Legends

A young footballer turned lifelong missionary, never letting go of the vision of world peace.

Worked from Ireland to America to Nigeria, with a special heart for Azerbaijan and for the international rallies for world peace. Blessed in marriage at Madison Square Garden in 1982.

A beautiful spirit — a fighter, a great explorer, and an inspirational wife and mother.

A mother who taught origami, made the best Japanese dishes, and loved God's creation. Fought dementia for ten years; her marriage to Sonny stayed devoted to the end.

Odd Aune

Written + Video

1942 – 2026

A Norwegian lawyer turned missionary whose quiet strength carried him across Europe.

Norwegian lawyer who joined the Unification movement in Oslo in 1972, served as a missionary and as national leader of Sweden, and built a quiet life of faith in France with his wife Claire and three daughters.

Live simply, and be grateful — two mottos lived to the end.

An Italian alpine village tailor who married her childhood friend, moved to Wales in 1952, and kept her daily devotions right up to the day of her accident at 96.

A radiantly cheerful Japanese sister whose smile warmed Colorado's Unification community.

Japanese-born member of the Unification movement who joined in 1976, married David Bruner at the 1982 Madison Square Garden Blessing, and settled in Colorado — cherished for her cooking, generosity, and unfailing smile.

Asuncion "Susie" Bush

Written + Video

d. 2023

A Spanish-born mother whose small, everyday tenderness left an extraordinary mark.

A member of the Family Federation community in Wales — a complicated and remarkable mother remembered for her unembarrassed expressions of love and the small rituals that shaped her children's lives.

A small-statured Peruvian missionary with a giant prayer life.

Peruvian-born Unificationist missionary blessed in 1992 to Theophilus Chibuisi of Nigeria, known for tireless prayer, fearless witnessing, and warm humility across the New York and New Jersey communities for more than two decades.

Keith Cooperrider

Written + Video

1947 – 2019

The quiet pillar who steadied a movement and a newspaper for fifty years.

Controller and CFO of The Washington Times for 33 years, and a founding hand in the Unification Church's American expansion.

Susan Crosthwaite

Written + Video

1955 – 2022

The first sister to join the Unification family in Australia — pioneer, missionary, and marriage counsellor.

Melbourne-trained nurse who pioneered cities across Australia, served as a missionary in the Solomon Islands, and spent 25 years supporting marriages and families worldwide.

Drove for True Parents, taught martial arts, and brought 200 to his ceremony.

Dedicated South London member since 1978 — organised transport for True Parents during their visits, championed health and spiritual well-being, and never stopped witnessing.

Austrian engineer-turned-teacher whose hands and heart mended everything they touched.

Vienna-born adoptee who followed love to England, raised a family in Birmingham, and quietly fixed the world one sewing machine, curtain rail, and special-needs pupil at a time.

A creative inspiration in dedication and loyalty — pioneer, leader, peace-builder.

Born in Fuji City, joined Japanese CARP at 20, served as Scotland regional leader, Bahamas missionary, and tireless organizer of peace conferences and women's events in the UK.

Seonghwa Ceremony recorded 26 February 2023 — Minnesota Family Church.

A recorded Seonghwa Ceremony from the Minnesota Family Church on Vimeo. A written tribute has not yet been collected.

"If you change, everything around you will change."

A successful businessman who left everything to join the Brazilian church in 1982; his perfume business helped the church survive persecution. Tribal messiah, state leader for 9 years, Peace Ambassador.

Italian alpino turned pioneer missionary, rooted in family, faith, and mountains.

A Milanese accountant who, with his wife Luciana, helped plant the Unification movement across Italy and Romania while raising four daughters.

Drew Tintern Abbey at 12, cycled Newport-to-Colwyn-Bay in a day, body-built into his seventies.

Salisbury-born electrical engineer who married Ruby in 1978, lived in Wales, body-built, mountain-biked, and rarely allowed himself to be beaten at chess — sharing Reverend Moon's autobiography with everyone, even from hospital.

Lifelong distance runner, tax officer, and devoted husband.

A quietly determined East Londoner who logged 38,668 miles on foot, ran ten marathons, and called his marriage the best thing he ever did.

Met her husband while painting the Pyramids — engaged in six days.

Miyazaki-born art and calligraphy teacher who met her husband Colin in Egypt while painting the Pyramids in 1964. Joined the church in Zimbabwe in 1978; three sons and nine grandchildren.

Joanna Hartl

Written + Video

1953 – 2022

"A real angel" — generous, determined, and devoted to family and friends.

The sister with the bright smile and booming voice who took anyone in need into her home, picked up languages with ease, and cared for her mother to the end.

Climbed trees as a girl, served her community as a maternal figure to all.

Joined the Unification Church at 16 after a high school trip near Mount Akagi. Emigrated to the UK in 1985, raised four children in Harrow, and organised her community with an unwavering positive attitude.

A free-spirited adventurer, trauma therapist, and devoted mother whose light touched everyone.

Lifelong Unification Church member, mother of three, trauma-resolution therapist, and longtime partner in the family fish business Miracle Fish in South Florida — remembered for her boundless curiosity, courage, and unconditional love.

A cartographer, cyclist, and poet — the first English person to accept the Divine Principle.

Cycled from Cyprus to London after the army, mapped Mount Everest for the Royal Geographic Society, ran his own cartography business, and led a rich life of faith with his wife Elisabeth.

A quiet, kind engineer whose extravagant service spoke louder than words.

A Warwick-trained engineer pursuing his PhD at Greenwich, Dominic Hoyte gave his weekends to UPF and his heart to anyone in need.

A deeply spiritual heart and a sharp mind — ten years on MFT, then a National Messiah in Vanuatu.

Queens-born; spent ten years on the Mobile Fundraising Team, served as missionary in Africa, took his family to Vanuatu as National Messiah, and later co-founded the Tesla Science Foundation.

A diligent, big-hearted young samurai of the basketball court.

Japanese-American second-generation FFWPU youth from Philadelphia whose love of basketball, family, and self-improvement defined his nineteen years.

Yuko Iwasaki

Written + Video

1966 – 2020

Quiet pillar of the Las Vegas family — soft-spoken, steadfast, faithful.

Yamanashi-born Unificationist who served Hachioji, Miami, Orlando, and Las Vegas with quiet devotion. Beloved wife of Kozo.

Stuart Johnson

Written + Video

c. 1956 – 2021

A devoted father and husband — a perfectionist who spent his last years caring for his wife.

Passed from Covid at 65, surrounded by his children. A focused, never-faltering man who cared for his wife Regina through late-stage dementia and treasured nine months in a three-generation household.

A bridge-builder who listened for God's voice and answered without hesitation.

Harvard-educated Virginian who served decades in Japan and Korea: teacher, mentor, musician, and father of three, remembered for his uncommon gift of hearing God's heart and uniting people across cultures.

A true representative of True Parents — remembered for remembering everyone's name.

With her husband Kim Younghwi, she served as one of the European continental representatives from 1981 to 1986 — teaching Korean in the mornings, welcoming guests until late at night, living for the sake of others.

Seonghwa Ceremony recording — PTNKorea.

A short recorded Seonghwa Ceremony from PTNKorea — "though you've gone in the spirit world but your memories always remain in our hearts." A written tribute has not yet been collected.

Robert "Rob" Kitchens

Written + Video

1957 – 2024

Left-handed luthier of laughter, music, and quiet generosity.

A Belvedere-community craftsman and guitarist whose marquetry, ceramics, and welcoming smile touched four decades of friends and family.

A Japanese missionary who gave her life to the Thai providence.

Hokkaido-born interpreter, businesswoman, and missionary mother of five — she carried the household and the work of 430 blessed families in Thailand alongside her husband Suthin.

Never let her health dampen her enthusiasm to witness — a well-known voice on the radio.

A great ambassador for True Parents who, when she could no longer go out, took to Radio Kent and LBC to champion the cause of the homeless. Active to the very last months.

Bill Lay

Written + Video

— – 2024

Attorney, patriot, and Unificationist whose positivity outshone every storm.

William Dwyer Lay — UPF legal counsel, University of Bridgeport leader, and devoted Blessed Central Family father whose unfaltering positivity defined his life and his final days.

A Hawaiian-born missionary whose providential path spanned more than fifty years and five continents.

From Wahiawa to San Francisco, Uruguay, Peru, Russia, the Comoros, and finally the UK — a national leader, school founder, and faithful woman of God who walked her path with quiet courage.

Made Silvertown a home — True Mother praised her exemplary foundation for Westerners in Korea.

After her husband's death she moved to Silvertown in Korea, serving and loving everyone for over a decade. A devout person with deep spiritual insights, returned to England in 2013.

Avril Masters

Written + Video

1926 – 2022

A small woman of great faith and determination who made a beautiful home wherever she went.

Farmer's daughter, Women's Institute president and magistrate who — with her husband Henry — gave up everything in dedication to her faith, from an English village to Belvedere to Cuba.

Henry Masters

Written + Video

d. 2020

An architect who lived in humility and gave generations of inheritance to his faith.

Came from a great background but lived simply — an architect and boat designer, national Messiah for Cuba, remembered for a warm and welcoming heart.

Killed in an accident at work — his Seonghwa ceremony fell just a week before Father Moon's ascension.

A London-born son of Irish pub managers who travelled Europe, Africa and the US before joining the movement in New York in 1984. Survived a brain tumour, raised two sons, and loved his Sunday walks in nature.

A real and kind gentleman, yet a stallion of a man — IRFF Uganda director.

Christian and trusted friend of the Movement who led IRFF Uganda with pride and conviction. Travelled rural areas with the Mobile Medical Team to remove jiggers and bring basic hygiene. Survived by his wife Agnes and five children.

Roderick "Eric" Herradura Natoc

Written + Video

1977 – 2014

A quietly faithful Filipino missionary and Asian MFT team captain.

The first Filipino Unification Church missionary recognised as having given his life on American soil — a humble husband, father, and team captain who never complained.

Teresina Phillips

Written + Video

1954 – 2021

Bookkeeper, Sunday school teacher, and quiet pillar of Northern Virginia.

Ohio-born accountant who built a life of faith, family, and patient service in Northern Virginia, raising four children and teaching a generation of church kids.

A Yorkshire sister who wrote letters and worked across faiths.

Joined the church in 1979 as a mature person with two children. Worked tirelessly for moral issues, wrote regularly to the Huddersfield newspaper, and built bridges with Catholic, Anglican and other religious groups in Yorkshire.

Joined in Scotland in 1972 — pioneer, missionary, lecturer, poet, even from his wheelchair.

Joined the Unification Church in Scotland in 1972 and never stopped sharing — through poems, stories, plays, music, and songs. Lived 27 years with MS in a wheelchair without losing his great communicator's touch.

Elsa Rylands

Written + Video

1953 – —

Colombian-born missionary, mother of five, servant of the Unification family.

Born in Bogotá in 1953, Elsa Rylands left Colombia for New York, joined the Unification Movement, and raised five children with her husband Alan.

Rev. Yasushi Phillip Sakai

Written + Video

1948 – —

Japanese missionary to America who made Jesus the bridge to True Parents.

An early Japanese missionary sent to the United States in 1972, Rev. Sakai devoted three decades in Hawaii to teaching the Divine Principle and the heart of Jesus Christ.

Maria Stacey

Written + Video

—

First Unification Church member in Portugal; fearless pioneer for God.

The first person to join Azulda in spreading the Divine Principle in Portugal in the early 1970s; a fiery, dynamic pioneer who later served in France, the UK, and the West Country.

Gilbert Starr

Written + Video

—

Seonghwa Ceremony recording — Capital Family Church.

A recorded Seonghwa Ceremony (with Zoom recordings) from the Capital Family Church on Vimeo. A written tribute has not yet been collected.

Hokkaido sportsman, calligrapher, Won Hwa Do master, and devoted gardener of Livingstone House.

Captain of his school baseball team, calligraphy prizewinner at 15, IOWC member, mobiliser of Christian clergy, Won Hwa Do master who earned the Highest Master Belt in 2016. Cared for the gardens at Livingstone House like an artwork.

Lourdes Swarts

Written + Video

d. 2025

Brazilian-born evangelist who turned relentless faith into a lifetime of service.

Brazilian-born FFWPU organiser who built a speakers bureau reaching former vice presidents, senators, and prime ministers in the United States — while raising four children with her husband Rick and serving as National Messiah.

Maria Vargas

Written + Video

1955 – 2023

Puerto Rican warrior for peace who served the UN and her island.

Hispanic Unificationist who spent 25 years inside the UN and founded a peace nonprofit, fighting for family, faith, and Puerto Rico to her last weeks.

German pioneer of France, IOWC commander, "Marching on" until the end.

A column of faith from postwar Germany who pioneered the movement in France, led the International One World Crusade, and served True Parents on every continent.

Surrounded by family to the end — husband of Gwyneth, father of four.

Passed peacefully at 92, with many visits from family the day before. Survived by his wife Gwyneth, four children, fifteen grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Gwyneth Mary Warner

Written + Video

c. 1924 – 2020

A nurse, a mother, and a woman of deep faith who lived ninety-six years in gratitude.

Wartime RAF nurse turned village shopkeeper and farm-community mother — wife of Brian Warner, mother of four, the one blessed with happiness.