Born in Columbus, Ohio on July 14, 1940 he was the son of the late Kenneth Merlyn Gaver Sr and Dorothy Eleanor Cushman. Ken grew up in Aiken, SC, and graduated from Aiken High School in 1958. After high school, Ken attended Georgia Tech for 2 years. He joined the army in 1962, attained the rank of Sergeant, and served in Germany in the signal corps and was honorably discharged from the army in 1965. After leaving the army, Ken moved to Montreal, Quebec, and attended Sir George Williams University (now called Concordia University) where he graduated in 1969 with a degree in mathematical economics. He then moved to Pittsburg, PA to attend graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University and received his Ph.D. in economics from Carnegie in 1974. From 1972 to 1978, Ken taught econometrics at the University of Rochester and from 1978 to 1981, he taught statistics at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. It was there that he met his wife, the former Jennifer Jane Runkle. Ken and Jenny were married on May 30, 1981, and moved to Bozeman, Montana, where they both taught in the business school at Montana State University. From 1983 to 1984, Ken taught statistics at the University of Arizona while Jenny pursued her Ph.D. in accounting. They returned to Montana State in 1984. In 1987, the couple moved to Eugene, Oregon where they were both on the faculty of the business school at the University of Oregon. A son, John Kenneth Gaver, was born in Eugene in 1990 and the same year the couple moved to Athens, GA to join the faculty of the Terry College of the University of Georgia where both taught in the J.M. Tull School of Accounting. A daughter, Anne Catherine Gaver, was born in 1993. Ken retired from UGA in 2005, after receiving many teaching awards, and Lothar Tresp Honratus status.
Dr. Gaver is survived by his wife of 30 years, Jennifer Gaver; son, John Kenneth Gaver; daughter, Anne Catherine Gaver all of Athens; sisters, Marge Wilson and husband, Charlie of Nashville, TN, Rev. Cheryl Gaver of Toronto, Canada and mother and father-in-law, Jane and Jack Runkle of Wilmington, DE, and a number of nieces and nephews.
A graveside service will be held 10AM Sunday, June 19th at Evergreen Memorial Park with Rev. Cheryl Gaver officiating. The family will receive friends from 5-7PM Saturday, June 18th at Bernstein.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Mary’s Hospice, P.O. Box 6588, Athens, GA 30604 or to Friends of the Athens-Clarke County Library, 2035 Baxter St, Athens, GA 30606.
Online condolences may be offered to www.bernsteinfuneralhome.com
Bernstein Funeral Home and Cremation Service is in charge of arrangements.
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