Vern Deines Retires in 1997

Vernon Deines, professor of regional and community planning, once considered a career as a stand-up comedian so it’s no surprise he has a numerous outlook on his approaching retirement.

“People ask me how it feels to be retiring at 68, and I say ‘Considering the alternative, it feels pretty good,” he said.

Deines will retire in May, ending a 40-year career that’s seen him teach some 30 different courses, serve as a department head for 20 years and taken him to Asia, Europe and across the United States as an expert speaker.

But his proudest accomplishment remains his 42-year-long marriage, his children and the way he connected the idea of his family working together, to educating K-State students through experiential learning.

“We, my wife Doris especially, taught my kids a real appreciation for the value of education and a sense of personal responsibility,” he said. “It’s about coming up with solutions to problems and accepting the consequences of your actions.”

That was the same kind of message Deines hoped to send when he began taking regional/community planning students out of the classroom and sending them into the field in the 1960s.

“A lot of our students learn by going out to communities and working on actual problems,” he said. “They learn about working with different groups of people and talking to them and trying to come up with solutions. It gives them a sense of community.”

In exchange, the communities get the benefit of seeing students full of energy and new ideas. That’s a gift Deines has personally welcomed over his long teaching career, as well.

“These kids keep you young,” he said. “I still remember when my son was going to school here and was tutoring other students in math. He told me, “Dad, I’m tutoring but I’m really learning a lot, too.’ That’s what education is all about.”

After retirement, the couple plans on traveling to Israel and Europe, with plenty of stops to see children and grandchildren. They also plan a seafood safari” from Florida to Main since Doris grew up in a fishing village on Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.

Postscript:
Since this was written, Doris has passed away and Vern had a bad stroke in 2003. However, as of January of 2007 he is still able to live in his home, with daily assistance, and continues to be an avid reader and author.