A Tribute to Dr. Zepp
August 29, 2009 by Kevin Dayhoff
Hundreds packed a “Celebration of the life of Dr. Ira G. Zepp, Jr., Saturday afternoon at Big Baker Memorial Chapel on the college campus of McDaniel College.
The celebration was led by Rev. Carroll Yingling. Folks from all over the country came early and stayed late at a reception at McDaniel Lounge after the ceremony.
Dr. Zepp graduated from McDaniel College in 1952 and later returned to serve for decades as a professor of Religious Studies at the four-year liberal arts college, founded in 1867 and situated on shining hill overlooking Westminster, Maryland.
He passed on to his next great adventure on August 1, 2009 after inspiring generations of students and community leaders to lead their lives committed to service, activism and peace.
Dr. Zepp truly touched many lives, including mine. He was many different things for many people. In addition to his many professional accomplishments, if you were fortunate enough to have crossed his path, he was a trusted friend and advisor, a college professor, a stalwart foot soldier in the civil rights movement, an author of twelve books, and certainly the conscience and soul of McDaniel College and Westminster.
He was a teacher like no other. In one of his most recent books, Dr. Zepp wrote:
“A teacher is someone who is willing and humble enough to drink from the instructional wells of those who have preceded us and continue to be nourished by them: the Hindu sages, the prophets' call for justice, the discipline of the shamans, the wisdom teachers of all traditions, the gifts and graces of the saints, plus every teacher we've ever had.
“A teacher is someone who is devoted to students and is willing to endure the vertigo of vulnerability which inevitably accompanies the intimacy of human relationships and unanswered questions. This is the pedagogy of the heart.”
Pasted below is the long version of a tribute I wrote shortly after Dr. Zepp died. A shorter version may be found in Explore Carroll.com here:
http://explorecarroll.com/ Dr. Ira Zepp, 79, McDaniel College and Westminster civil rights leader, dies
http://tinyurl.com/mpoyfmhttp://explorecarroll.com/news/3252/zeppobit/ http://tinyurl.com/mpoyfmA second tribute to Dr. Zepp, written by me, was publiched in The Tentacle. It may be found here:
R.I.P. – Dr. Ira Zepp Wednesday, August 5, 2009 Kevin E. Dayhoff
http://www.thetentacle.com/ Rev. Dr. Ira Zepp prof emeritus at McDaniel has died
http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=3296For more articles on Dr Zepp click here:
http://tinyurl.com/n3u32eZepp, a McDaniel College and Westminster civil rights leader, has died
By Kevin Dayhoff, August 4, 2009
Westminster, MD - On Saturday, August 1, Rev. Dr. Ira Gilbert Zepp Jr., Professor Emeritus of the Religious Studies department at McDaniel College, died peacefully at his home. He was 79 years old.
In a memorial tribute by McDaniel College president Joan Develin Coley; she recalled that Dr. Zepp “joined the faculty in 1963, first as Dean of the Chapel, then as full-time Professor of Religious Studies, and taught full time until his retirement in 1994.
“His electrifying courses on taboo topics like human sexuality, death and racism, and his serious scholarship on a wide range of subjects, from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X to the culture and religion of Islam, earned him much popularity and esteem.”
After his retirement, he taught an occasional “honors” classes at McDaniel and he continued to teach at Carroll Community College until 2008.
Zepp was born November 15, 1929 in Madonna, MD; he was the son of the late Ira G. and Nellie Katheryn (Foard) Zepp, Sr.
He was the husband of 57 years to Mary Elizabeth (Dodd) Zepp. Surviving in addition to his wife are children, Alan P. Zepp and wife Noelle DeMars of Westminster, Karen P. Zepp of Columbia, MD, Paul H. Zepp and partner Vincent Sargent of Van Nuys, CA, and Jody K. Zepp of Owings Mills; a granddaughter, Rachael E. Carter; siblings, Murray Zepp of Rising Sun, MD, Patricia Mikkonan of Bel Air, MD, and Dale Zepp of Montana. He was predeceased by a sister, Elsie Hutchison.
Dr. Zepp graduated from McDaniel College, then-Western Maryland College, in 1952. He went on to graduate magna cum laude from Drew Theological Seminary; after which he served a number of churches in Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey before joining the faculty at McDaniel. He earned a Ph.D. in 1971 from St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore.
Zepp truly touched many lives. He was a profound man of enormous charisma, wisdom, and compassion. He returned to Westminster and McDaniel College, then-Western Maryland in the turbulent 1960s after the community and the college had begun wrestling, in the mid 1950s, with race relations and the civil rights movement.
The college has always been known as the first co-education college below the Mason-Dixon Line and according to 2001 interview with Dr. Jim Lightner, there has always been a strong heritage of foreign students at Western Maryland College. In his book on the history of the college, “Fearless and Bold,” Lightner refers to a Japanese student in the late 1880s, “in the person of Misao Tsune Hirata, the first foreign-born student at Western Maryland College.”
Lightner also shared in the interview that just after World War II, Western Maryland College pushed society's social envelope by welcoming a Jewish student named Alleck Resnick, who graduated around 1947.
However, integrating the college was a different story altogether. It was a struggle.
In an article by Dr. William David, entitled, “When the Wall Cracked,” published in “The Hill’” in February 1990; Dr. David writes, “The first and most courageous act leading to the integration of WMC was a statement by Dr. Charles Crain, professor of religion, in a faculty meeting in 1955… (He) wanted it known that he considered it his Christian duty to do what he could to bring about the admission to the college of black students.”
The Baltimore Colts began their summer practice at Western Maryland College in the late 1950s. Many local historians accept that it was the dynamic of having African-American athletes on the Baltimore Colts that provided a major impetus in the desegregation of Westminster – and the college.
From 1955 until the mid 1960s there were a series of false starts and trials and tribulations integrating both McDaniel College and Westminster. In a February 3, 2001 correspondence with Zepp, he reported that the “first African-Americans to graduate were Charles Victor McTeer … and Charles Smothers. They graduated in 1969.”
Dr. Charles Collyer remarked in a phone interview that he first met Dr. Zepp about twelve years ago. Collyer said that Dr. Zepp “participated in, and freed others to participate in, the American civil rights movement.”
Coley’s tribute noted that Zepp “participated in non-violent activism and marched in Selma, Alabama, with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Collyer reiterated that Dr. Zepp “was one of the members of the clergy who went to Selma, Alabama, in 1965… These efforts resulted in the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 which made barriers to voter registration and voting illegal and Dr. Zepp was a part of that.”
It was not easy. In Coley’s tribute to Zepp, she wrote: “Daughter Jody Zepp said her parents’ advocacy of civil rights was unpopular in their Westminster neighborhood of the mid-1960s. The family received hate mail and dirty looks from neighbors who didn’t like the sight of black guests at their house.”
“‘By virtue of taking stands you will have some people who are on the other side. I’ve made enemies, but I never think of them as enemies,’ Ira said. ‘I will love the hell out of them, or better yet, heaven into them.’”
Dr. Pam Zappardino, who along with Dr. Collyer, were inspired and encouraged by Dr. Zepp to be co-founders of the Ira & Mary Zepp Center for Nonviolence and Peace Education, remembers:
"I was a student at McDaniel (then Western Maryland) College in the late sixties, when change was all around us. Ira freed us as students to stand up for what we believed and to stand strong in the face of criticism.
“He also taught us how to question and how to enter into real dialogue with folks with whom we disagreed. I learned from Ira, mostly by example, how to confront issues nonviolently. I came to understand by watching him that nonviolence is more than just a tactic, it is a way of life.”
Collyer and Zappardino recall that Zepp always stressed the need for students to get involved. He inspired generations of students to lead lives committed to service, activism, and peace.
The author of a dozen books, Zepp viewed language as a powerful tool for both shaping and expressing his ideas. In 1981, he wrote “Sacred Spaces of Westminster.” In part of his introduction, he wrote, “This study is an attempt to suggest the religious significance of the large number of ‘natural’ and ‘secular’ symbols and areas of Westminster and in so doing to observe how the city reflects archetypical … human consciousness.”
Zepp was many different things for many people. In addition to his many professional accomplishments; if you were fortunate enough to have crossed his path, he was a trusted friend and advisor, a college professor, a stalwart foot soldier in the civil rights movement, an author of twelve books, and certainly the conscience and soul of McDaniel College and Westminster.
Although, Westminster and McDaniel College are quick to claim Dr. Zepp, he was foremost, a true citizen of the world. In the biographical notes from the book, “Sacred Places,” it says that Dr. Zepp “also studied at the University of Edinburgh, Gottingen, Harvard, and at the Center for Intercultural Documentation in Cuernavaca, Mexico, as well as in India and Eastern Europe.”
In a tribute written by Collyer, he observed that Zepp, “carried out scholarly research on Martin Luther King, Jr., producing books such as ‘The Social Gospel of Martin Luther King, Jr.,’ ‘Search for the Beloved Community,’ with Kenneth L. Smith; and ‘Nonviolence: Origins and Outcomes’,” which Zepp wrote with Collyer.
Collyer further elaborates that Zepp’s “most recent book, on teaching, is ‘Pedagogy of the Heart,’” in which he explored diverse definitions of the art of teaching and examines the intimacy of human relationships in the pursuit of wisdom.
“He was a strong and rigorous defender of Dr. King against his critics,” said Collyer.
Since his death, many have observed that Zepp leaves a legacy with which it is our responsibility to continue to build upon. Fortunately, he laid a substantial foundation upon which we can work.
Zappardino notes that Zepp “was a critical partner with Walt Michael in the founding of Common Ground on the Hill, an organization in which the traditional music and art of many cultures brings people together in community.”
Collyer wrote that the Ira and Mary Zepp Center for Nonviolence and Peace Education, of which he and Zappardino are co-founders, is another legacy of Zepp. The Zepp Center “is a program of Common Ground that carries on Ira’s legacy by promoting greater knowledge of the civil rights movement and of the worldwide family of nonviolence traditions to which that movement belongs.”
Zappardino said that “Ira taught me that questions are much more important than answers. ‘Questions Unite. Answers Divide,’ he always said."
Many agree with Zappardino’s observation: “Ira was an optimist. In a very real way, I am who I am because I knew Ira...and we often laughed about some of the trouble that's gotten me into. I expect I'll get into more trouble as I go along. And that Ira will still be cheering me on.”
A memorial service celebrating Zepp’s life will be held at 2 o’clock on Saturday, August 29, 2009 at Big Baker Chapel on the campus of McDaniel College with Rev. Carroll Yingling officiating.
Arrangements are by the Myers-Durboraw Funeral Home in Westminster, MD. The family will receive friends immediately following the service at McDaniel Lounge on campus.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the “Ira & Mary Zepp Center for Nonviolence and Peace Education,” P.O. Box 552, Westminster, MD 21158.
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Related:
Dr. Ira Zepp, 79, McDaniel College and Westminster civil rights leader, dies Published August 4, 2009 by Westminster Eagle
The Rev. Dr. Ira Gilbert Zepp Jr., professor emeritus of the religious studies department at McDaniel College, died peacefully at his home on Aug. 1. He was 79. In a memorial tribute by McDaniel College president Joan Develin Coley, she recalled that Dr. ... ...
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
R.I.P. – Dr. Ira ZeppKevin E. DayhoffLast Saturday word spread quickly throughout the greater Carroll County community that Rev. Dr. Ira Gilbert Zepp, Jr., professor emeritus of the Religious Studies department at McDaniel College, had died peacefully at his home. He was 79 years old.
Drs. J. W. Hering and Ira Zepp, Sacred Places and Westminster City Hall
http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/08/drs-j-w-hering-and-ira-zepp-sacred.htmlhttp://tinyurl.com/nfe522Pictured is Westminster City Hall MD around 1953.
Click here for a larger image:
http://twitpic.com/ddez2The death of Dr. Ira G. Zepp has reminded me of one of my columns which was published in
http://www.explorecarroll.com/ on July 25, 2008. Find it here:
http://tinyurl.com/6yb23j or find the full story on
http://www.explorecarroll.com/ here:
http://tinyurl.com/krebkyThe Rev. Ira Zepp: Legacy of lessons
http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/08/rev-ira-zepp-legacy-of-lessons.htmlWestminster's sacred places are shrines of community life EAGLE ARCHIVE By Kevin Dayhoff Posted on
http://www.explorecarroll.com/ on 7/25/08
http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2008/07/westminster-sacred-places-are-shrines.html20090829 sdsom Mem service to celebrate professors life Aug 29 2009
http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/search/label/People%20Zepp-Dr%20Ira%20ZeppMemorial service McDaniel College Westminster MD to celebrate Dr Ira Zepp’s life Aug 29 2009
http://tinyurl.com/mrsl8yhttp://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2009/08/memorial-service-to-celebrate-dr-ira.html http://tinyurl.com/mrsl8yFor more articles on Dr Zepp click here:
http://tinyurl.com/n3u32e20090829 sdosmKED Zepp celebration w tribute
