John Cameron has been a member of UU Wellesley Hills since June 1998 and joined the UUSWH Board of Trustees in June 2019. As Trustee, he holds the Building & Grounds portfolio for our congregation. He and his wife and Naomi live in Wellesley in a house abutting Longfellow Pond. They have two sons: Stephen, who lives in Northampton, MA, and Jeffrey, who lives in Malden, MA, with his wife Rachel. He met with UUSWH Board Chair Kathy Coolidge to answer a few questions about herself.
Q. What brought you to Wellesley?
A: I grew up near Cleveland and got a Biology degree from William & Mary College, then went to graduate school at U. Mass. Amherst. I then joined the faculty of the U. of Miami Medical School in Florida, and finally Wellesley College in 1984. Naomi and I met in1986 while on an Appalachian Mountain Club hike in Bar Harbor Maine. We married in 1988. We first lived in Faculty housing, but in 1990 Naomi and I saw this house for sale next to Longfellow Pond and fell in love with it.
Q. What kind of work did you do?
A: As a member of the faulty at Wellesley College in the Biology Department, I taught and did research, focusing on Cardiovascular Physiology, the physiology of the heart, for 36 years, retiring in June 2020. This was the perfect job for me! I went to a small liberal arts college myself, so I knew I wanted to teach in a small school where I got to know the students. I’m very proud of my students; the majority of them wanted to go on to Medical, Dental or Veterinary School and it’s so gratifying for me to see them become successful in their professions!
Q. What is your religious background and when did you get involved with our church?
A: When our kids were 4 and 5 years old, they asked us, “What religion are we?” I was raised Roman Catholic and Naomi was Jewish, although not practicing, and we wanted to find a place that would accept “mixed marriages”. We joined the church in 1998 when John Nichols was Senior Minister. I was very active in everything back then — Religious Education, various committees, and, of course, Rummage! That was a busy time in my life and my work at the college was all-consuming. I had to prioritize and cut back, so I fell away for a while. My plan was that once my time opened up in retirement, I would become more active. Now I’m very happy to be back!
Q. Tell me about these beautiful birch trees in your front yard.
A: These trees are from Maine and they remind me of my parents. They gave them to us when these trees were just about a foot tall. My mother had a Master’s degree in Horticulture and I think she was the first woman to get an advanced degree in science in Maine in 1948. That was quite an accomplishment. My mother died recently, in June 2020.
Q. How did you join the UUSWH Board?
A: About 20 years ago, I was asked by Kathy Kauffman to serve on the Board of the UU Chaplaincy at Wellesley College. Kathy was a Trustee there and I was on the faculty, so she thought it would be a good fit. That was a great experience for me. When she asked me twenty years later to serve on the UU Wellesley Hills Board, it seemed like the time was just right, so I said yes! My portfolio is Buildings & Grounds. I am the liaison to the Buildings and Grounds Committee led by Jim McLaren. I knew a little bit about the work involved in that committee because I had “apprenticed” with Elaine Mittell the year before. It looked like a daunting task! There’s so many things going on with our property ranging from rentals to plumbing to the occasional building emergency. Bill Fenstemacher, Joe Senecal, Jim and I have been meeting monthly to prioritize issues. Overall, I’d say our buildings are in really good shape—some tweaking, but, overall good.
Q. What’s most important to you right now?
A: Well, my family and my family’s health is a priority. Everyone is doing well. Our daughter in law, Rachel, is a nurse in the ICU at Tufts Medical Center, so at the height of COVID-19, it was very stressful. I admire her courage.
