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In Memoriam
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RADKO
S. POPOV '09
Radko S. Popov of Bulgaria, an early participant in Hartford Seminary’s International Peacemaking Program, died on March 12, 2020, after an eight-month long battle with cancer. We are pleased to share this remembrance by one of his friends and teachers, Davide Tacchini. It has been edited for length.
Radko Popov was the one of the most prominent Bulgarian Orthodox theologians engaged in dialogue with Islam in the last decades. After his childhood in Varna, Bulgaria, and after completing his M.Th. from the Faculty of Orthodox Theology of theSt. Cyril and MethodiusUniversity, in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria,he managed to escape from Communist Bulgaria in 1977. From 1978 until 1980 he lived in Heidelberg, Germany, where he studied Art History. From 1980 he worked as a producer for the Bulgarian section ofBBC World Servicein London for 17 years, and, during this time, he had the chance to travel extensively and do research in many of the world’s top universities in the USA, Europe, and South East Asia. After a short time being in Germany and Switzerland, he spent the academic year at Hartford Seminary in Hartford, CT, in the International Peacemaking program in 2008 and 2009. Back to Bulgaria, he served as Managing Director of the Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Studies in Veliko Tarnovo, and Interreligious Relations Advisor for the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. He published a number of scholarly articles on Orthodox-Christian relations, and he is the author of over 600 radio broadcasts, mainly focused on the relationships between Christianity and Islam. He took part in national and international conferences all over the world. He authored or coauthored four books:Jesus Christ in the Qur’an(2010),Two Traditions, One Space: Orthodox Christians and Muslims in Dialogue(2004),The Turks in Bulgaria(2012). His last work came out just before his death (BBC Inside, 2020).
He is survived by his only child, Stephen Popov, a sister, Antoaneta Grozeva, and his beloved wife, Bistra Boneva-Popova.
FORMER BOARD CHAIR JOHN H. RIEGE
John H. Riege, who chaired the Hartford Seminary Board of Trustees at a time of great change in the late 1960s and early 1970s, passed away on July 11, 2019, at the age of 97. Riege, who lived in Bloomfield, CT was a lawyer who was involved in numerous organizations in the Hartford area, including Hartford Seminary, Asylum Hill Congregational Church, and Riverfront Recapture, which he helped to found. Riege was elected Chair of the Hartford Seminary Board of Trustees, in part because, as a lawyer, he would be able to assist the Seminary in negotiating a proposed merger with the University of Connecticut. But in 1971, the Connecticut legislature declined to appropriate the funds requested, and the merger was off. The Board, under Riege, voted in 1972 to pursue a continuing education focus called "Mission to Ministry" while maintaining the Seminary’s strong Islamics department. "[Jack] moved into immediate action to redirect the Seminary into a new and innovative focus that would then be implemented in two years," said David E.A. Carson, another former chair of the Seminary’s Board of Trustees. Reige served on the Seminary’s President’s Council from its founding in 1997 until this year. He was also a major donor to two endowed lecture funds.
JOSHUA EARGLE '20
The Hartford Seminary community was devastated to learn of the passing of Joshua Wayne Eargle, age 23, a student in the Master of Arts in Religious Studies program. Joshua befriended students in a variety of Seminary programs. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Presbyterian College with a degree in religion, and quickly applied to a Hartford Seminary master’s program. He loved the Seminary’s interfaith community and made a point of attending programs that had an interfaith focus. At graduation in May 2020, he received a posthumous Graduate Certificate in Religious Studies.
JOANNE BAUER MA '75 & WLI '11
JoAnne Bauer, age 71, was a graduate of the Women’s Leadership Institute and of the MA in Religious Studies program. She was a Holistic Wellness Coach and Consultant, and a Spiritual Counselor. In addition to her degree from Hartford Seminary, she had a Ph.D. from New York University in Communication Arts and Technology, a Master’s in Special Education and Teaching from Central Connecticut State University, a 6th Year certification from UConn, and a BA in Philosophy and Religious Studies from Wilson College. A resident of Hartford’s West End, she was a devoted activist who loved art, poetry, and beauty.
REV. ROBERTA "BOBBIE" ANN CHAPMAN '96
Rev. Roberta "Bobbie" Ann Chapman passed away on Jan. 25, 2020, at the age of 73. Bobbie worked as a child welfare social worker and then supervisor for the State of Connecticut for over 30 years. It was during this time she received God's call to ministry. She completed her M.Div. from Hartford Seminary in 1996. She retired from the State of Connecticut in 2001 and accepted the role as Pastor at Founders Congregational Church in Harwinton, CT. In 2017 Bobbie retired from Founders Church and moved to NH to be closer to family. She was currently serving as Interim Pastor at Raymond United Methodist Church.
DEATHS
Gayle Elaine Acosta, BMP '10 Rev. Edwin O. Ayala, DMin '90 Vivian Countryman Bailey, BMP '95 Nevin James Bender, MDiv '69 Dale R. Bengston, PhD '71 Rev. L. Randall Blackell, DMin '91 Rev. John J. Blossom, MDiv '16 Hamilton Brown, MDiv '64 Rev. Mary Alice Butkofsky, MA '47 Rev. Dr. Barry Cass, DMin '95 David Waring Diehl, PhD '78 Anne Kellogg Fries, MA '85 Royal Bricker Gibson, BD '63 William Stuart Glazier, PhD '74 Rev. Dr. David Graham, MDiv '67 Rev. Dr. Charles N. Gross, MDiv '67 Dohn Harshbarger, MDiv '69 Elmer Schaffner Miller, MA '64 Dr. Dolores J. O’Connell, DMin '95 Rev. Arthur Raymond Orth, MDiv '64 Ruby Rogers, BMP '96 Donna Smith, WLI '13 Rev. Canon. Roger Stilman Smith, DMin '85 Marcia Luella (Allen) Stewart, MA '64 The Rev. Dr. Kenneth Taylor, MA '73 Henry Gregory Dinsmore Wyman, MDiv '56
