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Director 1998 - 2003 Secretary 2004 - 2006 Alan J. Pickering Duette, FL QCWA # 26707 Chapter 195 |
The Rev. Alan Jay Pickering, Ph.D. passed away June 29, 2013.
He was born in Freeman Hospital in Joplin, Mo, the second son of a set of twin boys, to Evelyn Burgess Ebenstein Pickering and Walter Roscoe Pickering on March 21, 1928.
He attended primary and secondary schools in Joplin MO, and was a part time employee of the Joplin YMCA and WMBH and WMBH-FM radio stations until 1945 when he enlisted in the United States Naval Air Corps and in the V-5 Naval aviation program. After 2 quarters of college classes, he was called to active duty and completed his first term in the military with an Honorable Discharge on September 21, 1946.
After two Semesters as a Pre-Engineering student at Joplin Junior College, he matriculated to the University of Kansas at Lawrence, Kansas where he completed a Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Management and Engineering in 1949. He then enrolled as a theological student at Chicago's McCormick Theological Seminary where he received the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Divinity in 1952.
He was then selected as the Louis M, Rabinowitz Interfaith Fellow at the Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, OH, where he received his PhD Degree in Semitic Languages and Literatures in June of 1956.
Returning to the University of Kansas, he became the Adjunct Professor of Religion in the Kansas School of religion and visiting Lecturer in the Middle-Eastern Languages and Linguistics in the college of Arts and Sciences. While there he organized and became the President/ CEO of the Echo Corporation, a local air taxi corporation linking the cites of Lawrence, Topeka, and Kansas City by direct Flights to major airline terminals.
In 1960, he was appointed Campus Pastor of the United Ministries in Higher Education, at the University of Nebraska, and then Instructor of Scientific Greek and Latin in the Classics Department of the College of Arts and Sciences and Visiting Professor of Comparative Religions in the Nebraska School of Religion.
He subsequently taught classes in "The New Morality" in the School of Journalism and classes in the "Origin and Formation the Alphabet" in the school of Journalism, and classes in "Humanizing the Engineer" in the School of Engineering.
For three years he was the Host Lecturer and Associate Producer of a series of 13 -week Educational TV programs on the Culture, Literature, and Architecture of the Middle-Eastern Mediterranean Lands which were distributed throughout the Midwest educational Network.
In 1970, he left academia to become Deputy Director of Mid-America Region of YMCA's with portfolios in Personnel and Fiscal Management Then in 1980, he was selected as National Training Director for the YMCA of the USA with its Headquarters and Training Center in Chicago, IL, a position from which he retired in 1992.
His first wife, Charlotte Sagmoen Pickering, preceded him by several years. Survivors include his second wife, Martha Kay Pickering, his children: Nancy Ann (born 1953), Keith Alan (born 1955): Scott Nathan (born 1957); Christi Lee (born 1970) along with the grandchildren: Thomas (born 1994,child of Scott and Susan) Madison ( born 1998 child of Cari); and Sarah Kate (born 2001, child of Christi and Mark) Halina (born 2007, child of Christi and Mark) Audrey (born 2010, child of Christi and Mark).
SERVICE WITH CHURCH BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
Board of Christian Education Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) 3 Years
Council of Theological Education (PCUSA) 3 Years
Committee on Ministry, Presbytery of Chicago 5 Years
Committee on Ministry, Presbytery of Tampa Bay 4 Years
Permanent Judicial Commission, Presbytery of Tampa Bay 4 Years
Stated Clerk (Chief Ecclesiastical Officer), Presbytery of Tampa Bay 6 Years
Moderator, Nebraska City Presbytery 1969 1 Year Chair, Committee on the Chaplaincy, Presbytery of the Twin Cities 1977-1980
SPECIAL INTERESTS
He was interested in the application of data-processing to ecclesiastical organizations and their record-keeping.
He also taught a course in the creation and development of Manuals of Operations for not-for-profit organizations (including churches) as an adjunct faculty member at the Tampa campus of Springfield College.
PUBLISHED WORKS
"Hentracks From Antiquity", Quarterly Museum notes of the Nebraska State Museum January, 1964 (The translation of 9 Cuneiform Tablets from 2400 B.C found in the Nebraska State Museum of National History)
"Sumerian Medical Handbooks from the Third Millennium B.C", The Proceedings of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences, 1965
"From Food Collecting to Food Producing:: the Beginnings of the Agricultural Sciences According to Babylonian Temple Records", the Quarterly of the American Inter-professional Institute, 1965
"The Jacob Cycle, The Blue Book, and Zaddokite Parallels to the John birch Society" Proceedings of the Rocky Mountain Section of the American Academy of Religion, Summer Issue 1965
"Early Traditions for the Christmas Narrative", The Quarterly of the American Inter-professional Institute 1966. "Sanskrit Word Roots as Bridges to Secular Theology" Annual of the Nebraska School of Religion 1966
"The Application of Early Sumerian Number Theology to Babylonian Astrophysics" Proceedings of the Rocky Mountain Section of the American Academy of Religion, 1967
"You're Damned If You Do, and Damned If You Don't - or Sex: The Most Fun You Can Have Without Laughing: A Monograph on Chastity, published by the United Ministries in Higher Education at the University of Nebraska.
The Executive Selection Handbook (co-authored with Jack Cole), "How to Identify, Select, and Then Employ an Executive Director For Your YMCA" published by the YMCA of The USA.
The YMCA Start-Up Handbook, a three- volume handbook with associated forms, materials, and resources for the communities interested in starting an independent or a branch YMCA, published by the National Council of YMCAs in the USA.
Seven Articles in "Perspective Magazine", the monthly magazine of the Association of Professional Directors of YMCAs, on various topics related to Personnel Management and Training.
Eighty (80) one-page Book Reviews, published in "Perspective Magazine", the monthly magazine of the Association of Professional Directors of YMCAs.
Writer (beginning in 2003) of a two-page article on a bi-monthly basis published in World Radio Magazine, dealing with general topics of interest to Amateur Radio Operators.
COMMUNITY/ BOARDS/ ORGANIZATIONS, ETC.
President, National Campus Ministry Association, 1968-1970
President, Rocky Mountain Section of the American Academy of Religion, 1964-1967
President and CEO, The Echo Corporation, a Kansas Air-Taxi Company. 1957-1960
President and CEO, The Center for The Performing Social Sciences, a consortium of Social Science and Fiscal Management Consultants serving not for profit charitable organizations world-wide, 1977-2001
FORMER MEMBER OF THE FOLLOWING SOCIETIES:
Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis
The Nebraska Academy of Sciences
The American Schools for Oriental Research
The American Personnel and Guidance Association
The American College of Personnel Association
The Association for Higher Education
The American Society for Training and Development
The American Inter-Professional Institute, Member of the Board
The National Campus Ministry Association
The Institute of Certified Professional Managers, Member of the Board
The Board of Christian Education, PCUSA
The Council on Theological Education, PCUSA
The Nebraska Flying Club
The St. Petersburg Family YMCA, Treasurer and Board Member
ACTIVE MEMBER IN THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS:
The Presbytery of Tampa Bay, PCUSA
The American Radio Relay League (Life Member)
The Quarter Century Wireless Association (Life Member, Former Board of Directors 1996-2006 National Secretary 2003-2006)
The Old, Old Timer's Club of Amateur Radio (Life Member)
The Pelican Chapter of the Quarter Century Wireless Association
The Gator Chapter of the Quarter Century Wireless Association
The Association of Naval Aviation (Life Member)
The Institute of Certified Professional Managers (Life Member)
Certified Professional Manager (Association of YMCA Professionals)
The family will receive friends 4 to 6 pm. Tuesday, July 9, 2013 at Sun City Center Funeral Home, 1851 Rickenbacker Drive, Sun City Center, Fla. Memorial service will be 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 10, 2013 at St Andrew Presbyterian Church, 1239 Del Webb Boulevard West, Sun City Center, Fla. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the St Andrew Presbyterian Church Food Pantry.
Arrangements by Sun City Center Funeral Home (813) 634-9900
Alan was in his third term on the Board of Directors when he assumed the position of Secretary on December 17, 2003. He has been a Broadcast announcer and engineer for five radio and TV stations. He is a former Navy pilot, holds bachelor, master and doctoral degrees and has taught at several universities and colleges. He was employed by the national YMCA as its National Training Director, and retired from that position in 1991. He was first licensed in 1954 with the call W8ULS. He has been the presiding officer of seven amateur radio groups, including two QCWA chapters, a member of Air Force MARS and is a LIFE member of ARRL and QCWA.