Kenneth Cecil Urban

What can I say about the man who gave me life, who loved me unconditionally, sacrificed himself for me, and left a legacy of love, honor and service? His devotion to God and to people cannot be overstated. Out of great affection, he habitually laid down his personal preferences and needs in order to care for the wellbeing of others. No inconvenience was too great when someone was in need.

I stand in amazement at the incredible number of people that count Mom and Dad as their true friends, their other parents, their rescuers. They created a home that welcomed so many over decades. With great openness, humor and joy, they brought others into their love for life and gave them a safe place to live and grow. In turn, they were well-loved and blessed with deep, lasting friendships.

Dad walked through life with a great sense of wonder and gratitude. He saw greatness in the small. He treasured the weak. Those who were great in man’s eyes – he reached for their heart, the real person, and loved them well.

His life was full of adventure. When my brother, Tom, and I were growing up, Mom and Dad took us on many road trips and other adventures - camping, fishing, flying, sailing, touring, and visiting friends. Once we left home, Mom and Dad traveled around the world and recruited many to go with them – Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Norway, Haiti, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan - visiting old friends and making new ones, serving those in need, brightening the lives of those they encountered. He earnestly advocated for missions and missionaries, funneling people and funds into the neediest places.

Dad and Mom were always sweethearts. They loved life together. After she died, Dad lived in a beautiful assisted-living center. He loved the people there, led a Bible study, played guitar, made friends with many, especially the weakest. Always the carpenter, he loved working on wooden models. With steady hands and a keen eye, he assembled pianos, trains, clocks, a Ferris wheel, and several other kits with hundreds of pieces, and then gave most of them as gifts.

In his quiet times, Dad devoured books about missionaries. He delighted in the work of God. He deeply admired those who laid down their lives in joyful, loving service of God and people.

He was one of them.

With great love, admiration and gratitude,

Barbara Urban Smith

Ken’s Message at Doris’s Memorial is as follows.

I’ve just written out some of the highlights of our life together. They seem to be centered around events, but really it’s the relationships within those events that are precious. We had a lot of fun together.

Doris and I grew up in Rapid City. My dad had a typewriter shop on the main street. One day when I was about 4, I was standing outside the store when I saw a mom with two cute little identically-dressed twins crossing the street. I remember thinking, “How lucky the guys will be that marry those two!” I didn’t get to meet the twins until ninth grade. Doris and I were in the same Latin class, and I found myself by the twins’ locker after class now and then. When I got there, I talked in generalities until I could see one right cheek. Dorothy had a mole there. They were so identical.

Doris and I began to spend lots of time together. Her bunch of friends and my bunch had a lot of good times. One New Year’s Eve party, the girls switched on us, and I was about to kiss Dorothy at midnight when she stopped me.

Doris and I were madly in love, and I proposed to her on Valentine’s Day, 1953. I graduated from the School of Mines on June 5 and we were married on June 7.

We spent three years with the Navy in the San Francisco Bay area. I got an engineering job after that. Tom was born in Oakland. (I remember him as a little kid. I’d build up the Legos and he’d smack them down.) Barb was born in San Mateo. We loved being mom and dad to those two kids. While we were in California, we got involved in a church that was big on small home fellowships. After that, we were in a group for a few years, we felt loved and knit together with these folks in a special way. That small group experience became an ongoing part of our life.

Dad and his partners hired me to set up a plant to make roof trusses and laminated beams in Rapid City. We found a church that was open to small groups. And we were blessed again. The manufacturing business failed and we moved to Dubuque, Iowa, to work with another manufacturer. This job was a good fit, and we did well. Again, we were able be part of a great small group.

We got a job offer in Denver in 1969. This one went well, but the big event was getting involved in a church where the Holy Spirit was moving. Doris was filled to overflowing and began to minister to the ladies in life-changing ways. That was a major event and it was fun to see her minister. I noticed she had pulled a page from Hebrews out of her bible. She had ten scriptures written along the side, and I read through them all. They were all ministry scriptures that she would use in praying for people to work through their issues and come into what the Lord had for them.

In 1983 we were asked to lead a Teen Missions team to South Africa. We trained in a Florida swamp, living in pup tents. Doris said, “Let’s don’t forget how miserable this was, so we don’t do it again.” Our team of 32 kids and 6 leaders flew to South Africa, where we built a sixteen-bed concrete-block dormitory on a Bible Camp. Doris was such a trooper! She drove an old pick-up truck into town to buy groceries while the rest of us were building! After the construction, we got to debrief in Bethlehem, which was a real treat!

The next year we were asked to take a team to build a house for a bible translator in Papua New Guinea. With Doris dragging her feet, we and Arnie Fink and family, took off. The place was decent, and we got the house built.

In 1992, we joined Youth With A Mission. Many of you have prayed and given so that we could spent 31 years doing this. With your help, we have seen a lot of young people become powerful soul-winners! I’m so thankful for all the support that has come from our friends to make this possible. It’s kind of like a dream come true. When I went to engineering school, I had no idea I would wind up being involved in world missions like that.

In John 10:10, Jesus said, “Satan has come to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that you might have abundant life. I thank God for the privilege of spending these years with this wonderful gal! At the end of the day, Doris and I would often recite the twenty-third psalm together. As a tribute to her, I would like us all to do that right now. Please join me.

The Lord is my Shepherd

I shall not want

He makes me lie down in green pastures

He leads me beside still waters

He restores my soul

He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow death

I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me

Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies

You anoint my head with oil

My cup runneth over

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever