On Augst 5th, 2010 KAMP member Robert Rennick passed away. Many of you may remember his presentation at the KAMP meeting October 2008 at Morehead University on the Kentucky place names that were his passion.
Here is his obituary as it appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Robert M. Rennick 78, of Prestonsburg, an authority on Kentucky place names and post offices, died Thursday at Highlands Regional Medical Center in Prestonsburg. Memorial services were held on August 7th and 8th. He was laid to rest in Gethsemane Gardens in Prestonsburg.
Mr. Rennick wrote a number of books, including Kentucky Place Names and From Red Hot to Monkey’s Eyebrow: Unusual Kentucky Place Names, as well as a series on post offices in various regions of the state.
Mr. Rennick was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and taught at a number of colleges and universities before moving to Kentucky in 1970, when he took a position at Prestonsburg Community College.
Mr. Rennick’s wife, Elizabeth Rennick, said he had an avid interest in folklore, and in the 1960s and 1970s became interested in people’s names, such as “strange combinations, like Rosie Bottom, and people who wanted to change their names, like Adolf Jones after the Second World War.” She initially suggested that her husband begin researching the origins of place names, and he took the idea and ran with it after they moved to Kentucky. (Quoted from Lexington Herald-Leader)
He invested over forty years of, most of his free time, in much needed preservation of Kentucky Names history. In addition to visiting libraries and studying old maps, he traveled the state, interviewing people about the origins of the names of the communities where they lived. He believed the most important data lay within the stories of the local people and oral traditions that preserved through the tongues of many generations. “The only way to study the place is to go to the site and see what’s there and ask the people who live in that area about the history,” he said in a 1997 Herald-Leader interview.
In 1970, Mr. Rennick also helped form, along with Tom Fields, the Kentucky Geographical Names Committee and served as Chair until his passing. He also served as Kentucky Authority for the Council of Geographical Names Authorities (COGNA).
Mr. Rennick was employed by the state Division of Licensing and Regulations from 1972 until his retirement in 1997. Upon retiring from his position with the State of Kentucky, he began a full time writing career and served as main historical consultant for several state, regional, and national organizations, which included United States Geological Surveys’ (USGS) Geographical Names Information System (GNIS) Phase II in cooperation with the Institute for Regional Analysis and Public Policy at Morehead State University’s College of Business and Public.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Rennick is survived by a sister, Marjorie Rennick Cohen, of Madison, Conn.
Obituary info and quotes are from Karla Ward of the Lexington Herald-Leader, kward1@herald-leader.com
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