In Memoriam

Robert L. Smith, the 63rd president of the American Counseling Association, passed away on July 9. A longtime counselor educator, he was instrumental in founding the International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors (IAMFC), an ACA division.

Doug Gross, a former counselor educator at Arizona State University, ACA Governing Council member and president of the Association for Humanistic Counseling, passed away in May.

Clemmont Vontress devoted his life to deepening the counseling field’s consciousness of the racism that many times emerged in the therapeutic relationship, the profession and the wider society.

Barbara Varenhorst, a longtime member of the American Counseling Association and an important contributor to the field of school counseling, passed away in February.

A. Scott McGowan, an ACA leader who garnered an international, national, regional and local reputation for scholarship and service to the counseling profession, passed away on March 4.

Larry Ashley, an ACA Fellow who dedicated more than 45 years of his life to being a researcher, counselor and professor specializing in trauma and addictions, passed away in December.

ACA Past President Betty Knox is remembered for her compelling leadership, prodigious knowledge and unwavering determination to garnering school counseling a seat at the educational policymaking table.

ACA Past President Sunny Hansen is remembered for her pioneering work on gender issues in career development, as well as decades spent as a counselor educator, mentor and friend to many in the counseling profession.

J. Barry Mascari, an ACA Fellow, counselor educator and visionary leader in the counseling profession, passed away in May from complications from COVID-19.

Vivian Victoria Lee, a longtime ACA member and wife of ACA Past President Courtland Lee, passed away in May 2020.

Pamela Pagliochini, a New York City career development counselor who helped hundreds of clients find their ideal job, passed away in November 2019. Using humor, compassion, and when needed, bluntness, she also helped clients identify destructive patterns and family-of-origin issues that interfered with improving career and quality of life goals.

Herschel Allan (Al) Dye, professor emeritus of Rollins College, passed away Nov. 27 at age 88. In addition to his exemplary contributions in the area of group work in counseling, Al also contributed significantly in the area of supervision.

Nancymarie Bride, a former president of the New Jersey Counseling Association and champion for mental health and the counseling profession in New Jersey, passed away this month at the age of 74.

Gender equity champion Dr. Bernice (Bunny) Sandler -- the "Godmother of Title IX" who held a doctorate in counseling -- passed away in January.

Longtime ACA member and counselor educator ​John Carl Dagley passed away this month at age 76.

Joseph R. Kandor, an ACA Fellow and former professor in the Department of Counselor Education at The College of Brockport, State University of New York, passed away in July.

Remembering Janet WindWalker Jones, a social justice advocate and active leader in the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development, Counselors for Social Justice, the Military and Government Counseling Association (formerly the Military Educators and Counselors Association) and the American Counseling Association.

Almost a year ago, ACA’s first president, Robert H. “Bob” Shaffer, passed away at the age of 101. Shaffer was professor emeritus in the schools of education and business at Indiana University, an institution at which he served for 40 years. A native of Delphi, Indiana, he earned his master’s degree in guidance counseling from Teachers College, Columbia University, and his doctorate in higher education from New York University.

Bruce Shertzer, ACA's 22nd president (1973-74) and professor emeritus of Purdue University , passed away on Dec. 25, 2017 at age 89.

Jon Carlson, private practice counselor and psychologist, school counselor and school psychologist, film producer, author, journal editor, professor, supervisor, avid runner, wellness fanatic, friend, father and colleague, passed away on February 1 in Madison, Wisconsin.