he spent part of his summer vacation as minister of Union Chapel in Hyannis Port, MA.  After his retirement from Wilbraham UC, he served as interim minister in several area churches and was called to the Suffield church in September, 2001.