[Oe List ...] Daniel and Mary invite you to celebrate the completed life of William Longley Bigelow

[Lynda C]

Dear Mary and Daniel,

This obituary is a beautiful tribute to your father.  A favorite poem by Indian poet Tagore came to mind as I read it which begins:

         On the day when death knocks at thy door, what will you offer him?  …
          ___I will offer him the full vessel of my life.  I will not let him go with empty hands…

                                   (Gitanjali, by Rabindranath Tagore, Poems 89-96)


We give thanks for the full and meaning-filled life of service your father lived.  My most recent memory is of working with him on the Archives Project several years ago when small groups of us worked together at the now GreenRise Building at 4570 N. Sheridan in   Chicago.  He was in a small group working on the Local Church Experiment as I recall.

How exciting to read of his work with the Middle East Task Force for the Presbyterian Church.  We will gladly make a contribution in his honor to that project of building libraries in Palestine.  https://www.serajlibraries.org/donate as well as to the Archives Project in Chicago.

Our care and sympathy to you and your family as you celebrate your father’s life,  We plan to be with you on zoom.

Grace and peace,

Lynda and John Cock
P O Box 2333
Davidson, NC


From: OE <oe-bounces at lists.wedgeblade.net> on behalf of Randy Williams via OE <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>
Date: Sunday, September 8, 2024 at 10:01 PM
To: Colleague Dialogue <dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net>
Cc: Randy Williams <randycw1938 at gmail.com>, Dan Bigelow <kidbigelow at gmail.com>, OE Community <oe at lists.wedgeblade.net>, Mary Bigelow <maryjbigelow at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] [Dialogue] Daniel and Mary invite you to celebrate the completed life of William Longley Bigelow
Of all the inspired and inspiring obituaries of our departed colleagues that I’ve been privileged to read, this one, for whatever reason, has moved me the most deeply. Farewell, William Longley Bigelow, Bill, whom I scarcely knew.
Randy Williams


On Sep 8, 2024, at 9:25 PM, Karen Snyder via Dialogue <dialogue at lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:


You are invited to join us in the celebration of the completion of the life of William Longley Bigelow.



Memorial for William Longley Bigelow

Sunday, September 15, 2024 at 3:00 pm

Mayfair Presbyterian Church

4853 W. Ainslie St, Chicago, IL 60630



For those who can not be with us in person…

Zoom room:  7468538442

Passcode:  141190

Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/7468538442?pwd=ODhhajFPVGlwZERTdHAwNWR2Yks3Zz09





Daniel V Bigelow and Mary J Bigelow



*****
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Obituary

Thursday, August 29, at 3AM God called home our father, Rev. William Longley Bigelow. Born of John and Frances Bigelow, in Towanda, Pennsylvania. He was 83 and is survived by his favorite daughter Mary J and number one son Daniel V, of Chicago and Los Angeles respectively.

He attended Oberlin College as a Philosophy major, and the Pacific School of Religion where he got his Masters of Divinity. Bill was a lifelong student of theology and world religions; living his life dedicated to social justice as a Presbyterian Minister, Ecumenical Missionary, and High School Teacher.

During seminary he joined Martin Luther King Jr’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) where he learned to use nonviolent resistance, civil disobedience and grassroots organizing to promote racial equality. There he registered voters, desegregated buses and faced violent reprisals from those who disagreed with the civil rights organization.

He then took his first assignment as a minister in San Francisco, where he met and married professional musician and journalist, Christine D’Harlingue (nee Selsor), with whom he eventually had two children. He was called to a church in Haight-Ashbury, so they soon moved to the corner of Haight and Ashbury in the middle of the Summer of Love.

Following a tradition in our family that goes back generations, Dad was a dedicated missionary. For 15 years he traveled around the US and internationally with the Ecumenical Institute and Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA). Their mission was centered around community development rather than spreading religion, demonstrating what people can achieve when they work together. The ICA assigned Dad (and us variously) to Chicago, IL; Madison, WI; Saint Louis, MO; American Samoa; Phoenix, AZ; Taipei, Taiwan and Houston, TX, among others.

Dad spent a few years teaching high school at Chimney Rock Center, a home for teens in crisis in Houston, TX. In fact he served as a substitute teacher in high schools all over the Houston Independent School District. As a preacher he ministered to churches in Genoa, NY; Yankeetown, FL and Brookfield, IL.

In his retirement Bill filled pulpits around the Chicago area when needed; substitute preaching sermons and singing solos at his local church - Mayfair Presbyterian. Dad enjoyed bible study with a group of theologians and retired ministers who call themselves the Bible Boys. He also maintained friendships with a number of Chicago’s unhoused people.

He was an active member of the Presbyterian Church’s Middle East Task Force for many years. It was set up to encourage study and dialogue in response to the Middle East conflict. He traveled to several countries there and cared deeply about fostering a just peace. Please make a donation in his honor to the Seraj Library Project, who build libraries in Palestine. https://www.serajlibraries.org/donate

Since the Pandemic we’ve been meeting as a family on FaceTime every other week. Dan & Ronnie, Mary & Jimmie, Uri, Mama Kiki & Uncle Mark will miss him terribly, and love him forever.

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