Harrisburg Patriot News
Harrisburg PA
Saturday, January 13, 2001
Page B-2

Rev. H. B. Kishpaugh, Episcopal traditionalist
by Judith Patton
of the Patriot News

       Hershey is mourning a clergyman known for his roots in the community 
and his stand on church issues.
       The Rev. Canon Howard B. Kishpaugh, 74, of 410 Hallmark South, died 
Thursday at home. Kishpaugh had returned to Hershey in July 1973 to serve as 
rector at his childhood parish, All Saints Episcopal Church. He retired in 
November 1988.
       "Father Kishpaugh was able to come back and be a pastor in his home 
parish, which is not an easy thing to do,"  said Monsignor Leo N. Bierster, 
senior pastor of St. Joan of Arc Roman Catholic Church, Hershey, and a friend 
for 23 years. "I'll remember him as a man of great faith, a man who stood up 
for what he believed and as a faithful friend. He was deeply interested in 
everything that happened in the Hershey community."
       As a youngster, Kishpaugh had been an acolyte and choir boy. Before 
entering the priesthood at 29, he had a heating and air-conditioning 
business, served in the Marine Corps and was a bull rider on the rodeo 
circuit.
       Kishpaugh begin his ministry in Mississippi and served in Hawaii 
during the Vietnam War and in Tanzania, East Africa, where he designed and 
built churches, hosiptals, and water and electrical systems.
       Kishpaugh, who once described himself as a traditionalist, was unhappy 
with the modernization of the liturgy and other traditions in his 
denomination.
       "We no longer preach a gospel of discipline," he said uupon his 
retirement. "We want to grind up the faith into a kind of pabulum that makes 
it digestible, palatable for everybody."
       His fight to have the Episcopal Church reaffirm its historic teachings 
against sexual cohabitation by homosexuals and by heterosexuals outside of 
marriage cost him an election as a deputy to the national General Convention.
       Kishpaugh, however, served in leadership positions in Mississippi, 
Hawaii and central Pennsylvania. In 1986, he was elected president of the 
standing committee of the Central Pennsylvania Diocese. He also served as 
chairman of its Diocesan Board of Examining Chaplains and Commission on 
Ministry as a dean of the Harrisburg Convocation.
       He received commendations from the Boy Scouts of America and U.S. 
Marines, as well as the Bishops Merit Cross from the Diocese of Hawaii and 
the Army's Certificate of Honor for Civilian Service for his ministry to 
widows and children of servicemen killed in Vietnam.
       He was a member of the Cities in Schools of Harrisburg and of the 
Pearl Harbor and Hershey Rotary clubs, and a member and past president of the 
Wahiawa and Hershey ministeriums.
       After his retirement, he served as interim rector at parishes in 
Honolulu and Meridian, Miss. He also served St. Stephen's Church in 
Whitehall, St. James Church in Lancaster and St. Luke's Church in Lebanon.
       Kishpaugh wrote a number of publication, a novel, "Shake off the 
Dust," and was moderator of religious TV programs.
       He was a graduate of Hershey High School, Indiana and Pennsylvania 
State universities, State University of New York, Daniel Baker College and 
St. Luke's Seminary.
       Surviving are his wife, Carolyn L. Marzen Kishpaugh; a son, Scott, and 
a daughter, Patricia, both of Harrisburg; two sisters, Dr. Marjorie Pool of 
Lower Allen Twp. and Dorothy Baum of Los Angeles; a brother, William of 
Phoenix; and five grandchildren.
       Services will be held at 10 a.m. Jan. 20 in All Saints Church, Burial 
will be in Hershey Cemetery at the convenience of the family.
       There will be no viewing.
       Hoover Funeral Homes & Crematory, Hershey, is handling arrangements.
       Memorial contributions may be made to All Saints Church, P.O. Box 324, 
Hershey 17033.