Kenneth Rudolph Bzoch Ph.D's Obituary
Kenneth Rudolph Bzoch, Ph.D, Retired Professor Emeritus from the College of Public Health and Health Professions, passed away on September 30th, 2015. On that day the world lost one of the kindest and most compassionate human beings who ever existed. Ken was recognized internationally as an educator and researcher in the early management, correction and prevention of cleft palate speech and language disorders. As a practicing clinician and therapist for 50 years, his writings brought an insight into the human problems and suffering from disorders of speech and hearing. He touched every person he interacted with in a positive way and contributed so much to the world in both his professional and personal life.
Ken was born on November 6th, 1927 to Rudolph Bzoch and Mildred Novotney. A native of Berwyn, Illinois, he graduated from Morton High School in Cicero, Illinois. At the age of 18 he entered the United States Marine Corps and attended the Annapolis Preparative School in Bainbridge, Maryland. He received his Bachelor’s degree from DePaul University in Chicago with a major in Speech and Philosophy and entered graduate studies at Northwestern University where he majored in Speech Pathology and Audiology. In 1952 he completed his Master’s Degree in Speech Pathology and began teaching at Loyola University. In 1956 he completed a Ph.D and became an Assistant Professor and Director of Northwestern University’s Cleft Palate Institute.
He was recruited by the University of Florida Health Science Center in 1960 as Associate Professor and Chairman of the Department of Communicative Disorders in the College of Health Related Professions. He remained Chairman over the next 35 years. During that time he founded the Craniofacial Center, developing a cleft palate-craniofacial program that gained national and international recognition, The UF Craniofacial Center is a collaborative program of the colleges of Dentistry, Health Professions and Medicine. It is dedicated to the treatment of individuals with congenital and acquired malformations of the head and face. Ken developed a unique graduate level program to train Speech Pathologists and Audiologists through work experiences with medicine, dentistry and the basic sciences.
Ken was a past President of the American Craniofacial Association, the Florida Speech, Language and Hearing Association and the Florida Cleft Palate Association. He was a Fellow of the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association and the author of over 60 articles, chapters and tests. He is best known as the Editor and contributor to the text “Communicative Disorders Related to Cleft Lip and Palate”, and the REEL Scale (Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Scale), which measures month by month the first three years of language development, and is still being used today. In 2004 he wrote “How Babies Learn to Talk: A Book For New Parents and Grandparents”. He was highly respected and much loved by his colleagues and patients and changed many, many lives for the better.
As impressive as his professional achievements were, his dedication to his family never wavered. Ken married the love of his life, Lorrayne Marie Cali, on October 29th, 1950. Lorrayne passed away on April 17th, 2015, and he missed her every day. They were devoted to each other and their children and grandchildren. Ken was the best father any child could imagineand, perhaps, an even better grandfather since he had more time at that point in his life. He was a kind, gentle and humble man, despite his many professional accomplishments. He was extremely intelligent and well read and a philosopher at heart. He was the kind of father/grandfather who didn’t watch you play, but played on the floor with you. He loved to pretend he was an alligator and chase you around the pool.He loved life and appreciated every day. He was a huge Gator fan, and you could hear his voice booming at the end of each third quarter of the football games, “We are the boys from old Florida”. In his earlier years, he had a great passion for fishing and actually predicted he would die peacefully on a fishing trip on the Amazon River in the year 2028, which would make him 101! He had a great sense of humor and loved to tease and make people laugh. He deeply loved his children and grandchildren, and was genuinely interested in who they were and what they were thinking. His whole being reflected the essence of unconditional love and none of us ever doubted his quiet, constant, loving presence in our lives. He will be sorely missed.
He leaves behind his daughter Kathie Southwick (Fred), son Kevin Bzoch(Annie), five granddaughters, Robyn Rowe, Karli Kuhn (Michael), Cali Bzoch, Ann LorrayneBzoch and Ashley Schivelbein (Taylor), grandson Peter Southwick, sister-in-law Marlene Cali, niece and Godaughter Jessica Conte (Tony), grandniece Alyssa Hillerby and grandnephew Matt Hillerby.
Our family would like to give special thanks to “The Carol’s” whose love and devotion were endless the last few years of his life when he needed more support and help on a daily basis, as well as someone to beat at poker and 21! (He loved to win!) Shirley Satcher, Sheila Joshua, Rosetta Williams, Hazel Knue and Doris Glossom truly became a special part of our family. Also special thanks to Ryann Slofkin and the wonderful staff at Harbor Chase who brought love, caring and fun to his last days.
A celebration of his life will be held Tuesday, December 29, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. at Queen of Peace Catholic Church. In lieu of flowers, Ken requested that contributions be made in his memory to the University of Florida Craniofacial Center, 1699 SW 16th Ave. Gainesville, FL 32608. Our father has stepped out of time – to be with us forever.
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