Peacefully, at home in the arms of his wife. Ken passed away on December 13, 2012 just four days before his 75th birthday. Predeceased by his parents, Frank G. Hatt (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and Nancy Donaldson (Enid, Oklahoma) and his sister Eva Anderson. He will be greatly missed by his wife, Susan; his children, Kierstin (Brian Small), Erin Christie (Dean Snell) and Bill Christie (Anika Kelloway); grandchildren, Caius, Jackson, Rowan, Arden, Danae and Eva Mae; his twin sister, Roberta McDonald, and brothers, George (Donna) and Dave (Teal); as well as nieces, nephews, friends, colleagues and thousands of ex-students all over the world.
Ken was born in Terrell, Texas and lived his early years there before moving to Douglas, Arizona for junior high and highschool. Ken was an active member of the Douglas Highschool class of ’56 where he participated in Glee Club, Hi-Y, student council and the Bulldog school newspaper and yearbook. His classmates knew him as a leader both in school and in the Methodist Youth Fellowship. Ken sang harmony in his highschool barbershop quartet which won the Arizona State Championship the year they competed.
He completed his undergraduate degree at Redlands College in California, attended Claremont School of Theology in Claremont, California, completed a Masters degree at California State University, and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Alberta. While a graduate student, he worked full time in the California State prison system and later worked to rehabilitate gang members on the east side of Los Angeles. After teaching briefly at Eastern Oregon College, he entered the faculty of Carleton University in Ottawa in 1970, where he taught Sociology until 1995. While at Carleton, he founded the first undergraduate criminology programme in Canada. He insisted that all students must complete a term of practical experience in a criminal or social justice agency. The programme continues to this day.
In 1995, Ken and Susan moved to Victoria where Ken joined the Department of Sociology at the University of Victoria as an adjunct professor. He taught mostly large undergraduate courses until 2006 when he turned to students doing graduate work. At this time, his academic work concentrated on food, specifically trade liberalization, food governance and the impact of trade liberalization on the ability of peoples around the world to grow their own food. This work became the foundation of a graduate course at the University of Catalonia (Barcelona) which he taught for two years. He completed the second revision of his text book and saw his most recent scholarly article published just weeks before he died.
Ken was an intellectual and an academic fuelled by a strong sense of justice, a well-developed sense of humour and a heart as big as the universe. He was always completely accessible to his family, his many friends and his students. He also wrote poetry, played the ukelele and loved many things: running, soccer, biking, baseball, the Arizona desert, growing organic vegetables, everything Italian (including travel to Italy), good coffee, good wine, good music (who could forget Kenny Bongo?), Monty Python, elephants and chickens to name only a few. His passing will leave a huge hole in the lives of many.
Special thanks to Dr. Jane Papp, Dr. Christine Jones and the Victoria Hospice Palliative Response Team. Donations in Ken’s honour may be made to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust or a charity of your choice.
Funeral Service will be held at 10:30 am on Friday, December 21, 2012 at McCall’s Downtown, Johnson & Vancouver Streets with a reception to follow. Interment at Ross Bay Cemetery. Condolences may be offered below.
McCall Bros. Funeral Home
39 Responses
Dear Susan,
I’m so sorry that I won’t be able to attend the funeral service tomorrow. I’m driving to Kamloops for the holidays. I will attend the Celebration of Life planned for the spring and I’ll be so pleased to participate with our chorus. My thoughts are with you and your family at this very difficult time. As you told me recently, you and Ken had many wonderful years together and hopefully, these memories will help you at this time. Looking forward to seeing you again soon Susan.
Sincerely, Lynn Baber
I am so sorry to hear of Ken’s passing. The world was made better because of him. He had an uncanny ability to make you feel at ease and challenge you to put your best effort forth. May you find comfort during this time of sorrow.
Sincerely, Carren Dujela
Dear Susan
I am so sorry to hear of your husband’s passing. From his obituary, I note he lead a full life. .
My thoughts are with you as you soldier on.
Anita Fownes, former Y hiker
It’s great to read these other comments from respected colleagues and students. My brother at times seemed to be an intimidating intellectual force, but that, I think, was my way of dealing with my lack of knowledge of his subject. He was always a great friend to me. Due to the separation in our ages (16 years), I do not remember him being around when I was young, but I always treasured his visits home, and we have enjoyed visiting the home in Victoria. Thank you Susan for all your kindness towards Teal and myself.
Susan,
I am so sorry to hear of Ken’s passing. I know you will miss him very much. My prayers and thoughts are with you and your family.
Maria
I share the sorrow of many at hearing that Ken has passed away. I send my condolences to Susan and Kiersten and family on your loss.
We are very sorry to hear of Ken’s passing. Our thoughts are with all of you.
Sincerely,
Wanda and Mike
Ken and I were colleagues at Carleton University as well as neighbours and family friends in Ottawa. Ken was a dedicated colleague, a highly respected teacher, and an inspiration to his students. His approach to education emphasized hands on experience and the criminology program which he established at Carleton placed a high premium on it’s ‘practicum’ and work in the community. Ken was passionate about his mission and he instilled that passion in his students. To Susan and Kiersten and family I extend my sincere condolences.
Don Whyte
Sechelt, B.C.
I am so sorry to hear of this news and my thoughts are with Ken’s family. I didn’t have the opportunity to work closely with Ken when I was in the Department of Sociology at UVic but many of my fellow students did and I know he was very highly regarded both academically and as someone who was kind, engaging, and generous. I enjoyed reading his obituary – what a wonderful life he had!
Rachel Phillips
I was a Sociology student of Ken’s, probably about 10 or so years ago now at UVIC. I wish to offer my condolences to his family and felt compelled to let anyone reading this know that of all the professors that I had over the course of my undergraduate degree, Ken was without a doubt the one that had made the most resounding impressions on my perspectives of the world of Sociology. I was only a face in a crowd of over a hundred students in a lecture hall, and I don’t know that he knew me personally, but his words always had so much meaning for me when I listened to him lecture. Not only was he great at ‘talking the talk’, I always had a sense that he genuinely ‘walked the walk’ – a highly respectable quality of any amazing teacher, and that he was indeed. I’ve thought back often over the past ten years about one lecture he gave in particular when he was talking about Capitalism and consumerism and how we as the general population, “the masses” are persuaded to think or behave a certain way. His example was wedding/engagement rings. He challenged us to think about/question why it was that the majority of North American women had wedding and/or engagement rings with diamonds in them, and then proceeded to show us and tell us about his own wedding ring, which, if I recall correctly was made from turquoise. I don’t know exactly why that lecture was such a profound one to me, as it seems like such a simple concept to me now. Perhaps it was just the ‘realness’ of who I sensed he was, or maybe it was just that it was so darn simple when he put it that way that there was no refusing how much sense it made to question “why diamonds?” But whatever it was, I can tell you that this teaching of Ken’s and indeed many other Hatt lectures have without a doubt influenced the person I am today. I think of him fondly, am grateful for having had the opportunity to listen to his wise words, and wish his family and friends peace.
Sincerely,
Tammy Medwedrich