Obituary of Chester Arthur Insko

C. Arthur Insko, Th.D., Retired Professor of Christian Ethics passed away June 28, 2012 at the age of 101. He was predeceased in February 9, 2000 by his wife of 68 years, the former Elizabeth Alene Matthews. Dr. Insko, Arthur, was born November 22, 1910 on a farm near Germantown, Kentucky. His Father, Leslie Insko, and Mother, Mary Elizabeth (also an Insko) were both descended from ancestors who left the Delaware Valley to come down the Ohio river into northern Kentucky prior to the American Revolution. Other ancestors included the brother of Simon Kenton, an early pioneer and explorer who arrived in Kentucky before Daniel Boone, and Frederick Kurtz, who left Wittenburg Germany to escape conscription in Bismarck's army. Despite the fact that neither of his parents nor his older brother, Andrew Gordon, had finished high school, Arthur's Father supported his son's desire for an education and provided him with a horse and buggy to get to a high school in Germantown where he graduated valedictorian. As he drove along the road to Germantown, school children would frequently attempt to hitch a ride so that by the time he got to town there would be kids hanging all over the buggy. Arthur subsequently graduated from Cumberland College, Georgetown College, and obtained an MA in English from the University of Kentucky. During these years he taught all nine grades in a one-room school, married Elizabeth (daughter of the local Baptist minister), was principal of the high school in Augusta, Kentucky, and taught English in the high school in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. Following his ordination as a Baptist minister he obtained BD, Th.M., and Th.D. degrees from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. After graduation his reluctance to leave Kentucky led him to turn down several offers to join the faculty at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California. In 1950 he finally accepted the position and moved the family to Berkeley and then to Tiburon when the seminary moved across the San Francisco Bay to Mill Valley. At Golden Gate Seminary he had a distinguished career as a Professor of Christian Ethics. During the academic year 1961-62 he spent a sabbatical leave at Union theological Seminary in New York City. During the 25 plus years in California the family made annual, summer trips to Kentucky and South Carolina to maintain connections with family. In the early years these trips were particularly challenging because they were made without the benefit of interstate highways or air-conditioned cars. After retirement Arthur and Elizabeth moved to South Carolina where he was a visiting pastor and interim pastor in various Baptist churches. He served twice as a visiting professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, and once at Golden Gate Baptist Seminary. Arthur and Elizabeth subsequently moved to Durham and Chapel Hill North Carolina where he taught the adult Sunday school class at University Baptist Church—a class that following his "retirement" was named after him. On his 100th birthday he was made a Kentucky Colonel. Arthur, Dr. Insko, possessed an abundance of energy and an outgoing personality, loved books and learning, but always remained attached to farm life and his Old Kentucky Home. Dr. Insko is survived by his son, Chester A. Insko, Jr. a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina, Chester's wife Verla Clemens Insko, a North Carolina state legislator, two grandsons and three grandchildren. Grandson Erik Kenton Insko is a radiologist in Charlotte and his wife Stephanie Ruth Vlcek Insko is a Mercedes Benz fleet manager in Charlotte. Their two children are Lauren Elizabeth,10, and Nathaniel Kenton, 9. Grandson Kurt Brian Insko is a law enforcement officer in Raleigh and his wife, Gina Rigsbee Insko, is a legislative assistant in Raleigh. They have one son, Thomas Wayne Insko, 14. Also surviving are Arthur's younger sister Mildred King, a retired grammar school principal, her husband, Denver King, a retired U.S. postman, their daughter Nancy Elizabeth Markwell and her husband, Warren Markwell, all of Maysville, Kentucky, and the Markwell's two children and four grandchildren. The funeral service will be held on Saturday, July 7 at 2pm at the Palmer Funeral Home, Germantown, KY with burial following in the family plot at the Maple Grove Cemetery in Germantown, KY. A memorial service will be held at the University Baptist Church in Chapel Hill, NC—date to be announced.