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> Services held for William C. Placher, 60

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www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2008/08908<http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2008/08908

> Services held for William C. Placher, 60

Beloved teacher, author died suddenly Thanksgiving weekend

> by Jerry L. Van Marter
> Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE - Services were held Dec. 6 for William C.
Placher, a prolific writer and professor in the humanities
at Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)-related Wabash College for
34 years, who died during the Thanksgiving weekend,
apparently of a heart attack.

"Bill was one of the most influential and revered
professors at Wabash," said President Patrick White. "In a
long line of great teachers, mentors, and scholars, Bill
will be remembered as one of the legends. As a student,
faculty member, leader, and role model for students,
faculty, and all of us who love Wabash, Bill Placher was
our teacher and will remain an exemplar of the best
imagination of the mind, heart and spirit of the college."

A 1970 graduate of Wabash, Placher was on sabbatical,
serving a one-year appointment as writer-in-residence at
St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota. He
usually used his sabbaticals to teach at other schools,
including Haverford College, Princeton University and the
University of Chicago.

In 2002, the American Academy of Religion named him the
best teacher in the country, honoring him with its
Excellence in Teaching Award. He received numerous other
teaching awards during his distinguished career.

Placher was a member and leader of the Wabash Avenue
Presbyterian Church in Crawfordsville, the congregation
that helped found Wabash College 176 years ago.

He was the author of 13 books, including A History of
Christian Theology, Unapologetic Theology, Narratives of a
Vulnerable God, The Domestication of Transcendence, Jesus
the Savior, and The Triune God.

He also edited the textbook, Essentials of Christian
Theology, which was honored by both Christian Century and
Christianity Today. He gave more than 40 invited lectures
and was the author of literally dozens of essays, articles,
and reviews.

Marc Lewis, President and Publisher of Presbyterian
Publishing Corporation - which published many of Placher's
works - said, had "Bill Placher was both a foremost author
and a beloved friend of Westminster John Knox Press and the
Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Like everyone who was
touched by Bill's life, the staff of PPC mourns his
passing."

Working with his friend and colleague Amy Plantinga Pauw, a
professor at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary,
Placher was serving as the general editor of a 36-volume
series of Bible commentaries authored by theologians. The
completion of these works will be dedicated to his memory.

At Wabash's Homecoming Chapel in 1996, Placher said in a
sermon, "The way we best show our love to the whole world
is ... to love with a particular passion some little part of
it."

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