HOUSER, Frank E.

Frank E. Houser of Spokane died January 13, 2007,
after battling Alzheimer's disease for several years.
He was 86. Born in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, on May
28, 1920, he received a BA from Houghton College in
1943, and then served as a naval officer in the
Pacific during World War II. He went on to Columbia
University where he earned an M.A. in Sociology in
1948 and a Ph.D. in 1974. He taught sociology at
Wheaton College in Illinois from 1948 to 1959, and
also taught summer courses at the Young Life Institute
in Colorado from 1958 through 1962. In 1959, he moved
to Spokane to join the faculty of Whitworth College
where he later headed the Sociology Department. He was
known for his kindness and sensitivity to students and
colleagues alike. Dr. Houser wrote several articles
about social movements and activism, and Christianity,
social problems and the family. He was active in
Whitworth Presbyterian Church and had a lifelong love
of music and sports; he played the cello and sang
tenor in the Whitworth College Faculty Quartet, and he
was an accomplished and dedicated basketball and
tennis player. Along with his wife Helen, he taught a
popular Whitworth class on marriage/relationships, and
after his retirement, they twice journeyed to China,
where they taught courses on English and American
culture at Nanjing University. Dr. Houser is survived
by Helen, his wife of 60 years; his sons David, of
Bellevue, Washington; Douglas, of Lavallette, New
Jersey; James, of Seattle, Washington; his daughter,
Jacqueline Faoro, of Nevada; a brother, Ron, of
Lathrup Village, Michigan; eight grandchildren and
several nieces and nephews. Memorial services will be
held at Whitworth Community Pres-byterian Church on
February 3 at 2 pm. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts
may be made to the Whitworth Presbyterian Church to be
used to strengthen its connection with Presbyterian
churches in China or to the Whitworth College Athletic
Department to be used toward a better sound system for
the Field House.


Jan 14, 2007
Spokesman-Review