Westmont Magazine Obituaries

Trustee Emerita Margaret “Maggie” Dorsey ’56 died November 24, 2020, in Mercer Island, Washington, at the age of 86. She attended Westmont for two years before transferring to the University of Washington and earning a degree in education. She and her husband, William “Bill” Dorsey, lived in Southern California where she taught school and he was a pastor until they moved to Washington in 1968 with their three children, Charin, Christi and Steve. Bill worked at Baugh Construction for 25 years, rising from project manager to partner and president of Baugh Industrial Company. He died in 2019.

Maggie and Bill were actively involved at Mercer Island Covenant Church. In addition to supporting Westmont and serving on our board of trustees from 1989 to 2017, Maggie volunteered for a variety of Christian ministries and community organizations. The couple also opened their home for Westmont alumni events.

Maggie had a special love for Kerrwood Hall and worked with the college to renovate and preserve its distinctive and historic features. For example, she helped fund the replacement of the original fountain with an exact replica. She recalled cleaning windows in the building as a student, a chore that led to her passion for the former estate. “Both Westmont’s identification and a historical landmark, the old estate has such elegance,” Maggie said in a 1995 Westmont magazine story. “It’s the thread that connects past and present students. Restoring the house is a tremendous undertaking—the needs are both superficial and structural—but we must bring it back to its original stateliness.” Fellow trustee Bill Kerr (son of founder Ruth Kerr) and his wife, Beverly, joined her in renovating Hieronymus Lounge.

Trustee Emeritus Don D. Goehner ’60 died August 10, 2021, in Nipomo, California, at the age of 82. He served on the board at Westmont from 1986-2017 and as president of the Westmont Alumni Association from 1986-1989. The college named him Alumnus of the Year in 2010. He connected to Westmont in many ways: a trustee, alumnus, former employee, parent of two alums, and grandparent of another.

Don earned a degree in sociology from Westmont and served as the executive director of the Greater Long Beach Youth for Christ for 14 years. He worked in advancement at Azusa Pacific University and Westmont and earned an MBA from Pepperdine University. In 1990, he formed the Goehner Group in San Jose, California, to provide consulting services in fundraising, management and executive searches. He was also active in Young Life Capernaum, a ministry to youth with disabilities.

Don and his first wife, Bev, had three children, Terri, Todd ’85 and Trina Hudson ’87. Bev died suddenly in 2006. Immersed in grief, he wrote a book about his difficult experience, “My Journey to Hope,” to help others deal with the death of a spouse. He later mourned the death of his daughter, Terri.

In 2010, Don married Caryl Taylor Goehner ’64, and they shared a heartfelt commitment to the college. When he accepted the Alumnus of the Year award, he said, “Westmont took a risk by accepting me as a student, and it changed my life. I am who I am today because of my relationship with Westmont.”

Don had a heart for people and loved to serve the Lord by caring for those in need. He especially loved and cared for his family, in particular his grandsons and their wives who brought him so much joy.

Don is survived by his wife, Caryl, his son, Todd, his daughter, Trina (Steen), and his grandsons Keaton’14 (Angela) Hudson, Taylor (Gabrielle) Hudson and Carter Hudson.

Trustee Emeritus Vince Nelson ’63 passed away unexpectedly due to a major brain hemorrhage September 25, 2021. He was 79. The board of trustees planned to celebrate his fruitful 38 years of service to the college and retirement from the board during the October 2021 board meetings.

“I greatly enjoyed working with Vince,” says President Gayle D. Beebe. “He was a wonderful storyteller. He whole-heartedly embraced Westmont’s mission and shaped the college in many ways. We’re grateful for his many contributions and support, and we mourn his passing.”

Vince joined the board in 1983, served as chair of the Academic Committee from 1997-2003 and as the board chair from 2008-2014. He graduated from Westmont with degree in history in 1963 when Roger Voskuyl was president. He then attended Columbia University, where he earned an MBA.

After three years in the Navy as a navigator on the Arnold J. Isbell, he returned to Chicago and joined IBM. Business eventually brought him back to California, where he stayed.

Vince was an avid reader, loved to ski, enjoyed traveling and served the local church. He was a man of deep faith and was a member and former elder at the Creekside Community Church in Alamo, California. He was an expert on Winston Churchill, Dwight D. Eisenhower and World War II.

His wife, Cathy, and their three children, Annie ’00, Andrew ’05 and David, survive him. Vince is also survived by his brother James, his two granddaughters Ellie and Madi, and by Walter Hansen (Darlene), Jean Johnson, Joyce Spurlock (Doug) and Linnea Kuhnhausen (Rick), with whom he grew up.

Trustee Emeritus Gilbert L. Sheffield died September 29, 2021, in Walnut Creek, California, at the age of 92. He served faithfully on the board from 1979 to 1993. His wife, Barbara Ruth Sheffield, died October 14, 2021, listening to “Amazing Grace,” also in Walnut Creek.

Gil held a variety of executive positions at Pacific Telephone after joining the Bell system in 1953, including executive vice president for marketing and executive vice president for distribution services. He left the company for two years in 1969 when Governor Ronald Reagan appointed him the first director of the Department of Human Resources Development.

He and his wife, Barbara, had four children, and all attended Westmont with three graduating: Mark ’81 and Kathy Sheffield, Todd Sheffield ’80, Gail Sheffield Way ’77, and David ’91 and Sally Sheffield ’91 Peterson.

Gil graduated from the University of California in Berkeley in 1951, earning a degree in business administration. He served as a decorated U.S. Army officer from 1951-1953, spending a year in Korea.

James French Keith Jr. died August 4, 2021. He was 86. He served as associate professor of urban studies and director of the Urban Program from 1973 to 1981. He provided excellent leadership and developed a format and a vision for the program that has endured. He believed that everyone deserved a place at the table, including those least likely to be invited. His colleagues, students and friends benefitted by exposure to his understanding of life and God.

He graduated from Wheaton College and earned master’s degrees in sociology and psychology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and completed additional doctoral work in higher education at the University of Georgia. His time at Westmont led to a life devoted to experiential teaching with small circles of college students, encouraging service and helping them to shape meaningful careers.

He served as associate dean of students, director of experiential learning, director of career development and placement, and adjunct assistant professor of sociology at Guilford College and later worked as program officer for the Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation, where he helped design service learning programs for higher education programs. He was active in his church and volunteered for countless organizations.

Bruce McKeown, professor emeritus of political science, died May 2, 2021. He taught at Westmont from 1988 to 2007. He was a leading scholar in the research technique Q method. He wrote a book, “Q Methodology” (Sage Publications, 1988), and published numerous articles in scholarly journals. He graduated from Seattle Pacific College, earned a master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin Madison and completed a doctorate at Kent State University.

During his time at Westmont, he faced various health challenges and eventually underwent a liver transplant, which allowed him to live a remarkably productive life for another 24 years. He was known for his rigor, humor and willingness to speak truth to power. He taught that every day is truly a gift from God. Freda, his wife of 54 years, survives him.

Ira “John” Rapson ’76 died July 21, 2021, at the age of 68. A renowned jazz trombonist, composer and gifted teacher, he helped lead the University of Iowa School of Music Jazz Program for 26 years. He conducted the Johnson County Landmark orchestra and established both baccalaureate and master’s degrees in jazz during his tenure at the university.

His father, Ira Rapson, taught economics and business at Westmont, and John graduated from the college with a degree in music. He met his wife of 43 years, Beth Swanson Rapson ’77, at Westmont. In 2012, the college honored him as one of the 75 outstanding alums celebrated during Westmont’s 75th anniversary.

John earned a master’s degree in composition and theory at CSU Northridge and played with many L.A. avant-garde musicians who became lifelong collaborators and friends in a career spanning dozens of innovative albums and countless performances as a leader, sideman and composer.

In 1980, John returned to Westmont, directing the brass ensemble, starting a jazz band, teaching composition and theory, and chairing chaired both the music and fine Arts Departments. He left his position as a tenured professor to pursue doctoral studies in ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University and collaborated with leading musicians in New York and Boston. He joined the faculty at the University of Iowa in 1995.

A recording artist for MoMu Records, Music and Arts, Sound Aspects and Nine Winds, John mixed ethnic and experimental elements with more conventional jazz forms. He wrote more than 100 jazz compositions and recorded more than two dozen albums. His song “Riff Bass Bridge Head” won first prize in the Julius Hemphill Competition in 2002 sponsored by the Jazz Composers Alliance. In 1995, AT&T commissioned him to compose “Sound Luminesce,” a jazz suite that united musicians in Iowa and Japan via fiber-optic technology in the first trans-pacific live performance.

John lovingly labored over fellow artists’ musical work, taking pains to transcribe and orchestrate their creative ideas when they lacked the tools to do it themselves. He worked with diverse groups of musicians, artists and styles throughout his career. His true legacy was encouraging and inspiring fellow musicians and students to experiment and to commit themselves to the music and to one another.

John was known for his huge heart, kindness, generosity and connection to people. He believed being a good friend was more important than being a good musician. He had a bottomless love for books and a profuse vocabulary with an affinity for reading aloud to anyone who would listen.

He attended Trinity Episcopal Church for many years, composing and arranging liturgical music for vespers and writing a mass. He hosted a popular local radio show, “As Night Falls” on KSUI, eager to introduce listeners to new music.

John’s wife, Beth, their children, Sam (and Ole) Rapson, Hannah Rapson and Clara (and Ryan) Quinn, and their four grandchildren will miss him greatly.

Marian Jean Lorenz Groff ’59 died August 20, 2021, at the age of 83. She graduated from Westmont with a degree in education and met her first husband, Hal Thompson ’65, there. They had two children. Marian taught at Cold Spring School in Montecito for 20 years and had a great enthusiasm for teaching and spoke fondly of her years instructing children. She also helped start a preschool for low-income families in Santa Barbara.

After separating from Hal in 1979, she worked at Pemberton and Oakes in Santa Barbara. She married Dr. Gerald L. Groff, O.D. in 1984. They shared a tremendous passion for living life to the fullest and celebrated every day with their friends, family and especially each other. They were active members at Santa Barbara Community and Oaks Bible Church, where they sang in the choir, performed in plays and musicals, led and attended Bible studies, and counseled engaged couples. Marian was an active leader in Royal Family Kids Camp, where she shared the love of Jesus with disadvantaged children from the Santa Barbara community.

Jerry and Marian enjoyed traveling with friends and family and also participated in missionary trips to Mexico and sang for the Marines at Camp Pendleton every year with their church choir. They joined Westmont students in the Potter’s Clay ministry for many years; Jerry was an optometrist who provided free eye exams and passed out donated glasses. They were faithful donors to Westmont.

Jerry died in 2020, and Marian, who suffered from dementia, never got over this loss. She is survived by her sister, Margaret “Peggi” Nichols ’63; her son and daughter-in-law, Mike ’87 and Caroline Thompson; her daughter and son-in-law, Cyndi and Tyler Richardson; two grandsons and two step-grandchildren.