DR. GABRIEL J. FACKRE

1926 - 2018

FACKRE, Dr. Gabriel J. Dr. Gabriel Joseph Fackre was born in 1926 in Jersey City, New Jersey, and died in Oregon City, Oregon on January 31, 2018. He is survived by his five children – Bonnie, Gabrielle (with Thomas), Judith, Skye (with Christopher), and Kirk (with Alice) - as well as eight treasured grandchildren and their spouses, one great-grandson, and six valued nieces and nephews. His beloved wife of 72 years, Dorothy, died in October 2017. Gabriel Fackre was a preeminent Protestant theologian, ecumenical in his faith, and a formative figure in the United Church of Christ. He was Samuel Abbot Professor of Christian Theology, Emeritus at Andover Newton Theological School, and previous to that Professor of Theology and Culture at Lancaster Theological Seminary. As a pastor and teacher, his powerful concern was to give clergy, seminarians, and laity forums and tools for theological inquiry to ground their understanding of the faith, preaching, pastoral work, and witness in the world. Dr. Fackre's vast scholarship in the fields of theology, ethics, and mission extended to thirty books and monographs, among them five volumes of a series on Christian doctrine, The Christian Story. His papers are housed in Special Collections at Princeton Theological Seminary Library. Dr. Fackre attended Bucknell University and received his B.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Gabriel and Dorothy Fackre' s marriage in 1945 also began a partnership committed early to social action, including bringing Nisei students from World War II internment camps to Bucknell and speaking on Quaker "peace caravans" during the war. They served mission congregations in Chicago and in the steel mill towns of Homestead and Duquesne, Pennsylvania, addressing issues of the working poor. They campaigned for civil rights and school desegregation. Dr. Fackre joined Martin Luther King's March on Washington in 1963 and registered voters in Mississippi in 1964. Both he and his wife participated in peace and justice activities during their 47 years in Greater Boston and Cape Cod. Their long marriage was a love story for the decades. Gabriel Fackre was a servant of his Lord, a devoted husband, and a wonderful father. He was humble, private, and deeply kind. Now "side by side" with Dorothy in eternity, he will be utterly missed here on earth. A memorial service for Dr. Fackre will be held at South Congregational Church, 565 Main St., Centerville, MA, on March 3rd at 3pm.

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