In Memory of Carl V. Bretz (December 6, 1925 – October 4, 2020)

In We offer our condolences to the family and colleagues of the Rev. Carl Victor Bretz who died on October 4, 2020 at the age of 94.

Carl was born on December 6, 1925 in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. He was the only child of John H. and Miriam M. Bretz. Carl graduated from Marysville (PA) High School in 1943 and was drafted into the Army at the height of World War II. He proudly served in the US Army Corp. of Engineers from February 1944 until April 1946. His brigade was one of the earliest of US troops to arrive in Nagasaki after Japan’s surrender.

Carl was raised in the Evangelical United Brethren Church. He attended Albright College and The Evangelical School of Theology—both in Reading, PA—earning, respectively, a B.S. in 1949 and a B.D. (Master of Divinity Degree) in 1952. While attending seminary, from 1949 to 1952, Carl served a pastorate of five small rural churches in Warrensville, PA. He was ordained in Central Pennsylvania Conference of the Evangelical United Brethren Church on May 3, 1952.

Rev. Bretz moved to a small parish in East Wareham, MA, while attending Boston University School of Theology, from which he graduated in 1954 with a Master of Sacred Theology (S.T.M.).

In January 1954, Rev. Bretz began serving as a Protestant chaplain in the NH State Mental Hospital. Within months of moving to New Hampshire, Carl began attending services at the Concord Unitarian Church. He also began studying Unitarian history and writings, and meeting with the state’s liberal ministerial group. In 1955, he applied for admission to the Fellowship of Unitarian Ministers. Rev. Bretz was ordained into the Unitarian Universalist ministry in Concord, NH on April 22, 1956.

Rev. Bretz continued to work as a Chaplain in Mental Hospitals in Concord, NH, which extended to serve as a training chaplain for ministers around the state. In 1959, Rev. Bretz accepted the chaplain position at the Mental Health Institute of Mt. Pleasant, IA. Among his accomplishments there was the 1962 Christmas program that he coordinated, with eighty patients taking roles in the cast and chorus. He was also the co-founder and director of the Minister and Mental Health Program for parish ministers, sponsored by the Mental Health Institute and Iowa Wesleyan College.

In 1964, Rev. Bretz’s ministry shifted from chaplaincy to the parish. He was called to the First Congregational Unitarian Church in Harvard, MA (now First UU Church of Harvard), where he served until 1972. While serving as a parish minister, he put his role as a parent before his role as a minister, investing time, attention, and care in his children in a way that would have been at odds with the norm for fathers, especially those in public roles.

Rev. Bretz’s community activities include serving as President of the Greater Concord Mental Health Association; chair of the steering committee of the New Hampshire Mental Health Association; Vice President and then President of the Harlan School PTA in Mt. Pleasant; and Treasurer of the Board of the MHI (Mt. Pleasant) Credit Union.

In 1972, Rev. Bretz moved to Tuscaloosa, AL to serve as Director of Transitional Services at Bryce Hospital. His work was not only pastoral but also institutional, as he advocated for and negotiated improved conditions for patients.

Rev. Bretz became active in the lay-led UU Fellowship in that city (now the UU Congregation of Tuscaloosa), including serving as president of the Board. With his leadership, the declining Fellowship began to grow once again.

In December 1984, Rev. Bretz retired from the Alabama Dept. of Mental Health, and in 1985 the congregation called Rev. Bretz as their half-time minister. He served them in a ministerial capacity for four years, and one of his outreach activities, Meals on Wheels, continues to this day. Rev. Bretz retired from the congregation in 1989. The Congregation granted him Minister Emeritus status in February of 1994.

That same year, Carl moved to Oak Ridge, TN. As an avid weaver, he joined the Weaving Group at the Appalachian Arts Center in Norris, TN and remained a regular participant until March of this year. He also became involved as a member of Oak Ridge UU Church. In that role, his thoughtful, calm presence helped the congregation find its way through a conflict to more health.

Throughout his adult life, Carl loved farming on his land, and putting his “handy” skills to use. His family remembers him holding particular affection for the chickens he raised. Carl always taught his children to work hard and to reach toward what they wanted. He valued higher education and he was an institutionalist, keenly able to take the long view, who remained curious and supportive of Unitarian Universalism.

Carl is predeceased by his first wife and the mother of his children, Janice Miller Bretz-Howe, and his last wife Rosemary Burns. Both Carl and Rosemary were trusted leaders at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, promoting small group ministry and religious education.

Carl is survived by his three children Stephanie Cox (Craig) of Ramah, NM, Jonathan Bretz (Linda) of Maynard, MA, and Rima Michaud (Eric) of Eustis, FL; and by his grandchildren: Molly Panos McDonald (Dan), Philip Panos Jr, Jamieson Bretz (Elizabeth), Barbara Michaud Bowers (Demetrius). He was predeceased by his granddaughter Rita Michaud. Carl leaves eleven great-grand-children: Ayden and Mackenzie McDonald; Kennedy Panos; Jackson and Oliver Bretz; Allison, Evan and Lyla Bowers; Erin Michaud; and Kaiden and Desmond Hayes.