Rev. Dr. Theodore Gill

GILL-The Rev. Dr. Theodore Alexander. 85, a former provost of John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the City University of New York (CUNY), and formerly president of San Francisco Theological Seminary, died Friday, June 10, 2005, in Princeton, NJ following a lengthy illness. Born in Eveleth, MN on January 7, 1920, Ted Gill was educated at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Princeton Theological Seminary, Union Seminary in New York City, and the University of Zurich. After serving Presbyterian parishes in New Rochelle, NY and West End Presbyterian Church in New York City, he became professor of religion at Lindenwood College in St. Charles, MO, and subsequently managing editor of The Christian Century magazine in Chicago. He was president of San Francisco Theological Seminary from 1958 to 1966, leaving that position to occupy the higher education desk of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland. He joined the faculty of John Jay College of Criminal Justice in midtown Manhattan where he remained from 1971 through 1989. In retirement, he served as theologian in residence at Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton, NJ. At the time of his death, he was a member of the Presbytery of New York City in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Due to blockage of his carotid artery in May 1994, he lost the capacity for speech and began a gradual decline in health. His wife of 57 years, Katherine Yonker Gill, died in July 2002. He is survived by a daughter, Laurie Melissa Keeran of Brewster, MA and her husband Donald Keeran; a son, the Rev. Theodore A. Gill, Jr. of Geneva, Switzerland and his wife Ruth Ann Shriver Gill; a granddaughter, Elizabeth Katherine Gill of Durham, NC and her husband Jacob Burt; and longtime caregiver Ben Mensah of New York City. A memorial service was held at Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton, NJ on June 20.