News of the Day 039

Fred Krebs dies; services Jan. 5 in Polsky

And no one was around by *grayma1k on deviantART

“Fred Krebs, JCCC professor, history, died Friday, Dec. 28. A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, in Polsky Theatre at JCCC.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Rotary Foundation, Johnson County Community College or the Johnson County Library.

Krebs was one of the first professors to join the staff at JCCC where he continued to teach until his death. He embellished his teaching with portrayals of historical characters in costume including Galileo, Christopher Columbus, Ben Franklin, William Allen White, Huey Long and many others.

Ingram’s Magazine named Krebs an Icon of Education in 2012. Vincent Clark, JCCC professor/chair, history, wrote that Krebs taught many of the history courses the college offers and was largely responsible for promoting and shaping JCCC Western Civilization classes. He developed the system of graded discussions that those who have taught Western Civ over the years have used, not only in Western Civ. but in many other courses as well.

Krebs promoted historical and other knowledge throughout Johnson County, the state of Kansas and beyond through his work in the Chautauqua movement, Clark wrote. He believed fervently in good citizenship and civic engagement and traveled to the distant corners of Kansas (and towns large and small in between) to promote these values. Clark wrote that Krebs saw the prospects of civic renewal in small-town institutions, particularly town baseball teams, and supported small-town festivals, such as the Buster Keaton Festival in Iola, Kan., where he was a regular speaker.

‘He brought the same optimistic beliefs about the importance of the liberal arts and his students’ ability to benefit from them to his teaching,’ Clark wrote. ‘Students’ lives would be enhanced, he was sure, by reading, thinking, discussing, and writing about original documents in his Western and Eastern Civilization courses. And he was convinced that if students would use the systems he had developed to help them learn, they could excel. He often told me that if students would work with him in these challenging classes, he could get them to succeed without sacrificing academic standards. His greatest frustration was with those who seemed to lack interest in doing so.’

A complete obituary, with an online guestbook, can be found here.”

Outside Johnson County Community College, I also met Fred Krebs during a rewarding civic experience.