Obituaries

Retired Austin College professor Kenneth W. Street, who helped build a political-science program with only one student major into a department that rivaled the college’s vaunted pre-medical program, died Wednesday at his home after a short illness. He was 90. Arrangements are under the direction of Dannel Funeral Home. A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Monday, Dec. 18, in Wynne Chapel at Austin College, with the Rev. Lander Bethel officiating. Graveside services will be Friday, Dec. 15, at 1 p.m. in Dickens, Texas, his hometown, in a plot next to his beloved wife, Louise. Legions of his students knew him as demanding but compassionate and he maintained friendships with scores long after they graduated. He sent into the professional ranks lawyers, professors, teachers and public-policy experts throughout Texas, the nation and beyond. His students affectionately called him “Dr. God.” Kenneth Willow Street was born January 13, 1927, in Dickens to Willow and Marguerite (Meadors) Street. After graduating from Dickens High School as valedictorian of his class, he served in the U.S. Army as a military policeman in the peacetime occupation of Austria after World War II. He married Louise Hicks on July 31, 1950, in Kerrville. Mrs. Street, a retired English teacher, died in October 2013. Street earned a B.S. degree in geology from Texas Tech University in 1950, and after teaching high school returned to complete a master’s degree in government in 1954. After serving one year as assistant professor at Wichita State University, he continued his graduate studies at the University of Texas in Austin, receiving his Ph.D. in 1963. His career at Austin College began in 1959 and continued to retirement in 1998, with five more years as an adjunct professor of political science. He served Austin College as chair of the political science department and dean of the social sciences and held the John D. Moseley Chair of Political Science and Public Policy. For 20 years he served as the college’s pre-law advisor and founded the Social Science Laboratory, directing it for 20 years. He received the 1993 Homer P. Rainey Award for service to the college community and in 1996 the Austin College Award for Excellence in Teaching. During the 2015 commencement the college awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in recognition of his contributions to Austin College, to students, and to alumni. During Homecoming 2015 the Kenneth W. Street Advocacy Courtroom was dedicated to honor that his name has long been synonymous with law and public-service preparation at Austin College. Honors for Dr. Street also came from outside the campus community. Named a Piper Professor of Texas in 1970 for outstanding teaching, he also was awarded numerous grants and fellowships for his work and research. He was a Harry S. Truman Library Fellow and visiting scholar at Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley. He and his wife were active in the local community, including the Goals for Sherman project and the Consortium for Community Educational Development. A lifielong Democrat, he served as a delegate to county and state Democratic conventions several times. Dr. Street survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Cheryl and Bill Rushing of Orlando, Fla.; a son, Kenneth Gregory of Sherman; two grandchildren, Blake Rushing of Dallas and Kenny Rushing of Orlando; two sisters-in-law, Jenny Hicks of Abilene and Alice Scarborough of Lubbock; and several nephews and nieces. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Austin College. You may sign the online guestbook at www.Dannelfuneralhome.com.