American Humanist Association
2003 Chapter of the Year
In Memoriam
Harry Willson
Parent, husband, former Presbyterian minister, author, philosopher, peace and environmental activist, and Humanist - died on Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at the age of 77. He had been hospitalized for several months following cancer surgery. Harry was founder of Amador Publishers with his wife, Adela. He was a prolific writer of fiction, satire, social commentary and philosophy.
Harry had a B.A. in chemistry and math, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Pennsylvania’s Lafayette University, and he had a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. In 1965 Harry answered the call from Dr. Martin Luther King for clergy to go to Selma, Alabama to assist in voter registration and demonstrations against police brutality. After quitting the clergy, Harry taught the Bible as history for ten years at the Albuquerque Academy and at Sandia Preparatory School. Harry was opposed to radioactive dumping in New Mexico and published an anti-nuclear manifesto. Harry and Adela joined the Humanist Society of New Mexico in 2002, and Harry served as Vice-President and Program Chairman for two years.
A celebration will be held in Harry’s honor at the La Fonda on the Bosque restaurant in the Hispanic Cultural Center at 1701 Fourth Street SW at Bridge Street in Albuquerque. It will be an “open house” format, and friends are welcome to attend any time between 4:00 and 7:00 pm. The family asks that donations to HSNM be made in lieu of flowers.
Books and writings by Harry Willson
Marcia Stone
Marcia McClain Stone died on June 4, 2009, at the age of 89. She was born in Hood River, Oregon, and was a very active teenager, achieving two goals she had set for herself before she turned 20 - to swim across the mile-wide Columbia River and to climb Mt. Hood. Marcia attended Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition and Biochemistry. She did research on cholesterol and was honored with membership in the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society.Marcia married Sidney Stone at Berkeley in 1951. They moved to Los Alamos, NM, in 1957, where Sidney worked at the National Laboratory, and she became active as a founding member of the Unitarian Church. She enjoyed playing piano and was active in international folk dancing. She was also active in the American Association of University Women, the League of Women Voters, and the Democratic Party. She was a very involved mother of her two daughters through 4H and Girl Scouts, as well as taking them on camping trips to National Parks and to Europe to experience new cultures and see many historic sights.
They moved to Albuquerque in 1990, after Sidney retired. Here Marcia enjoyed and supported the Albuquerque Civic Light Opera, Musical Theatre Southwest, the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, the Rio Grande Jazz Society, KNME TV programs, KHFM classical music, and OASIS classes. Throughout her life, she supported organizations that protect the environment, support women's reproductive rights, and that feed and clothe the disadvantaged. Marcia and Sidney supported the Humanist Society of New Mexico and the Friendly Philosophers, often hosting meetings of HSNM in their home.