Tribute to Robert C. Vandivier
Robert C. Vandivier, one-time VFP Board Member and WWII U.S.
Navy veteran, died on November 30, 2007. He was 82.
Van, as he was known to most of us, was a living example of what I would call the most durable and effective aspects of peace activism. He had an unshakeable love of mankind and the humility to work happily in whatever vineyard would best serve that love.
I spoke with a long-time colleague of Van's before writing this. Robert Smucker worked with Van for fifty years in the field of mental health reform. I asked him to characterize our friend. He came up with "Thoughtful and Kind", to which I added "Humble and Loving". We agreed that summed up characteristics always evident in his work and in his personal relationships.
I first met Van when he was serving on the Board of Directors as Secretary (1998-2000). The office had moved from Maine to D.C. and gone through a succession of Executive Directors. By 2000, however, there was no ED and Van and Ellen Barfield were running the office part-time with the sometime help of a student intern and another volunteer member. Together they kept the doors open and the records in order.
When the office moved from D.C. to St. Louis, Van remained active in local organizing and played an essential backstage role in several demonstrations and rallies leading up to the present war and beyond. His was the kind of service that kept on giving long after the banners were furled and the shouts no longer echoed in the streets.
Van, who was an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ, held key staff positions, including research, in the state of Pennsylvania and the national Mental Health Association. At one time he served as executive director of the United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association. As if this wasn't enough, Van volunteered for six years with the ACLU, and was named "volunteer of the year".
Van
was my most constant supporter in the difficult days of growing VFP. We spoke
frequently on the phone and I would stay with him in Falls Church when I
traveled to D.C. His forbearance and love never failed to soothe my petty
angers and restore my sense of purpose.
We will sorely miss you, Van.
Woody Powell