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MEMORIAL ARTICLE
Published Assembly Mar '90
Robert Rodney Waggener No.15627 Class of 1946
Died 3 July 1986 at Kansas City, Missouri, aged 60 years
Interment: Mount Olivet Cemetery, Kansas City, Missouri
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Robert Rodney Waggener, known to his friends and
family as Bob, was born On 23 September 1925 at San Antonio,
Texas. While he was in grade school, his stepfather a West Point
graduate, Bob lived on Army posts for about 5 years. His experiences
during those years were to have a great influence on his decision
to go to West Point. Bob graduated from high school in Corpus
Christi, Texas. He spent one semester at Corpus Christi Junior
College and then a year at Texas A&M before joining the Class
of 1946 on 1 July 1943.
As a cadet, Bob was always open, jovial and exceptionally
friendly. He accepted the discipline at USMA in a relaxed manner
that some upperclassmen mistakenly viewed as indifference. Needless
to say, this caused Bob to have a more arduous plebe year than
some of his classmates. While at West Point, Bob took a serious
look at the role of religion in his life. He entered USMA as
a Protestant, but soon started instruction to convert to the
Roman Catholic faith. Before graduation, he was seriously considering
becoming a priest. First class year Bob took flying training
and got his wings June Week. He was enthusiastic about pursuing
a career as a pilot, but at the same time he felt a clear calling
to become a priest.
Bob's first station after graduation was at Williams
Field, Arizona, for transition training. From there he went to
Biggs Air Force Base at El Paso, Texas where his unit towed targets
for the Army antiaircraft troops. His next station was Great
Falls Air Force Base, Montana in 1949. His tour there was interrupted
by the Berlin blockade. Bob went to Berlin and flew in the Airlift
until it was finished. In 1950 Bob was selected by the Air Force
to attend Ohio State University to study electronics and nuclear
physics. He decided to leave the Air Force in 1952.
Initially after leaving the Air Force, Bob tried
his hand as an industrial sales engineer. However, the calling
to become a priest was still with him. So, in 1955 he entered
Saint Bonaventure University to study for the priesthood. After
six years of study, Bob graduated at the head of his class and
became a priest. As a priest, Bob developed principally as a
counselor. As counseling department head in two high schools,
Bob met the challenge of student rebellion against religious
education by creating new courses, curricula and approaches in
religious education. The "religion electives" approach,
which he originated, proved so successful that it was introduced
in a number of foreign countries and is widely used in the United
States and Canada.
In 1970, Bob realized that his life's work was
to be counseling, but that he could not bring the full scope
of his abilities to bear within the confines of the church. Bob
left the priesthood in 1970. On 2 July 1970 he married Catherine
Marie Rutte in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1971 he received his
doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Illinois,
Urbana. While studying for his doctorate, the department had
Bob design and direct a three week national summer institute
for behavioral scientists in group leadership techniques. During
this period, Bob published two books, titled Freedom and Authority.
Bob, in 1971, joined the US Armed Forces Institute
as Chief, Counseling and Guidance. During this period he was
the principal consultant in the selection of a library of counseling
tests for use by the Armed Forces. In 1974, Congress disestablished
the institute. Bob then joined the Social Security Administration
in one of only six special senior positions in the US as an employee
relations specialist. Covering the entire mid America region,
Bob provided a full range of counseling services to employees,
coordinated alcoholism and drug abuse programs, and acted as
consultant to superiors and management officials for personnel
and human relations problems.
1978 saw Bob become a regional consultant with
the Public Health Service for federally funded mental health
and substance abuse programs. He provided extensive management
training programs for executive directors and other staff of
community mental health centers in a four state area.
Bob became a recognized expert in his field of
counseling. He was a consultant for six universities across the
country. In February of 1986, he was selected to receive the
Administrator's Special Citation, one of the highest honors conferred
by the Public Health Service, in recognition of the excellence
of his contribution and work.
In his approach to work, Bob was talented and innovative.
He had broad interests and always sought to apply his abilities
to a wider scope of endeavor. He once said that, with regard
to his work, he gained the greatest pleasure from applying creative
approaches to challenges and seeing them succeed. He was generous
with his time and talents, always helping in the community.
Bob is survived by his wife, Catherine, and their
two daughters, Julie Marie and Michelle Therese. He was a gentle
and loving husband and father. Married relatively late in life,
he had hoped to live to see his daughters grow up, but it was
not to be. Even though he left the priesthood, Bob was totally
dedicated to God throughout his life. His faith never deserted
him. As Bob joins "The Long Gray Line," his family
and classmates will always remember him as a patriot, a friend,
a caring husband and father, an honorable man, and one who walked
hand-in-hand with God. We miss you, Bob, but there is consolation
in knowing how much our lives were enriched by knowing you.
'46 Memorial Article Project and his wife, Catherine
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