Elizabeth A. King Obituary
Rev. Elizabeth Ann King, 64, known for her warmth, wit, and wise counsel, died unexpectedly and suddenly on April 9. Committed to service to others, she lived a life of compassion, empathy, and advocacy for social justice. She had an enormous capacity for love.
Rev. King considered that her career began as a child when she preached from the tree stump in her backyard. As an adult, she served as a United Church of Christ minister in eastern Massachusetts for nearly 40 years. Her official ministerial career began at First Church Congregational in Methuen, followed by nine years at Tabernacle Congregational Church in Salem. She then served as an interim minister in Andover, Wenham, South Dartmouth, Boxford, Newburyport, Burlington, and Framingham.
She also taught UCC polity at Harvard Divinity School for many years and worked briefly as a hospice chaplain. She enjoyed serving in leadership capacities for the MA Conference UCC. In retirement, she filled in as pastor at several churches, including Annisquam Village Church in Gloucester, and was chaplain for Northeast Arc.
A Missouri native, Rev. King attended DePauw University in Indiana and then earned a master of divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School.
In 2014, she moved to Gloucester and fulfilled a lifetime dream of living near the ocean. With her beloved partner, Laurie Ure, she swam nearly every warm day, in both the ocean and quarry pits. Her love of swimming and snorkeling also took her, in winter, to the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, and Mexico.
Other loves included her late dogs — Lokie, an adorable Pomeranian, and Maya, a spirited and gentle Icelandic sheepdog (who recently died at age 17 1/2) — and childhood memories of Camp Miniwanca, on Lake Michigan, where she made lifelong friends.
A self-proclaimed seeker, Rev. King found rewards in everything from the sea glass and shells she sought at many beaches to the insights she gleaned from books, of which she typically read three to five a week. In her ministry, she combined deep reverence with spirited irreverence. She cherished music and cared very strongly about excellence and participation in music as an integral part of worship.
And she never ducked a challenge, whether her three bouts with breast cancer, learning pottery (especially creating small sea urchins), or sky diving. Elizabeth took life by the reins and infused every adventure with humor and creativity. She lived by the words of the theologian Howard Thurman: "Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.".
Predeceased by her father, John King (who died at age 35, when she was 4), stepfather, Roy White, and brother Edward (who died at birth 4 years before Elizabeth was born). Rev. King leaves her partner, Laurie Ure; her mother, Ann King White; and a large extended family primarily in Oklahoma and the midwest. She also leaves many communities of people who loved her and will miss her dearly.
A memorial celebration will take place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 27, at Tabernacle Congregational Church in Salem (email [email protected] for a Zoom link), with an additional service at Kirkwood (Missouri) United Methodist Church on Thursday, May 15 at 1 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, friends and family are asked to donate to a charity of their choice in honor of Rev. King, who gave much of herself in both her ministry and her life.
Arrangements by the Greely Funeral Home, 212 Washington Street, Gloucester.
