2010 - Ted Peterson

In honoring Ted Peterson for a lifetime of service, it is first important to recognize that he has spent all of his adult life as a member of Memorial UCC. He sang in the choir for over 50 years. He has held just about every office there is to hold in the church, including financial secretary, Council member and most recently, trustee.

In fact, it was Ted's departure from the trustees that triggered this award. Not that we expect Ted will stop being involved in so many different areas of church life. It's just that we recognize that he is limited his involvement just a little bit.

That involvement included being a leader in the move of Memorial to Fitchburg in the mid-1980s from its longtime home on Madison Street near the old UW Fiedlhouse. He helped bring Memorial into the computer era, even troubleshooting troubles with our computers from vacations in Florida. (It is also worth noting that he donated much of the hardware and software that enabled us to build our computer systems here. He was instrumental in putting in the software we use to manage all of our church financial and membership information.

He also helped Memorial be one of the first congregations in the area to have significant presence on the web. He built our early web sites and maintained them. As other folks came in with web skills, he helped make the transition to a new generation of web folks just seamless, cheering them on as they built on his work.

He was part of Pastor Bonnie's groups that went to Israel and Palestine and became a strong advocate for our Palestinian Christian partners.

And when folks enter Memorial during the Christmas season, they are awestruck each year by the beautiful tree that stands in the narthex. For 30 years - going back to the days of the church on Madison Street -- Ted has lined up the tree that graces our church.

At Luke House, as our congregation serves the evening meal on the first Monday of the month, Ted has been there from the earliest days a quarter century ago, always taking care of scrubbing out the pots and pans -- one of the least glamourous jobs,  but one that Ted knew needed to be done - and so he did it.

That's the spirit that led to Ted and his late wife, Marie, receiving the Faith and Service Award in 1996. It's a spirit that continues in Ted's quiet but dedicated service to this congregation across a lifetime.

2009 - Shirley Robbins

Shirley and Sam Robbins first came to Memorial just as this congregation was bidding farewell to its church on Madison Street.  In that time of transition, they quickly became part of the community, with Sam sharing his wisdom from years in ministry and Shirley adding her vibrant presence to so many parts of our congregation.

Those of you who have seen Shirley here over the years know her work in so many different facets of the life of this congregation. She and Sam were honored in 2000 with the Faith and Service Award, the special recognition this congregation gives on an annual basis. But that hasn’t kept people from nominating her in more recent years, because activity around here never seems to stop.

In the 1990s, she helped organize our Prayer Chain and our Chariot Ministry.  She was the person who followed up with visitors to our church. She taught Sunday school and even directed the Sunday school program for a while. She has served on the council, was a council president and remains a presence at council meetings as recording secretary – although the council did manage to approve this award without Shirley ever actually knowing she was the recipient.

You see her in the vocal choir and the bell choir. For the last six years, she has chaired out Outreach Committee and has been the driving force behind our congregation’s connection to Allied Drive. That food you bring in every month? Shirley is the one who delivers it to the food pantry.

But that is just one of the ways she connects to the wider community. She was a long-time volunteer at the Domestic Abuse Center, has worked for years with the Madison Ecumenical Center and has been a leader in Church Women United.  And when there is a cause of peace or justice that needs another voice, Shirley’s voice is right there.

The list goes on and on.  So at our April 19 service for our 20th anniversary in Fitchburg,  we honored Shirley for a lifetime of service to the world and for a generation of service at Memorial than coincides with our move to Fitchburg.

Shirley's Words to the Congregation:

"How humbling and how thrilling to be given Memorial's first Lifetime Service Award!  I don't see myself as deserving it.  Through all my years as a minister's wife, I never did more than I expected other women in our churches to do (sometimes ignoring what they expected of me!).  Many were the examples of church women who did much more.

This church family has given me far more than I have given back.  I loved the other churches we were part of, but always knew we would soon leave.  Here, for almost 22 years, I've seen little children grow up and I have grown - well, older - with friends.  It's my church, and I will never leave.  Maybe some day I will be a chickadee at the bird feeder along with cardinal Sam.  Thank you!

Shirley"