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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JULY 6, 2019
Ketcham: ‘I have to listen and be aware and open — and not be defensive’
Continued from Page A1
serving as a Baptist minister in nearby Mos-
syrock. The family moved to Athena in East-
ern Oregon, where she spent her teenage
years as a “pea bum,” working 12-hour days
for 85 cents an hour, driving a truck in the
pea and wheat fi elds.
Her high school aptitude for languages,
especially Spanish, morphed into a bache-
lor’s degree at Linfi eld College. “I liked the
beauty in the language, the mellifl uous har-
mony, then continued in college, probably
because I was good at it.” She became the
favored student of a “crotchety professor”
who set her to work translating an arcane
version of “Don Quixote.” It was a won-
derful introduction to the intricacies of lan-
guage,” she recalled.
Her fi rst job was as a public assistance
worker in Washington’s Klickitat and Ska-
mania counties, serving World War II vet-
erans who captivated her with their stories
while offering an indelible snapshot of pov-
erty. A chance meeting led her to Colorado
to become a Baptist missionary in Denver,
working with young people in the inner city
inspired by a leader who had marched during
the civil rights confl ict in Selma, Alabama.
“I was so naive and raw,” she said. “I
knew nothing about real racism. I had seen
some examples with the way Native Amer-
icans were treated, but at this Christian cen-
ter there was a real mix with many students
of color.”
In the late 1960s, she earned her creden-
tials and began a lengthy stint with the Jef-
ferson County Schools in the greater Denver
area, fi rst as a Spanish teacher, then 19 years
as a counselor.
She married and had a son. When her
marriage broke up, her change in lifestyle
refl ected the era. “I was a single woman
and ready to cut loose — which I did for a
while,” she laughed.
Counseling meant daily exposure to trau-
matized young people whose thoughts of
suicide revealed patterns rooted in sexual
assault, domestic violence and parental alco-
holism, all masked amid affl uent suburbs.
When Ketcham posted her resume on her
Facebook page, one of her former students,
Kristen Rahm, was quick to reply. “Thanks
for being there when I felt no one else was,”
said Rahm. “I know your work in the ’80s is
part of the reason I made it through my teens
relatively unscathed and reasonably sane.
You listening to me saved me from making a
lot of really dumb choices.”
Ketcham pioneered peer counseling
among middle schoolers in an educational
climate more focused on statistical learning
“outcomes” than caring for each individual
student. “I didn’t know how to convey to the
kids the hope,” she recalled. The job came
with pressures and threats, especially when
reporting parents and colleagues for abuse.
“I really learned a lot about bad news and the
best way of conveying it.”
Her shift from growing up in a Baptist
household toward embracing the extremely
liberal Unitarian Universalist philosophy
happened in 1972 as experiences combined
to focus her beliefs on active social justice
and equality.
Unitarian churches, though rooted in
Protestant Christianity during their forma-
tive years since the 1820s, have no dogma,
and instead refl ect a more humanist approach
stressing inclusiveness. Unusually, a belief
in G od isn’t required, but instead a commit-
ment to seven principles beginning with the
“inherent worth and dignity of every person”
while acknowledging the interdependence
of mankind and nature.
Key moments
Two moments shifted her career from
the classroom to the pulpit. One, where she
spoke perceptively about contrasting good
and bad aspects of ministry, led a Unitar-
ian leader to tell her she had identifi ed her
calling. “It was a proverbial two-by-four
between the eyes,” Ketcham said.
Later, at a regional church meeting in
Spokane, Washington , when attendees sang
Anglican Bishop William W. How’s beloved
1864 hymn, “For All The Saints,” the tears
fl owed.
One verse resonated. “And when the
fi ght is fi erce, the warfare long, steals on the
ear the distant triumph song, and hearts are
brave again, and arms are strong, alleluia,
alleluia!”
“I saw my dad, who had been dead 20
years, and despite his conservative theol-
ogy I thought about my love for him, and
I thought, ‘I can do this!’” said Ketcham,
Patrick Webb/For The Astorian
Kit Ketcham was the co-organizer, with Joseph Stevenson, of the two Pete Seeger birthday folk concerts at the Performing Arts Center in Astoria
in 2018 and 2019.
weeping at the memory.
An invigorated Ketcham returned to Col-
orado, completed her eligibility to retire
from her school career and enrolled in the
Iliff School of Theology in Denver. She
learned more about trauma as an intern hos-
pital chaplain and was ordained.
“This was the formative experience for
me,” she said, still tearful as she looked
back. “I saw my dad and then looked at me,
and I came to realize what a hero he was to
me. He knew I loved him, but we never had
a conversation about why I was a UU and
not a Baptist.
“But, I have never looked back.”
Pastorates with contrasting successes fol-
lowed. The fi rst was in Portland, where a bit-
terly divided congregation tested her heal-
ing skills. She drew on the philosophy of
the 12-step program — especially making
amends — that she had learned during a rel-
ative’s struggle with alcohol.
Her favorite Bible verse is Micah 6:8.
One modern translation is: “To act justly and
to love mercy and to walk humbly with your
god.”
“I made the decision to learn from this
and not just suffer,” said Ketcham, recall-
ing debilitating personal stress. “I never for-
got these lessons, that I have to listen and be
aware and open — and not be defensive. I
can listen.”
again at college and at all of her churches.
Her joy with folk music spurred her to orga-
nize a Seeger birthday tribute concert on
Vashon in 2009, something she replicated
in Astoria the last couple of years and may
continue in 2020.
North Coast folk musician Ray Raihala
commended her. “Kit brought new energy
and organizational skills to our local musi-
cal community and, having done a similar
production in her former location, saw the
opportunity and need to spearhead these
projects locally,” said Raihala, who per-
formed at both Seeger shows. “As musi-
cians, we are always looking for new people
to interact with, or new ways to interact with
our old friends, and it is even better when
you can put your talents to work for a good
cause, in this case the maintenance of the
PAC as a community resource.”
KMUN radio stalwart Joanne Rideout
said it was a blessing that Ketcham moved to
the North Coast. “She’s a warm, loving per-
son who seems to just get along with every-
one,” Rideout said. “She also has a lovely
voice, has quite a background as a performer
herself, and loves music very much.’
She and her partner, Jerry Middaugh,
played at both concerts and at Ketcham’s
retirement party. “I was touched by the deep
affection and respect her parishioners have
for her,” Rideout noted.
‘I HAVE COME TO THE PLACE IN MY LIFE
WHERE I DON’T WANT TO BE AN EVANGELIST ANY
MORE. I JUST WANT TO MODEL THE PRINCIPLES
THAT HAVE SHAPED MY LIFE THE WHOLE WAY.’
Kit Ketcham | retired minister at the Pacifi c Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Astoria
These included becoming part-time minis-
ter a year after her move, shifting services
from cramped S outh S lope quarters to the
PAC and developing Unitarian outreach in
Nehalem, Seaside and on the Long Beach,
Washington, Peninsula.
On the North Coast, Ketcham’s public
profi le has involved working with the anti-
war and gay and transgender communities.
Unitarian Universalists were the fi rst major
U.S. church to approve religious blessings
on homosexual unions way back in 1984.
In the past year, she has been active helping
Hispanic families affected by the federal
crackdown on undocumented immigrants .
Broadcaster and singer Carol Newman
described Ketcham’s enthusiasm as “won-
derfully contagious.” She shares common
ground in social justice, conservation,
eduction, arts and spiritual matters.
“She ‘gets it’ and speaks out, with dig-
nity and passion, insight and conviction,
seriousness and laughter,” Newman said.
“She steps up for immigrants and others
outside the dominant culture, partners for
a community center, facilitates at Encore,
brings folks together in song and spirit,
leading as well as joining in.”
Ketcham’s resume doesn’t mention that
she is a member of Mensa , the elite orga-
nization for people with high IQs; her son
and ex-husband also qualifi ed. That mod-
esty is refl ected in comments from teacher
and broadcaster Debbie Twombly.
“Kit is one of those people who makes
everyone feel important. She’s wise, but
it never seems like she’s a know-it-all,”
said Twombly. “I never have a conver-
sation with Kit when I don’t come away
with some new life inspiration, even if we
hadn’t spoken of anything pressing. She’s
a go-getter and has a real talent for getting
people involved in a project.”
Legacy
The second posting was in Washing-
ton’s San Juan Islands, where she enjoyed
the rewards of expanding two progressive,
appreciative congregations and building an
environmentally “green” church. Because
she lived in Seattle, island residents dubbed
her their “ferry godminister.”
Washington followed Oregon passing its
pioneering Death with Dignity law, and two
suffering congregants used its provisions to
legally end their lives.
“It was being with people at this incred-
ibly grateful times in their lives, and being
there, holding their hands and not having
to say anything,” she recalled. “I also was
burying people who had made me furious,
but I loved still. That was a really magical
time, but it was exhausting.”
‘Affection’
Ketcham’s lifelong passion for music
began as a 5-year-old taking piano lessons,
singing in her fi rst choir a year later, then
Ketcham hopes to continue performing.
“I have always played music,” she said.
“It has grounded me.”
When she had her epiphany in Spo-
kane so many years ago, music soothed
her emotional state. “I woke up with the
song, ‘I would be true, for there are those
who trust me,’” she said, quoting a turn-of-
the-century hymn based on Bible verses in
Acts and Timothy.
Her retirement location was chosen, in
part, because she thought she may partici-
pate in religious retreats at Cannon Beach.
She enjoyed making friends unconnected
with any workplace, but didn’t resist when
the tiny Unitarian congregation in Astoria
sought leadership.
“I thought I would just sit in the pews,”
said Ketcham, with a grin that signals that
could never happen. “I saw ‘this place is
dying, and I can help,’ and I became more
and more connected to them and they
were willing to take my suggestions.”
Ketcham acknowledges her life has
been well-lived, with some relationship
breakups but no serious trauma other than
heart surgery some years ago. She is look-
ing forward to enjoying her grandchil-
dren and son, now 47, a special education
teacher in Reno, Nevada, who recently
played a major role in the Astoria Scan-
dinavian Midsummer Festival’s Viking
encampment.
“I never wanted to risk my legacy of liv-
ing by my principles,” Ketcham said, “the
ones of integrity and the ones that I learned
through 12-step and ‘hard knocks,’ and
with the congregation of UU.
“I have come to the place in my life
where I don’t want to be an evangelist any
more. I just want to model the principles
that have shaped my life the whole way.”
A sign posted in her kitchen reads, “I
will do whatever I can, with whatever I
have, for as along as I have.”
“That’s my path.”
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