William Renshaw Obituary

William Blair Renshaw, Jr. (“Ren�) died February 4, 2011 in Colorado Springs, CO (born July 31, 1925, East McKeesport, PA). Ren had a love of life and an adventurous spirit and will be deeply missed by all who knew him. After high school graduation in 1943, Ren joined the Army and fought in WWII in the Black Hawk Infantry Division 86. His division marched 42-days through Germany and was in Austria on VE Day. During the War of Occupation, Ren entertained troops in Germany by playing his trombone in dance bands and in General Eisenhower's Marching Band. After the war, Ren earned a bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University and returned to Germany to work with the World's YMCA Aid to Displaced Persons. Back in the U.S., Ren earned a master's degree in Public Administration at the University of Michigan and began a career in city management and management consulting that took him from Xenia, Ohio to Arcadia, California to Tehran, Iran, and back to Southern California, where he settled to raise his family with first wife Jean Rehkop Renshaw. Of particular meaning to him were his jobs working for social justice (the War on Poverty in Los Angeles) and international cooperation (in Iran, India, and Russia). Ren retired in the Los Angeles area where he participated in his grandchildren's lives, took on building jobs (decks, fences, remodeling), and did some commercial acting. He was an active member of the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica where in 2000 he met Kathleen Roth, who shared his love of hiking and ballroom dancing. They were married in May, 2009, and shortly thereafter moved to Colorado where he had hoped to hike the Rockies. Ren is preceded in death by his son Blair (William Blair Renshaw, III). He is survived by his wife, Kathleen Roth of Colorado Springs, children Jeannine Elizabeth Renshaw (John Varner) of Santa Monica, CA, and Alan Jeffrey Renshaw (Molly Niles Renshaw) of Venice, CA, daughter-in-law, Gina Oster of Santa Monica, CA, stepchildren Evan Roth (Michele Walther) of Paris, France, and Kelly Roth of Raleigh, NC, and five amazing grandchildren: Annabel, Cole, Mackenzie, Riley, and Violet. A memorial service will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Santa Monica, California on Saturday, March 5 at 3:30 pm. A website in his honor can be found at www.renrenshaw.com.