Memorial for Dr. Deborah Kuehn

Dr. Deborah Kuehn passed away on Saturday February 9, 2002. The following was read at the memorial service for Dr. Kuehn on Tuesday February 12, 2002.

        The rich, full, and productive life of this wonderful woman cannot be captured by mere words alone, but this biography provides us with a sense of Deborah's life and accomplishments. Debbie was born to Charlie and Beverly Wilbur on November 4, 1954, in Syracuse, New York, and lived most of her growing-up years there. She was the eldest of five children -- 3 sisters: Diane, Doreen, and Denise, and 1 Brother: David.
        In high school Deb was very active in sports and other extracurricular activities. She played point guard on the girls' basketball team, which was ranked second in its class in the state of New York. Debbie's personal best in basketball was once sinking a record 56 consecutive free-throws!
        After graduating high school in 1972 she entered Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, choosing Geology as her major and graduating with her B.S. degree in 1976. At this time, only about 10 percent of the geology discipline was women.
        While studying at Juniata, she met Ken Kuehn. A fellow geology student, and they were married in 1977. In 1980, she completed the MS degree in Geology at The Pennsylvania State University. Her thesis topic was coring and analyzing buried peat deposits in the Gulf of Mexico in order to study global sea level rise over the past 12,000 years.
        On September 19, 1980, Debbie and Ken celebrated the birth of their only child, Kerry Ann Kuehn. In 1983, she earned the Ph.D. in Geology at The Pennsylvania State University. Her dissertation research involved characterizing the organic structure of coal using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. At the time, her work was considered to be a major breakthrough in understanding changes in certain coal properties at the molecular level.
        Debbie's first professional position was for three years with the Department of Geosciences at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, where she served as Interim Department Head in 1983-84. In the summer of 1984, the Kuehn family moved to Bowling Green when Ken joined the regular faculty in Geography and Geology at WKU. Debbie served as an adjunct faculty member in the WKU departments of Chemistry and Geogaphy/Geology from 1984-1990. She worked full time from 1985-88 as editor of the Journal of Coal Quality, an international journal published by WKU aimed at helping coal analysts in the laboratory and in the workplace. She joined the full-time WKU faculty in Geography/Geology in 1991 and achieved the rank of Associate Professor before retiring in 1998 for health reasons.
        She taught introductory geology, historical geology, sedimentology, and paleontology in the WKU geology program. During her academic career, Debbie was author or co-author on 33 technical publications in a variety of geoscience subdisciplines and acquired nearly $100,000 in funding to support research for herself and her students. Debbie worked closely with students and was appreciated by them for her easy communication of often-complex material and her genial personality.

        I'd like to read an excerpt from Debbie's goodbye letter to faculty and students that appeared in the Fall 1998 Departmental newsletter, the GEOGRAM.

        "Making the decision to leave Western this year was a very difficult one. Having an overactive conscience, I began wrestling two years ago with the knowledge that there would soon come a time when I could no longer meet my personal standards for what was expected of a faculty member. As a result, I decided to forego the request for tenure and "retire." For as long as it takes, I will be dedicating my time and energy to regaining my health.
        "For all of the students I have taught since 1991, I say thank you for the fond memories with which I leave. Although some of you have given me more gray hairs than others, I treasure all the memories. Thank you for putting forth your best efforts in class and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to work with many of you on independent research projects. I hope the experiences I gave you allowed you to grow professionally, just as I grew from having known you and worked with you.
        "I leave you with a pun from one of my introductory geology classes that best sums up my years here at Western: I have had a simply marbleous time teaching geology and I still shale be around for hog roasts and other Department activities."

        After retiring in 1998, Debbie remained active in the Department, helping with the Geology Club fundraisers and other activities. Deb was a key figure every semester in the three-day sale of rocks, jewelry, and other goodies sponsored by the Geology Club.

        On a personal level, Deb's friends and family remember her for many other talents beyond teaching:
** She enjoyed collecting and had numerous and assorted antiques and unique items;
** She enjoyed fine mineral samples and semi precious gems, especially making them into jewelry items;
** Debbie was an avid gardener and kept meticulous notes on her latest floral experiments;
** She enjoyed painting in watercolor and acrylics and had a fine eye for what was "good", or aesthetically pleasing in about nearly everything;
** She designed and decorated the unique home where the Kuehn family has lived since 1991;
** She loved to host parties/gatherings at the house;
** She loved antique cars and could often be seen buzzing around Bowling Green either in her 1963 Ford Thunderbird or her latest -- a 1961 diamond blue Thunderbird.
        Debbie had only 47 living years, but she accomplished more than most of us do in a full lifetime. She never wasted a minute unless her health kept her from being a participant. She was industrious, meticulous, and productive.
        I'd like to close by paraphrasing Deb's words from her retirement letter:
We have had a simply marbleous time knowing Debbie in our many interactions and we know that she shale be around in our hearts and our memories for as long as we all live.

Donations in Dr Deborah Kuehn's memory can be made to the Department of Geography and Geology.

Last updated on February 13, 2002.