IN MEMORIAM Franz Brander, president of the Union

of Swiss Baptist Churches, died suddenly on June 29, in Zurich. He was 67 years old. At the time of his passing, Brander was

a member of the General Council of the Baptist World Alliance. A psychotherapist, he has been in

private practice since 1982. Brander was head of the

Institute

Learning Therapy, an institution for training professionals dealing with patients who suffer from learning disabilities. He served on the council of a Zurich- based Christian home for women and men suffering with mental illnesses, and was heavily involved with the Society for Swiss psychotherapists and Switzerland’s Charta for Psychotherapy. Brander introduced and led courses for

psychotherapy and biopsychosocial health at the Donau-University Krems in Austria. He earned degrees from the University

of Zürich. Funeral services were held July 9 at

the Reformed Church in Dietlikon, near Zurich. Brander leaves wife, Liselotte, and daughters, Simone and Dominique.

Ashland for more than 40 years, held significant positions in church and public life in Liberia. He served as principal of the Student Union School in Monrovia, principal of the Baptist-affiliated Ricks Institute, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Liberia Baptist Theological Seminary, and was a founding member of both the Liberian Council of Churches and the Inter-Religious Council of Liberia (IRC). He was a deputy minister in Liberia’s

Ministry of Education, president of the Board of Trustees for the University of Liberia, president of the High School Principals Association of Liberia and vice chair of the West Africa Examinations Council. He also served the Young Men’s Christian Association and the Rotary Club in Liberia. In 1977, he founded and was chair

of the board of trustees of the Liberia Opportunities Industrialization Center (LOIC), a manpower training program for underemployed and unemployed young adults. LOIC, which had branches in all 15 counties in Liberia, trained more Liberians in technical and vocational trades than any other institution of its kind in the West African country. Within the Baptist World Alliance,

Richards was a member of the General Council, the Commission on Human Rights, and the World Evangelization and Strategy Workgroup. His BWA involvement began when he was private secretary to William Tolbert, BWA president from 1965-1970 and vice president of the government of Liberia. He accompanied Tolbert on many of his travels to BWA meetings and gatherings. Tolbert later became president of Liberia from 1971-1980 but was overthrown and assassinated in a military coup. Richards earned degrees from the

Walter Richards, former president

of the Liberia Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention, died on May 29, in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. He was 83 years old. Richards, pastor of Salem Baptist Church and of First Baptist Church, Clay-

University of Liberia, and the Palmer Theological Seminary (formerly Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary) and the University of Pennsylvania, both in the United States. Beginning in the 1980s, Richards,

through the IRC, brought faith leaders together to help broker peace in Liberia. During the difficult years of the country’s civil wars in the 1990s, Richards and his wife, Ora, were instrumental in helping to establish the Buduburam Refugee

Camp near Accra, the capital of Ghana. The camp, at one time accommodating more than one hundred thousand Liberian refugees, became a major haven for those fleeing the civil war. For his commitment and distinguished

service, Richards was decorated by the government of Liberia as Knight Commander. He was awarded the Ralph Bunch Award by OIC International in the US, for more than 20 years of distinguished service to LOIC. Beginning on June 26, funeral services

were held at Providence Baptist Church, Salem Baptist Church and First Baptist Church in Clay-Ashland. Burial took place at the cemetery of First Baptist Church in Clay-Ashland, on June 27. He leaves wife, Ora, sons, David,

Warren, Julius, William and Walter, and daughters, Audrey, Ingrid and Hadiya.

James Dunn, former executive director

of the Baptist Joint Committee (BJC) for Religious Liberty in the United States, died on July 4 in North Carolina. He was 83 years old. BJC, based in the US capital of

Washington, DC, is an education and advocacy organization for religious liberty and the separation of church and state. Dunn led the BJC from 1981-1999, focusing on the First Amendment of the US constitution, seeking to protect both the free exercise of religion and defending against its establishment by government. Under his leadership, BJC was a key

player in the passage of the Equal Access Act in 1984, which compel federally funded secondary schools to provide equal access to extracurricular clubs, including enabling students the right to conduct Bible study programs during lunch and after school. BJC was also instrumental

OCTOBER/DECEMBER 2015 29

WALTER RICHARDS

FRANZ BRANDER

JAMES DUNN