Families of the Ascended Ministry

Annie felt called to work with the Families of the Ascended Ministry because the experience of losing her husband and seeing her children’s difficulties after losing their father sometimes was too much to bear. Annie was blessed to have an incredible amount of support from family and friends; however, she knew there were other families who did not have such support after a spouse or child ascended. Annie hopes to help provide a support system for similar families in need.

Annie joined the Unification Church in 1974 and received the Marriage Blessing with Edouard Gagné on July 1, 1982 and have two children and one granddaughter. Edouard ascended on December 8, 2001. Annie is currently the accounting manager at Universal Peace Federation in Tarrytown, NY.

Alex developed friendships with Annie and Anne-Marie from an earlier gathering of widows and widowers, and was inspired by their investment and felt called to step up and offer help to others in need. He also knew that making an offering for a larger purpose could help advance his own circumstance.

Alex joined the Unification Church in 1971 and received the Marriage Blessing with Sarah Helen Shortle in 1982. In 1988, he moved to his home state of Vermont where he is currently the pastor.

Anne-Marie is the founder of the Online Matching System (OMS), which seeks to support widows and widowers to build friendships with each other and possibly find someone with whom a comfort blessing could be possible.

Toshiko has continued to live a public life despite losing her husband more than 20 years ago and raising her two children alone. She felt called to help reach out to families going through the difficult transition of loosing a loved one and to encourage them to have faith and hope.

Toshiko joined the Unification Church in Japan in 1966. She received the Marriage Blessing with Kazuo Sato, who was one of the first 12 Japanese pioneers to come to the US. They participated in the 777 Couples’ Blessing in 1970, and have two children and 5 grandchildren. Kazuo ascended on August 26, 1993. Toshiko is currently working with the LEDA project in Paraguay, responsible for public relations.

Homer, their middle child, ascended in 2003 at the age of 21 from a high waterfall-climbing accident. Such a loss of a child changed the parents’ heart forever and is the reason Alice is naturally driven to offer a listening empathetic ear and support to any other parents who have experienced the ascension of a child.

Alice and Thomas Boutte received the Marriage Blessing on February 21, 1977 as part of the 74 Couples’ Blessing held at the New Yorker Hotel. Though both American, Alice is from Connecticut Yankee stock and Thomas is from French/Spanish Cajan Louisiana stock and their ancestors fought each other during the Civil War. Thomas is the practical, fix-it, down-to-earth one and Alice is the missionary/public outreach one. They live half of the year in Atlanta, GA (where their eldest son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren are) and the other half in Alice’s hometown in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate NY. They have five children between the ages of 26 and 36 who currently live in Atlanta, Boston, Seattle, Bridgeport, CT and one in spirit world.

In 2007, at the time comfort blessings were made available by True Parents, Mark and Tamie felt moved to accept a comfort blessing and bring their two families together. They had been in a support group for widows and widowers together and felt compatible. Based on their experience as a comfort blessing couple, they want to offer support to those who would like to go this path. Feel free to contact them if you have any questions.

Mark Johnson joined the Unification Church in 1974 and received the Marriage Blessing with Giusi in 1982 at Madison Square Garden. In 1998, Giuis ascended into the spirit world after a long bout with cancer. Giusi and Mark have three wonderful sons.

Tamie Wilenchik joined the Unification Church in Japan in 1971. She and her husband, Mark, were also received the Marriage Blessing in 1982 at Madison Square Garden. Mark ascended in 2000 from a sudden heart attack. They have two children, a son and a daughter.

Eva decided to coordinate meetings for the Families of the Ascended support group in Bridgeport, Connecticut, because she saw a need for widows and widowers to share their experiences with each other. She felt that only those going through a similar experience could fully understand what she was going through. The group inspires each other to keep moving forward, despite the obvious difficulty of being a widow or widower and a single parent.

Eva and her husband, Tom, received the Marriage Blessing in the 2075 Couples’ Blessing in 1982, and have four children. Eva was one of the first pioneer missionaries to Thailand, having lived there for 15 years before moving to the US. Her oldest son, Chris, ascended in 2012 due to pancreatic cancer. In 2013, Eva’s husband, Tom, also ascended due to Marfan Syndrome.

Toshiko has continued to live a public life despite losing her husband more than 20 years ago and raising her two children alone. She felt called to help reach out to families going through the difficult transition of loosing a loved one and to encourage them to have faith and hope.

Toshiko joined the Unification Church in Japan in 1966. She received the Marriage Blessing with Kazuo Sato, who was one of the first 12 Japanese pioneers to come to the US. They participated in the 777 Couples’ Blessing in 1970, and have two children and 5 grandchildren. Kazuo ascended on August 26, 1993. Toshiko is currently working with the LEDA project in Paraguay, responsible for public relations.