PITTSBURGH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY REMEMBERS PROFESSOR EMERITUS GEORGE KEHM
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is remembering Dr. George H. Kehm who died Jan. 8, 2022, at the age of 91. After a year of study in Switzerland under the theologian Karl Barth, Kehm began teaching at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 1961 where he remained until his retirement in 1996. He was installed as the first holder of the James Henry Snowden Chair of Systematic Theology in 1991.
“George considered it to be a healthy exercise to travel to valleys and rivers and to hike to mountain tops as temples to God, experiencing the glory of God’s creation in it many forms,” said the Rev. Dr. Carnegie Samuel Calian, president emeritus and professor emeritus of theology, who served with Dr. Kehm at PTS. “He saw the need for us to always grasp God’s will, not ours, and to become vocationally faithful stewards and caregivers of creation.”
Originally from Queens, N.Y., Kehm received a B.S. from Queens College. An ordained Presbyterian minister (1954) he served as a campus minister at Michigan State University before turning to graduate studies. He holds a B.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary, and Th.M. and Th.D. degrees from Harvard University. Kehm served on the Presbyterian Church’s Committee on a Brief Statement of Faith and its Eco-Justice Taskforce. He participated with the Church during the Civil Rights Movement, making two trips to Mississippi to support voting rights efforts. Kehm was also the author or a long list of articles and review and translated a number of books.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Lou, four children, and six grandchildren. Kehm was a member of the Church of the Redeemer (Episcopal) where he served several terms as vestry member and junior warden, as well as being a diligent member of their book club. He was active in the Western PA Conservancy where he acted as a Land Steward. He lives on in his family and his many students for his calm, sturdy demeanor, his appreciation of the natural world, his quiet ways of caring, and his love of knowledge.