 Posted Monday, March 24, 2008 4:53 PM
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Hi, friends:
In case you haven't heard, Elaine Follis, a former Principia College professor, died earlier this month. While I never took any of her classes, I heard she was a great teacher. Some of you might like to post recollections.
Garey G. Ris
C88
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Elaine Follis, at 64; scholar, teacher of Old Testament
By Gloria Negri, Globe Staff | March 20, 2008
Elaine R. Follis was recognized as an Old Testament scholar and a teacher who enriched the lives of generations of students by bringing biblical figures to life and showing their relevance in today's world.
"Daily, she blew me away with some of the most profound lectures I've heard," said Stefanie Palmer, student body president at Principia College in Illinois, where Dr. Follis was professor and an administrator for 30 years.
Colleagues said Dr. Follis, a Quincy native, brought that same dedication and energy to the Mary Baker Eddy Library, part of The First Church of Christ Scientist in Boston, when she became library president and executive manager in May.
Dr. Follis died March 4 at the Chestnut Hill Benevolent Association, a Christian Science nursing facility in Brookline. A longtime friend, Jane Wright of Quincy, said that as a Christian Scientist Dr. Follis, 64, chose not to have a diagnosis. She had lived in Quincy.
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Dr. Follis's teaching career focused on Old Testament history and Holocaust studies, and she inspired a great love for the Bible in her students, said Thomas H. Fuller, acting president of Principia, a four-year liberal arts college for Christian Scientists. She started teaching at Principia in 1974, retiring in 2006. In her last five years there, she was Principia's academic dean.
"She was a tremendous scholar, widely respected," Fuller said, adding that she spoke ancient Hebrew and ancient Greek. In her grasp, he said, "you could feel Jeremiah, a young man in a comfortable middle class, wrestling with whether to accept the call to become a prophet of the Lord. Elaine could read a story with something very akin to acting."
Dr. Follis never married or had children. Friends and colleagues said there was no doubt about her love for young people. Since her return to the Boston area, Dr. Follis continued connecting with youths through podcasts, through the church-affiliated website tmcyouth.com, and in columns in the Christian Science Sentinel. There, she offered solutions to their problems with spiritual wisdom and a sense of humor.
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Elaine Russell Follis was the only child of George Stanley and Celia Russell (Joy) Follis. In one of her columns, she wrote that she had always wanted to be a college professor.
She graduated from Quincy High School and Tufts University, and she earned a bachelor's of divinity degree from Tufts' Crane Theological School in 1968. She started teaching at Principia in 1974 and was awarded a doctorate in Old Testament studies from Boston University in 1976.
Few of her students forgot her. Wright, who met Dr. Follis as a freshman at Principia in 1974, said, "She was one of the few people that you could take down what she spoke with no ahhs or umms, because she formulated her thoughts so well."
She said Dr. Follis was adept at reaching students and expected the best from them. "Elaine believed in everyone's potential, and you could feel it," she said.
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A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. March 29 in the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Quincy.
© Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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Posted Monday, March 24, 2008 8:56 PM
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| Thanks for the post, Garey. I took a religion class from Elaine in the 1970's and attended a series of talks she gave at an alumni week in 1996. She was a great teacher and a wonderful person. I'm sorry to hear of her death, especially since she died fairly young.
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Posted Friday, March 28, 2008 3:32 PM
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Regarding a memorial service for Dr. Follis scheduled at First Church of Christ, Scientist, Quincy, MA, as noted in the earlier post:
In all my years in CS or in the years since leaving for another denomination, I have never heard of a memorial or funeral service being held in a Christian Science Church. Was this service actually held there? I think that it's an excellent idea. But when Scientists pass, there has typically been a mortuary service or no service at all. Has that practice changed extensively? I've been "away" in a Presbyterian church for a while.
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Posted Tuesday, June 03, 2008 7:00 AM
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| I have been in CS my entire life, and I've never known of a CS family who did not have some kind of service for a loved one who passed on. I think it would be very strange not to do this.
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Posted Tuesday, June 03, 2008 8:52 PM
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A credible, reliable Christian Scientist who attended Elaine Follis' memorial service contacted me today to confirm that the service was held in First Church of Christ, Scientist of Quincy, MA. The message indicated that the service was one that traditional Christians would likely recognize including a service program with a picture and eulogies followed by a reception with food in the Sunday School.
Apparently, other Christian Science churches have discovered that Mary Baker Eddy did not prohibit weddings and funerals in Christian Science churches.
Do Go Be Man
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Posted Sunday, June 15, 2008 4:46 PM
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| I never met her, but I am sorry to hear this news. I so much enjoyed her articles and podcast in the past. I was hoping some day to contact her or to meet her - she sounded fascinating, knowledgeable, intelligent - very wonderful God-like qualities. It is unfortunate that such experienced Christian Scientists don't always work these things out here.
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Posted Monday, June 16, 2008 2:20 PM
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| I took many classes from Dr. Folllis while at Prin and went on to PACE trips with her - one to Maui and the other to Florida. She was incredibly intellingent, kind and eloquent. I just got the Purpose today and had no idea. Very sad to hear this. She was one of my favorite professors.
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Posted Wednesday, June 18, 2008 12:33 PM
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Anonymous (6/15/2008)
I never met her, but I am sorry to hear this news. I so much enjoyed her articles and podcast in the past. I was hoping some day to contact her or to meet her - she sounded fascinating, knowledgeable, intelligent - very wonderful God-like qualities. It is unfortunate that such experienced Christian Scientists don't always work these things out here.How much experience does it take? Jill
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