A few years ago, I found the obituaries of two Universalist ministers (1, 2) who died young. To these, I add a third and each makes me sad. The Mount Pleasant church federated with a Congregationalist church at some point, and while it was not a member of the UUA, continued on the roles of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches though the 1990s, and perhaps a bit later.
Prudy LeClerc Haskell, in Oxford, O., December 27, 1878, aged 34; ordained in 1869. Miss LeClerc was a native of Louisville, Ky., was brought up a Universalist, and at the age of 23 turned her thoughts toward the ministry. She had settlements in Madison, Ind., and Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and supplied more or less regularly at Jeffersonville, Newtown, Mount Carmel and Oxford, O., and Mount Carmel and Union Church, Indiana. She was united in marriage with Rev. C. L. Haskell, March 28, 1878. Her life was consecrated to the work of the ministry, she was universally esteemed and loved, and her influence for our faith and humanity was fine and great.
The final sentence is so powerful. I’ve done too many other things in my life to earn it, or all of it, but it would be nice to think, at the end, that I’ve done a little of that.