The University Record, October 7, 1998
Obituaries
Hayden Kenna Carruth
Hayden Kenna Carruth, age 87, died at his home in Ann Arbor Sept. 27 from the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. He was born Sept. 14, 1911, in Auburn, Miss., the sixth child of Samuel Enoch and Myrtis Kennis Carruth. He graduated from Asbury Academy and Asbury College in Wilmore, Ky.
In 1938, he married Beth Nixon, who survives him, as do their four children and their spouses: Margo (Clement C. Gill) of Ann Arbor; Susan Haines of East Grand Rapids; Carole (the Rev. Layne Smith) of Gainesville, Tex.; the Rev. Hayden K. Carruth Jr. (Sylvia Slider) of Adrian; and nine grandchildren: Melanie (Robert Ellis); Katherine (Greg St. Claire); Kevin, and Paula Gill, M.D.; Joseph and Sarah Haines; and Benjamin, Evan and Brandon Carruth. He also is survived by one brother, John V. Carruth of Winnemucca, Nev.; one sister, Eleanor Carruth Covey of La Jolla, Calif.; and nine nieces and nephews.
Carruth completed his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in speech at the U-M. After serving in the U.S. Navy as a communications officer in 1943-46, he returned to the U-M where for 38 years he served in various academic and administrative capacities.
During his years in the classroom, he also served as chair of concentration advisers. In the 1950s, he was manager of the Michigan High School Forensic Association, sponsored by the U-M and supported by the Detroit Free Press. For 20 years he taught public speaking in the U-M’s Extension Service at the Rackham Building in Detroit, where persons serving their communities in public life were his pupils. He was a consultant to the Ford Motor Co., working with their executives in techniques of decision-making.
He served two terms as executive secretary, vice president, and president of the Michigan Speech Association. He also was a member of the Executive Council of the Speech Association of America. He was, at the time of his retirement in 1978, professor of speech and associate dean for faculty affairs of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
He was an innovative, creative administrator, with a warmth in personal communication and an insistence on openness and integrity that greatly endeared him to his colleagues and earned their respect.
In 1971-79 he was president of the Eaton Rapids Camp Meeting Association, the first layman to hold that position. Throughout his life he was an active member of the Methodist Church, carrying various responsibilities.
Memorial tributes may be made to individualized Hospice, c/o Keybank, 100 S. Main St., Ann Arbor, MI 48103, or Alzheimer’s Disease Research, 15825 Shady Grove Road, Suite 140, Rockville, MD 20850.
Submitted by the family
Norma Radin
Norma Radin, professor emeritus of social work died in Palo Alto, Calif., Sept. 24 after a valiant struggle with cancer. A native of New York City, where she was born Jan. 27, 1926, she received her B.A. in psychology from Brooklyn College in 1946 and her M.A. from Columbia University in 1948. She earned her M.S.W. in 1965 and Ph.D. in social work and social psychology in 1969 from the University of Michigan. She was a member of the faculty of the School of Social Work from 1969 until her retirement in 1991.
She began her professional career as a caseworker in the New York City Department of Welfare and maintained her commitment to disadvantaged groups throughout her life. Radin was recognized as a leading scholar in the area of child development and parenting. Her more than 50 publications included groundbreaking work on the long-term impact of programs fostering maternal involvement in the cognitive development of preschool children on later academic achievement. She was one of the earliest researchers to study the impact of fathers’ involvement in the rearing of their children on the intellectual and emotional development of their sons and daughters, and to investigate grandparents’ involvement in child rearing and its impact on their grandchildren’s well-being. She also wrote extensively on early childhood education interventions and was a recognized expert on the multiple roles that social workers could carry out in school settings.
She was a committed teacher and mentored many students learning to be school social workers. During her entire career as a faculty member and especially during her tenure as director of the Doctoral Program in Social Work and Social Science, she was an important source of inspiration, intellectual leadership and support to doctoral students in social work, education and psychology.
She is survived by her husband, Norman Radin, professor emeritus of neurochemistry and research scientist emeritus of the Mental Health Research Institute, of Menlo Park, Calif., son Lon and his wife Hollis, her grandsons Jesse and Max, and daughter Laurie.
Memorial contributions may be made to the International Myeloma Foundation, 2129 Stanley Hills Dr., Los Angeles, Calif. 90046. Friends and colleagues will gather to share remembrances at 5:15 p.m. Nov. 11 in Room 3816, Social Work Building.
Submitted by the School of Social Work
Erich E. Steiner
Erich Ernst Steiner, professor emeritus of biology, died Aug. 28 at his home in Ann Arbor. He was born April 9, 1919, in Thun, Switzerland, to Gotthold and Emmy Steiner. His family immigrated to the United States in 1922 and Erich was raised in a suburb of Washington, D.C. In 1944 he married Dorothy White of Roanoke, Va.
During World War II he served initially in the Army Signal Corps and later in the Medical Service Corps. He was discharged as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1946. Following his military service, he was employed for a period as a vocational counselor for the Veterans Administration before resuming an academic career.
Steiner received his baccalaureate degree in botany from the University of Michigan in 1940, and his Ph.D. in genetics from Indiana University in 1950. Following completion of his doctoral work, he accepted a position on the faculty of the Department of Botany at the U-M. During his tenure at Michigan he served as department chair (1968-1971), as director of the Matthaei Botanical Gardens (1971-77, 1989-91), as a member of the editorial board of the U-M Press, and on numerous academic committees.
He was an active and respected teacher who introduced one of the first audio-tutorial teaching laboratories in botany. As a researcher, he was recognized internationally for his work on the evolutionary genetics of Oenothera (Evening Primrose). He was invited and served as a guest professor at the University of Cologne, Germany (1960-61); the University of California, Davis (1967); and the University of Dusseldorf, Germany (1982, 1984).
Steiner was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Xi and numerous other professional societies (Botanical Society of America, Genetics Society of America, American Society of Naturalists, Society for the Study of Evolution, Economic Botany Society, American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta, American Horticultural Society, American Institute of Biological Science, Michigan Botanical Club, and Torrey Botanical Club).
He served as secretary of the Michigan Academy of Science, chair of the teaching section of the Botanical Society of America, member of the Board of Directors of the Michigan Botanical Club, member of the Editorial Board of the Plant Society Bulletin, founding member of the Friends of the Nichols Arboretum, and as a consultant and examiner to the AIBS Office of Biology Education and the GRE Advanced Biology Test, respectively.
Steiner had a continuing interest in the development and utilization of botanical gardens and arboreta for teaching, research and public outreach. He served on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta. His avid interest in horticulture and the Matthaei Botanical Gardens continued throughout his retirement.
Steiner is survived by his wife, Dorothy; three sons, Kurt (Alison) of Lawrenceville, N.J., Karl (Jane) of Mt. Pleasant, and Kim (Catherine) of Cape Town, South Africa; and seven grandchildren, Andrew, Jennifer and Emily of Lawrenceville, Jessica and Grant of Mt. Pleasant and Dylan and Henry of Cape Town. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother (Herbert).
Memorial gifts may be made to the Matthaei Botanical Gardens, the First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor or Hospice of Southeastern Michigan, 9333 Telegraph Rd., Taylor, MI 48180.
Submitted by the Department of Biology
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