FRANK KIEHNE

KIEHNE FRANK C. KIEHNE Of Reading, Pa., 88, passed away January 9, 2014. He was the husband of Delores Y. (Gutman) Kiehne, who passed away in 2011. Born February 2 in Burlington, Iowa, he was the son of the late Frank C. and Grace M. (Archer) Kiehne. He is survived by his sons, Jeff and John Kiehne, and grandchildren Kendal M., Matthew J. and Jesus D; also Kyoko Kahugura Kiehne Petersen of Washington, DC, the widow of his son James, who died serving with the Green Berets in Vietnam. Memorial Service will be held at Christ Episcopal Church, in Reading, Pa. on Saturday, February 1 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made to the YMCA World Service and sent to the International Group of the YMCA at 101 N Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60606. After serving in the Marine Corps during World War II, he attended George Williams College where he received his bachelor's and master's degrees and served as the President of the Student YMCA. Upon graduation, he worked with the Chicago, Kansas City and St. Louis YMCAs. In the 1960s, he was on a team to study the Communist Youth Program in the USSR under a cultural exchange program with the U.S. In 1961, Frank took a three month leave of absence from the YMCA to be a full-time consultant to the newly formed Peace Corps. His assignment was to establish/interpret the mission of the Peace Corps. He would later be named the President of the YMCA of Reading and Berks County (PA) (1961-1970). There, he developed programs for migrant workers and disadvantaged youth. In 1970, Frank moved to the YMCA in Washington DC, as its CEO, where he helped to address the social unrest of the era. Always ahead of his time, in 1970, he did a study for the International Division regarding the need to continue YMCA fraternal secretaries in Hong Kong, Korea and the Republic of China. Then, in 1973, Frank found a niche that defined the rest of his career when he became the director of the YMCA of the USA's International Division. A paper he wrote in 1976 was instrumental in changing the direction of international programming by U.S. YMCAs. It emphasized the need for local associations to develop partnerships with YMCAs in other countries. The model is still in operation with over 200 active partnerships. In 1981, he became the Director of the Church World Services Immigration and Refugee Program in New York City. In 1983, Frank was selected to serve as the first Executive Director of the newly formed Washington, DC based Private Agencies in International Development, a consortium of private voluntary organizations dedicated to overseas development. P.A.I.D would later merge with a NY-based consortium to become InterAction, a now 180+ alliance of U.S. based-international PVOs. In 1984, Frank began working with a group of international religious leaders united to reduce the schism that existed between the church and transnational corporations. He returned to the Y in 1986 to serve as the World Alliance of YMCAs' Secretary for Refugees and Rehabilitation in Geneva, Switzerland. Among other duties, he was staff liaison to Secours Speciaux. While serving he toured the Palestine refugee camps and wrote a book on the conditions there. He was instrumental in implementing a decentralized approach to international work that supported indigenous leadership. In 1990, he became U.S. Rep. Donald M. Payne (D-NJ) 's foreign affairs advisor. Frank received the NAFYR F. William Stahl Award in 2005 which recognized Frank's prolific writing in the areas of advocacy, peace and justice. His numerous articles can be found in position papers, professional journals, and newspapers.