the region and began to rise in the ranks of academia. He taught at the University of Maine from 1970-85, serving as associate professor and chair of speech communication. He also was coordinator of graduate studies while an adjunct professor of speech at Bangor Theological Seminary. In 1985, he accepted a position at Pepperdine University and formally began his love affair with Christian higher education – a passion that would last for 25 years. He was dean of Pepperdine’s Seaver College of Letters, Arts and Sciences while directing the college’s graduate programs and serving as a professor of communication. He also was an elder in the Conejo Valley Church of Christ for nine years. In 1996, he became provost of ACU, where he championed many transformative initiatives to increase the university’s academic reputation, including the Adams Center for Teaching and Learning, the Honors College, the Study Abroad program, the First-Year Program, the College of Education and Human Services, the School of Social Work, the School of Information Technology and Computing, the Graduate School of Theology, faculty renewal leaves, the advancement of women and minority faculty, funding for faculty development, increased rigor in tenure and promotion, and a new general education core. In all things, he sought to make ACU more academically competitive and prestigious, racially and culturally inclusive, all while still holding strongly to its deep Church of Christ roots. He was an elder at Highland Church of Christ until his retirement in 2009. In retirement, he and Joan lived in Washington to be closer to their children and grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Chalmer and Lorna Van Rheenen, and a granddaughter, Jenna Westerholm. Among survivors are Joan, his wife of 49 years; two sons, Nathan VanRheenen and Derek VanRheenen (’00 M.S.); a daughter, Michele Westerholm; two brothers, Gailyn Van Rheenen (’75 M.S.) and Mark VanRheenen; two sisters, Karen Cuthbertson and Lorual Peschka; and six grandchildren.
Becton developed landmark cancer ministry E. Randall Becton (’71 M.S.), author, minister and founder of the Caring Cancer Ministry, died July 23, 2016, in Abilene, concluding more than four decades of ministry to fellow cancer patients. He was 71. Becton was born Sept. 17, 1944, in Nashville, Tenn. He grew up in Nashville and attended Lipscomb Academy. He married Camilla Greer (’67) on Aug. 22, 1966. After graduating from Lipscomb University in 1966 with a bachelor’s degree in Bible, he began graduate studies at the Harding School of Theology but followed his major professor, Dr. George Gurganus, to ACU, where he earned his master’s degree in missions in 1971. In 1969, he began a career with Herald Becton of Truth, serving in numerous roles including executive director from 1991 until his retirement in 2006, though he continued to serve as minister-at-large. Under his leadership at Herald of Truth, the international radio and television ministry expanded to include multiple programs. He was instrumental in creation of the annual Saving the American Family Conference; as editor of UpReach magazine and as speaker for Caring Touch Radio; and numerous television specials. He was the author of 15 books. In 1973, just months after the birth of his and Camilla’s third child, Becton was diagnosed with leucytic lymphoma, beginning a journey of treatment, remissions, surgeries, complications and side effects spanning more than 40 years, defying his doctors’ predictions. The experience inspired the Bectons in 1978 to begin the Caring Cancer Ministry, an outreach of comfort and encouragement for patients and their families; publishing books and pamphlets for patients, caregivers and ministers; and personally corresponding with hundreds of individuals battling cancer. For 16 years, Becton served as an elder at Highland Church of Christ, which honored him in 1994 for 25 years of service to many ministries. He was preceded in death by his parents, Harold and Myrna Becton; a brother, Harold Becton; and a son, Mark Becton. Among survivors are his wife, Camilla; daughters Stacia (Becton ’91) Looney, Shana Becton (’95) and Shara (Becton ’05) Wilson; eight grandchildren; and two sisters, Myrna Williams and Lynda Kinney.
Former ACU provost Dr. Dwayne Dale VanRheenen, 72, died Aug. 11, 2016, in Washington state following an illness. VanRheenen was born in the Dutch farming town of Prairie City, Iowa, on April 13, 1944. At a young age, Dwayne’s parents left the Dutch Orthodox Church for the Church of Christ and were shunned from their community. Without family or community support, the growing VanRheenen family moved frequently as Dwayne’s father preached across the Midwest and South, pausing to farm and raise pigs and other livestock when the seasons and financial needs intersected. Dwayne told stories of late nights as a schoolboy (after spending the day in the fields and school) bent over a typewriter pecking out his father’s VanRheenen sermons as he gave dictation. Although poorly educated themselves, his parents desired their children to become leaders in ministry and academia, and eventually settled in Paragould, Ark., so Dwayne and his siblings could attend Crowley’s Ridge Academy, a Church of Christ elementary and high school where he met Joan Allison. The two attended Harding University together, began dating and married shortly after graduation on Aug. 26, 1966. He attended graduate school at the University of Missouri, eventually earning a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in speech communication. He helped plant the Brewer Church of Christ, preached regularly across
KIM JEW PHOTOGRAPHY
Innovation defined former provost’s work
Dunn reached top of country music world Singer-songwriter Holly Suzette Dunn (’79), the only ACU graduate to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry, died Nov. 14, 2016, at age 59 in Albuquerque, N.M., following a short battle with ovarian cancer. Dunn was born Aug. 22, 1957, in San Antonio. An ACU Sing Song hostess in 1979 and member of the Hilltoppers musical troupe, she earned a B.A. degree in mass communication. She was a member of Sigma Theta Chi women’s social club, the Choral Society, and a staffer on The Optimist newspaper and KACU campus radio station. She was a member of the Opry from 1989-99, and one of the most popular artists in country music after getting her Nashville career started Dunn as a songwriter with her brother, award-winning writer-producer Chris Waters Dunn (’73). Daddy’s Hands, the 1986 song she wrote and recorded, was one of 10 Top 20 and eight Top 10 hits – two reached No. 1 – and helped her receive three Grammy nominations. She earned the Academy of Country Music’s Best New Female Vocalist award in 1986 and the Country Music Association’s Horizons Award in 1987. She received BMI’s Songwriter of the Year award in 1989 and helped host TNN’s Opry Backstage show for two years. In all, Dunn recorded 10 albums and hit songs with Kenny Rogers, Michael Martin Murphey, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. Dunn was a country music radio show co-host on WWWW-FM in Detroit, Mich., in 1997 before retiring from the music business fully in 2003 to begin an art career in Santa Fe, N.M., where she was named public relations coordinator for the Georgia O’Keefe Museum in 2008 and later became co-owner of Pena-Dunn Gallery with artist Amado Pena. She opened Art Song Gallery in Salado, Texas, in 2004, featuring the work of artists with ties to Texas. She was preceded in death by her parents, Frank Dunn (’40) and Yvonne Wiggins Dunn. Among survivors are her brothers Jerry Dunn (’68), Rodney Dunn (’72), and Chris Waters Dunn.
ACU TODAY
Winter-Spring 2017
77