Kenneth F. Renn, 71, psychologist
When Kenneth F. Renn was a student at a private high school in Montgomery County, he lived near it in the home of a fellow student, Peter Rhodes.
When Kenneth F. Renn was a student at a private high school in Montgomery County, he lived near it in the home of a fellow student, Peter Rhodes.
Mr. Renn had been growing up in the Juniata section of the city, in the clubhouse of the Juniata Golf Course, the publicly-owned course where his father lived and worked as the golf pro.
But because he had chosen the Academy of the New Church in Bryn Athyn to be his high school, he boarded for a few years at the Rhodes home.
Rhodes knew Mr. Renn for almost 60 years and, he said, "I never heard him say anything other than positive about the people he dealt with."
On Saturday, Nov. 12, Mr. Renn, 71, of Riverton, a psychologist with offices near Second and Vine Streets in Philadelphia since the late 1980s, died at Samaritan HealthCare and Hospice in Mount Holly following a stroke at his home.
Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Renn graduated in 1962 from the Academy of the New Church and served in the Air Force from 1963 to 1967, for a time as a laboratory technician at its hospital in Wiesbaden, Germany.
He earned his bachelor's in the late 1960s and his master's in 1973, both in psychology, at Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, said his daughter, Elizabeth Finelli.
Mr. Renn was a therapist at the Northwest Mental Health Center in Philadelphia in the 1970s and at the KeyStone Center in Chester in the 1980s, she said.
Rhodes recalled how helpful Mr. Renn was when Rhodes worked as a federal probation officer.
"We referred people to KeyStone for treatment for addictions," Rhodes said, "and they saw him and thought very highly of him."
"They just felt safe with him," he said. Mr. Renn "was a person of great integrity."
Mr. Renn was a member of the American Psychological Association.
Besides his daughter, Mr. Renn is survived by his wife, Janice; son Luke; a brother; three sisters; and five grandchildren.
A memorial service was set for 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, at Bryn Athyn Cathedral, 900 Cathedral Rd., with a l p.m. luncheon set for the Riverton Country Club, 1416 Highland Ave., Cinnaminson.
Donations may be sent to the Riverton Free Library, 306 Main St., Riverton, N.J. 08077.
610-313-8134@WNaedele