Harcourt Edmund Waller Jr. ’44

Harc, gentleman, athlete, clergyman, businessman, and tireless fighter against social injustice, died quietly in his sleep at his home in Savannah, Ga., on May 26, 1989. He prepared at Richmond Academy and (in the family tradi¬tion) attended Princeton, where he majored in history. He was on the varsity crew, was president of the St. Paul's Society, and belonged to Ivy Club. He joined the Marine Corps after graduating in 1943 and served 22 months in the Pacific. He brought his rifle platoon through the hell of the Iwo Jima invasion, earning a Bronze Star for gal¬lantry, a Purple Heart, and a battlefield promotion to captain and the command of a rifle company.

After the war, he entered Virginia Episcopal Seminary. He joined the ministry in 1949. His ministries included St. John's Parish, in Bainbridge, Ga.; Florida State Univ. (chaplain); St. Augustine College, in Canterbury, Kent; and St. Paul's, in Charlottesville, Va. (rector). Through¬out the years, Harc was an outspoken advocate of social causes and human rights, earning harsh criticism and ill treatment from opponents in the South. At St. Paul's, he instituted an affirmative-action hiring policy, promoted fair housing and integrated neighborhoods, and sought to bring women into positions of greater responsibility in the church. He heartily opposed our involvement in Vietnam. In 1969, he became rector of Christ Episcopal Church, in Charlotte, N.C., where his uncompromising efforts on behalf of social justice eventually cost him his pulpit. In 1972, he founded the Community of the Fel¬lowship of Jesus, an ecumenical "church without walls."

Harc is survived by his widow, Kathryn; sons Harcourt III, Charles, and David; a daughter, Kathryn Zulliger; and a granddaughter. We extend them our sympathy.

The Class of 1944