Obituary of Stanley Wearden DR

Beloved professor, gifted scholar, university leader, devoted Catholic, and cherished father and husband Dr. Stanley Wearden died Friday at age 85.Dr. Wearden came to West Virginia University in 1966 as Professor of Statistics and Agriculture Experimental Station Statistician. He also was tasked at that time with the creation of the Department of Statistics and Computer Science. He made a number of important faculty hires and became the founding chairman of the department. In 1972 he was appointed Dean of the WVU Graduate School, a position he held for 11 years. During this time, he also became Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Studies. After completing his service as Graduate Dean in 1981, Dr. Wearden served for two years as Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and as Interim Director of the Harley O. Staggers National Transportation Center at WVU. He was a visionary and highly respected leader. After stepping down from leadership, he served as Professor of Statistics until 1993, when he retired and was designated Professor Emeritus of Statistics. Even in retirement, he continued to serve WVU and its students, teaching classes, advising graduate students and serving as a statistical consultant in Health Sciences until the last months of his life. He also continued to publish research with investigators in Dentistry and Orthopedics. Prior to coming to WVU, Dr. Wearden served on the faculty at Kansas State University from 1957 to 1966. There, he rose from Assistant Professor of Statistics and Assistant Agriculture Experimental Station Statistician to full Professor of Statistics and senior Agriculture Experimental Station Statistician in an astonishing six years. Typically the progression from assistant professor to professor takes at least twice that long.Throughout his academic career, Dr. Wearden was known for his dedication to students and his prolific research publication record. He taught many courses at WVU, including statistical consulting, statistical methods, nonparametric statistics and sampling. He is remembered for spending long hours working one-on-one with students, even in the evenings and on weekends. And his mentorship extended well beyond statistics. He took his students under his wing as his intellectual children, and they remember him helping them with their grammar and writing, and talking with them about culture, music, education and politics. He was concerned with their overall growth and their transition to full adulthood as educated citizens.Dr. Wearden published research in cryobiology, drosophila genetics, avian genetics, bovine genetics and statistical genetics. In addition to his remarkable record of journal publications and academic presentations, Dr. Wearden was coauthor, with Dr. Shirley Dowdy and later with Dr. Daniel Chilko and Dr. E. James Harner, of the widely used textbook Statistics for Research. He was working on a fourth edition of the textbook when he died.Dr. Wearden received a number of awards and honors during his career, including a National Institutes of Health Senior Research Fellowship at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, in 1963 and 1964 a Fulbright Professorship of Statistics at the University of West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, in 1984 and 1985 and a Fulbright Professorship of Statistics at VSP-Nitra, Republic of Slovakia, in 1992 and 1993. He also was Honorary Counsel for Higher Education for the U.S. Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica, from 1984 to 1985. In 2007, he received the Robert C. Biddington Memorial Research Award from the WVU School of Dentistry in recognition of âhis outstanding research contributions to faculty and students, which have significantly contributed to the art and science of dentistry nationally and internationally.âIn addition to his academic career, Dr. Wearden also was deeply involved in his faith. He was a long-time member of St. Johnâs University Parish in Morgantown, which he served in a variety of capacities. His most recent contribution there was creating and sustaining an annual spring break mission trip to Kingston, Jamaica. After his year living in Kingston, Dr. Wearden remained concerned about the people of that country, particularly the poor and the ill, for the rest of his life. For his work there, he was presented with the Communities of Salt and Light Humanitarian Award, by the Clarksburg Vicariate in 2008.Dr. Wearden also served the city of Morgantown as a member of the Planning Commission. And he served for several years on the Diocesan School Board of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.Stanley Wearden was born in Goliad, Texas, on Oct. 1, 1926, to Joseph Wearden and Edna Rich Wearden. He was the youngest of five siblings, including brothers Joseph Edward and Robert and sisters Mary and Dorothy, all of whom preceded him in death. He graduated from St. Josephâs High School in Victoria, Texas. After service in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946, he completed his higher education, with a B.S. in Biology from St. Louis University in 1950, an M.S. in Biology from the University of Houston in 1951, and a Ph.D. in Statistical Genetics from Cornell University in 1957.He married Betty Jane Hammack on Sept. 1, 1951. In addition to being survived by his wife, Dr. Wearden is survived by six children, 27 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His children and grandchildren are Stanley (Deborah Davis) with grandchildren Katherine, Emily, Henry, Joseph and George Ann Young (the late Ernest Young) with grandchildren Ernest Joseph, Elessa, Aaron and Samuel James (Mary Ann) with grandchildren Karen and Jessica Jeffrey (Amy) with grandchildren Bethany, Lydia, Victoria, Samuel, Rachel, Paul, Matthew and Grace Peter (Kelly Iannazzo) with grandchildren Andrew, Mara, Luke, John and Josephine and Craig (Anne) with children Thomas, Abigail and Sarah. Dr. Wearden also is survived by former daughters-in-law Roberta Gray, Andrea Wearden and Judith Wearden.During the final months of his life, as Dr. Wearden convalesced at home, he was under the care of Care Partners, and the family wishes to express its gratitude to staff members Charlotte, Tammy, Melanie, Terri and Paula for their compassion and excellent care.Family and friends may call at Hastings Funeral Home, 153 Spruce Street, Morgantown, on Sunday, June 10th from 3 to 6 p.m., and Monday, June 11th from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. A scriptural wake service will be held at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the funeral home to conclude the evening visitation. Additional visitation will be held at St. Johnâs University Parish, 1481 University Ave., Morgantown, at 10 a.m. Tuesday, followed at 11 a.m. by a Mass of Christian Burial, with Father William Matheny and Father Rey Landicho as con-celebrants. Entombment will occur at St. Maryâs Peace Gardens Mausoleum in Star City.In lieu of flowers, contributions in Dr. Weardenâs memory may be made to either St. Johnâs University Parish, 1481 University Ave., Morgantown, WV 26505 or St. Francis de Sales Catholic School, 41 Guthrie Lane, Morgantown, WV 26508. Donations also may be made in memory of Dr. Wearden to the Department of Statistics for the creation of a graduate student scholarship by making checks payable to ""The WVU Foundation, Inc."" and writing ""IMO Stanley Wearden"" in the memo line. Please mail these donations to: P.O. Box 1650, Morgantown, WV 26507-1650. Condolences may be expressed at www.hastingsfuneral.com.