Rev. Ralph E. Conner (1869 – 1922) Obituary

Rev. Ralph E. Conner

At the age of nearly fifty-three years, Rev. Ralph E. Conner, minister of the Second Parish in Marlboro, Mass, died at the Deaconess Hospital in Boston, March 1. He was born in Newfields, N.H., July 4, 1869. In 1888 he was graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy and was orator of his class. In 1892 he was graduated from the Tufts Divinity School. For twenty years he was a Universalist minister, serving the churches of that denomination in Gardner, Mass, Waltham, Mass, Pasadena, Calif. and North Attleboro, Mass. When in Gardner he married on October 16, 1895, Miss Blanche Peabody of that town. During the years 1911 and 1912 Mr. and Mrs. Conner traveled in Europe.

Mr. Conner on his return became interested in Unitarianism and was invited to supply the Unitarian church in Gardner, which he did for three years. He was received into the Unitarian fellowship. During the next two years Mr. Conner was sent by the American Unitarian Association on missionary tours through the South, Southwest, and California. In 1918 he was invited by the Second Parish in Marlboro, Mass, to supply its pulpit. He remained almost four years. In January, 1922, he resigned, intending on May 1 to retire from active service. Severe illness obliged him to undergo a surgical operation, from which he seemed to be making a good recovery.

While Mr. Conner was never physically strong, he had a wonderfully fertile brain. His memory was marvelous, and, having a love for great and beautiful thoughts, his mind was richly stored with the finest things in literature. Mr. Conner was a ready speaker. He was always willing to serve. He was by nature democratic. He was everybody’s friend. He possessed a rich vein of humor and’ loved to tell a good story. He had a sunny, cheerful nature. He made people feel good.

Being both a Universalist and a Unitarian, it was fitting that a representative of both denominations should officiate at the funeral service. It was held in the Marlboro church and was conducted by Dr. Minot Simons and Dr. Vincent E. Tmnlinson of the First Universalist Church in Worcester. The body was taken to the Forest Hills crematory and the ashes are to be deposited in the family lot in Gardner.

Source The Christian Register found in Google Books, Vol. 101, Mar 16, 1922, page 262 (22)