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In Memoriam: V. Kenneth Shrable, PhD
by W. Mack Goldsmith, PhD
Ken Shrable was born September 14, 1929, in Vidette,
Arkansas, and died August 11, 2004, at age 74, in Vancouver,
Washington, where he had lived for 5 years. Ken had been
ill a long time with various systemic illnesses, including
two bypass operations and other heart problems. He finally
succumbed to pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his
wife, Linda, of Vancouver, Washington, and several nieces
and nephews.
Ken received a Bachelor of Arts in 1950 in Business Administration
from Harding College, Searcy, Arkansas, a school affiliated
with the Churches of Christ. He had a lifelong association
with the Churches of Christ. Following his undergraduate
education, Ken received a Master’s of Theology degree
from Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California,
then an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from the University
of California–Berkeley in 1956 and a Doctor of Philosophy
in Counseling Psychology in 1965, also from UC–Berkeley.
He was a teaching Fellow at UC–Berkeley (1964-1965)
and Assistant Professor in the Department of Education,
UC–Davis (1965-1970). In 1970, Ken became Associate
Professor of Psychology at California State University–Stanislaus,
Turlock, California, and later, full Professor. He was
appointed Dean of the School of Social and Behavioral
Sciences at CSU–Stanislaus in July, 1971, and was
Dean of Extended Education (1978-1987), in which role
he became to first dean of the University’s new
Stockton campus. From 1987 until his retirement from CSU–Stanislaus
in 1991, Ken returned to teaching in the Department of
Psychology.
He also was a California Licensed Clinical Psychologist,
a member of the American Psychological Association, the
American Association of University Professors, and Phi
Delta Kappa, an honorary fraternity in education. He authored
dozens of professional publications and papers dealing
with achievement motivation and teaching technology. He
twice gave major presentations at the prestigious “Pepperdine
Lectures” at Pepperdine University, Malibu, California,
a Churches of Christ institution. His association with
higher education in the Churches of Christ was on-going;
he most recently (2002) gave the commencement address
at Cascade College, Portland, Oregon.
In 1973 at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California,
a group of Christian psychologists and related professionals
created an informal group known as the Western Association
of Christians for Psychological Studies (WACPS). Ken was
an original Board member, and WACPS was incorporated in
1974 with Ken Shrable as its first president. He induced
me (Mack) to become a member in 1974, and I have been
one ever since. WACPS formally became the Western Region
of CAPS International (CAPS West) when the two associations
merged in 1979. Ken was the recipient of CAPS West’s
highest honor, the “Distinguished Member Award”
in 1992. In 1996, Ken became a member of the CAPS West
“Troika;” he was one of three co-regional
directors of CAPS West, along with Gerald Frincke, PhD,
of Sacramento, California, and myself. Ken served on the
Troika from 1996 to1999, when he resigned for health reasons.
However, he continued to attend conventions and to write
professional and theological pieces for the rest of his
life. Many of these were shared with many correspondents
over the Internet. In 1996, Ken wrote and self-published
one book, Rolls of Men and Women in Contemporary Culture
and Church: Models of Changes Compatible with Scripture,
an analysis aimed at encouraging his denomination
(Churches of Christ) to broaden ministry opportunities
for women.
Ken Shrable will be remembered by university colleagues
as a man who cared about ideas and who, as an administrator,
sought honest and irenic solutions to knotty political
problems. To Christian colleagues, both professional and
other, he will be remembered most fondly as a Christian
gentleman, an encourager, a peacemaker, and—above
all—as an ardent lover of nature, his wife, his
church, and his Lord.
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